Out of My League: Complete Box Set

by Sharon Cummin

  I nodded before turning my attention back to the kids. I noticed the guy working with the kids was wearing a Pirate jersey. It was pretty good too. It honestly looked official. I shook my head thinking about it. How men and women spent so much money just to look like one of the real players was beyond me? Some of them got them with their own last names on them too, like they were one of the team or something. The guy in front of me was no exception. His had Parker on the back. What a joke, I thought. It's not like someone was going to think he was a real Pirate. The people that followed the game knew every players name and stats by heart. There was no fooling a fan, so there was really no point in trying.

  My kids were trying to throw the ball between them. They weren't having much success, but they were having a lot fun. I had to give the guy credit, he was calm and understanding the whole time.

  I looked down at my phone to see if Jeff had sent another text, but he hadn't. When I pulled up my social media page, I noticed a few messages asking when I was coming home from the lake house. I began scrolling through the pages. Some of them had pictures of them and their kids doing things, but the husbands were never in them. A couple of them had photos of their whole family together. I couldn't help but wonder if those photos were staged or if their husbands really were that involved.

  “Hey, princess,” I heard coming from the field.

  A few moments later, I heard a whistle and looked up to see the guy that was working with the kids looking directly at me.

  “Me?” I asked.

  “Yes you,” the guy said in a snotty tone. “Are these two kids yours?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Are you going to come and play with them?” he asked.

  I looked down the field to see that Sammie and Lauren were both out there with their kids.

  “Oh, no,” I answered.

  “Why not?” he asked in an edgy tone. “Are you afraid of the ball?”

  “The baseball?” I asked with a smile on my face.

  There was no damn way for me to be afraid of a baseball. I'd had to see them almost every day for the first twenty years of my life.

  “Yeah,” he said. “You afraid of it?”

  “Of course not,” I replied just as snotty as he'd been, as I shook my head and reached up to push the hair that had fallen out from behind my ear back into place.

  “Then why don't you come down here?” he asked.

  I looked down at my hands before looking back out at him.

  “Are you afraid you'll break a nail?” he asked sarcastically.

  I rolled my eyes and let out a huff. What the fuck was his problem? Who did he think he was, I wondered? That wannabe had no idea who he was dealing with. I was a damn Reid. It wasn't like I got out there to play, but that didn't mean I was one to be messed with. When I looked down the field, Sammie and Lauren were laughing while they threw balls to their kids.

  “I'll show you how to throw the ball,” he said, pulling my attention back to him. “It's not that hard. Anyone can do it.”

  “I can throw a ball,” I snapped, as I stood up and started down the bleachers.

  “So it's the bat that scares you then,” he said, as a smile spread across his face. “They're not that hard to swing.”

  When he smiled, even though it was obviously sarcastic, it drew my attention to his face. His hair on top, and I liked the way it brushed against the collar of his shirt. The dimple on his cheek made him look even younger than he'd looked before.

  “I know how to swing a bat,” I snapped again, reminding myself just how pissed he was making me.

  There was no way I was going to let his handsome face distract me.

  “Really?” he asked, as my feet hit the ground.

  “Yes,” I said with a smile of my own. The guy was really pissing me off. “My dad was a Pirate.”

  “Oh yeah,” he said with a nod.

  “Yeah,” I said in a cocky tone. “So was my brother.”

  “I see,” he said. “So you know about the game?”

  I nodded.

  “Are you kick-ass like Sammie?” he asked.

  “No,” I answered feeling like he'd kicked me in the stomach. I'd heard that shit my whole life. “While she was playing ball, I was doing girly things.”

  “You can at least hit the ball though, right?” he asked with a grin that had me unable to hold my own smile back.

  “I can,” I answered.

  “Then get out there with your kids,” he snapped. “I know I would if I could.”

  “What?” I asked, as I stepped closer to him and he held the ball out toward me.

  “Parker,” I heard Sammie yell from where her group was playing.

  When I burst into laughter, his eyes narrowed down at me, and the weirdest feeling went through me.

  “What's so funny?” he asked in a rough tone that actually had my body freezing.

  “I know enough about the game to know that your last name goes on the back of your jersey, Parker,” I said, trying my best to hold my laughter in as I stressed the word Parker. “Better get your money back on that one. You got ripped off.”

  When I reached out to take the ball from him, his fingers closed around mine. I felt a jolt shoot through them and up my arm. I instantly let the ball fall to the ground, and my other hand moved to rub my arm.

  “I guess you don't know as much as you think,” he said, as he motioned for me to pick the ball up. “It goes in your hand, not on the ground.”

  I looked him in the eyes but didn't move to get the ball. When my bottom lip moved in between my teeth, he smiled.

  “So you're one of those,” he said, as he took a step toward me.

  “One of what?” I asked, as I bit down on my lip, trying to keep my shit together.

  When he stepped forward again, I could feel the heat coming from his chest.

  “One of those chicks that are too afraid to get a little dirty,” he said with a grin.

  He took one final step toward me, and I took a deep breath, as I lifted my hand and pointed my finger right into the middle of his chest.

  “Listen,” I snapped.

  He grabbed my finger in his and held it. When that damn feeling shot through my hand again, I tried to pull back, but he held on with a tight grip. Then he leaned those few last inches forward and stopped right by my ear.

  “If you want to get rough, then I'll give you rough,” he growled low and deep, and the vibration of his voice moved through me. “Think long and hard about that, princess. The next time you poke this finger into my chest like that, you'd better be prepared to find yourself flat on your back with my cock, hard as steel, between those sexy thighs. That is your only warning, and just so you know, I like a good challenge.”

  He let go of my finger, and I stood still, unable to move. My entire body was feeling something I'd never felt before.

  “I'm married,” I whispered.

  “Then keep your finger to yourself,” he snapped so hard that my whole body shook from the harshness of his words.

  “Don't give her a hard time,” I heard from a few feet over. “She's James' sister.”

  I looked over to see Sammie still playing with the kids, but Lauren was gone.

  “That makes a lot of sense,” Parker said with a laugh.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” It was my turn to snap at him.

  “Not a thing, princess,” he answered, stressing the word princess that time. “You just sit back down and look pretty. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.”

  “Bullshit,” I yelled toward him, as I pulled my shoulders back and looked into his eyes.

  “Your mouth, princess,” he warned, as he motioned toward the kids.

  I shook my head before looking toward Sammie. Then I leaned down, grabbed the ball from the ground, and stood back up.

  “Sammie,” I yelled down toward her.

  She turned with a smile and shook her head. Then she held her mitt out and nodded. I threw her the ball before t
urning to flash Parker a sarcastic look.

  “Not horrible,” he said, and I let out a huff.

  He walked up behind me, with his front directly against my back, and grabbed my arm. When his fingers slid down to my wrist and put another ball in my hand, I felt like my knees were going to give out. Then I felt his warm breath against my neck and a shiver ran through me.

  “Just showing you how to throw the ball, princess,” he whispered into my ear. “You're married, remember?”

  “It's complicated,” I let out with a long breath, before trying to suck in as much air as I possibly could.

  He pulled my arm back and then pushed it forward in a certain way. When I let go of the ball, it went right into Sammie's glove. She never even had to move for it. I couldn't help the sense of pride I felt in that tiny moment.

  “Not bad,” he said, as he took a step away from my back, and I instantly felt the loss of his heat. “A few more throws like that and you'll be better than your sister.”

  “My sister?” I asked, as I turned toward him.

  “Lauren,” he said.

  The calm that had come over me with him standing close was instantly gone.

  “She's not my sister,” I snapped.

  “James' sister then,” he said with a smile, as he walked toward the bench and picked up a towel.

  “Lancie's wife,” I whispered, thinking about how Lauren had weaseled her way into my brother and sister-in-law's lives so damn deeply.

  “I can't believe you're related to Scott and James with a throw like that,” he said, pulling me from my thoughts of Lauren.

  Just because you marry someone, doesn't mean you're everyone's sister, I thought before answering.

  “Oh yeah, I can't believe Sammie pays you to play baseball with kids,” I threw back, feeling like a child myself.

  He burst into laughter and shook his head.

  “What an ass,” I mumbled.

  “It is nice,” he said with a smile, as he looked at his own ass from over his shoulder. “Catch you later, princess. Some of us have things to do besides stand there looking pretty.”

  Then he was gone.

  “Throw me another one, Cassie,” Sammie yelled. “There are a bunch of balls right over there.”

  Before I knew it, I had a mitt on one hand and was throwing back and forth with Sammie. I wasn't nearly as bad as I thought I'd be after not touching a baseball for six years. I'd show that asshole the next time I saw him. I was a Reid, and I could throw just like the rest of them.

  Chapter 9

  Cassie

  When we headed back to the house, we had Jackson with us. Lauren had gone to help Lance and Lancie with some stuff at the house.

  “Why did you take me there?” I asked Sammie.

  “I wanted you to see it,” she answered. “I wanted you to see what I've done. Sure, I have had a ton of help, and I still do, but I was the one that thought of the place. It has been my baby from the very first thought, and I'm so damn proud of it. James didn't pay for it, and neither did my dad. They both helped me, but so did so many other people. You're parents even donated. I've had to do fundraising too. Shit! I even had to auction off dates with baseball players.”

  “I don't get it,” I said, feeling lost in how it had anything to do with me.

  “Not everything has to be handed to you, Cassie,” she said. “Sometimes you have to make it happen. James would have paid for everything if I had let him, but I didn't. It was my idea and my project, but I didn't do it alone. I had help from so many people. They didn't just show up either. I had to find them. I had to ask for help, and I did. You act like you can't do for yourself. You didn't finish college, and you've never had a job. You've been spoiled, Cassie. I'm being honest, but that doesn't mean you can't make a life for you and the kids. You shouldn't settle for less than the best in life just because you can't see how you could pull it off right now. You have to decide what you want, and you have to make it happen. That doesn't mean you have to do it alone either. You have family. We love you, and we will all be right here to help you.”

  “He was giving me the best,” I began, but she held her hand up and cut me off.

  “Not the best brands of everything,” she said sternly. “You need to pull your head out of your ass. I'm sorry, but it's true. I'd rather have a man who loves me more than anything or anyone else than have the fanciest clothes or most expensive brand of purse. If you go back to Jeff, you're settling for less than the best man. I guess you have to decide what best is more important to you. Is it the man and his love, or is the things he can buy you?”

  “You really have done a nice thing,” I said. “It was so much bigger than I thought it would be. I saw how much the kids were smiling and playing there, even my own kids. They haven't had that much fun in so long.”

  “Did you see the huge group of kids in the back corner?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “That group was mixed from every walk of life,” she said. “They would never hang out together in real life. When they walk through those doors, they are all equal. It doesn't matter how much money they have or what brand is sewn onto their tags, they are all the same.”

  The rest of the drive was quiet. When we walked through the front door of their house and found James asleep on the recliner with two sleeping babies, I felt so damn bad for all of the time I'd been away from him. I walked over, picked up Jake, and looked down at James. He was closer to Lauren, a stranger who'd married his wife's brother, than he was to his own sister. That was something I didn't like and didn't want to continue any longer.

  “I love you, big brother,” I said, before quickly turning and hurrying up the stairs to my room.

  I put Jake down for a nap. Knowing that his dad had only seen him for the first few days of his life tugged at my heart. It wasn't just him, I felt bad for all three little ones. Me taking them away even longer wasn't making it any better either. I knew I had to make it up to them. Somehow, I'd find a way.

  I crawled into bed for a nap of my own. All I'd done was thrown the ball around a bit, and I was exhausted. The crying before we'd gone probably hadn't helped either, I thought. Just a few minutes, I told myself, as I closed my eyes and snuggled down under the covers.

  His breath on my neck made me shiver, and the feeling of his hand on my arm sent an unfamiliar feeling through me.

  “Just showing you how to throw a ball, princess,” he whispered against my ear. “Unless you want more than that.”

  The feeling of his tongue as it began circling around my ear had me clenching my thighs. When he pulled the bottom of my ear between his teeth and bit down, I whimpered. His body pushed against mine, and I could feel his hard cock against my lower back.

  “Do you want more than that?” he whispered roughly, as he pushed harder against me.

  When the moan escaped me, his hand wrapped in my hair and he yanked it back. The sting was like nothing I'd ever felt, and my second moan was even louder than the first. I looked up into his eyes, and in that moment, I wanted so much more. His mouth came down on my mine, and I instantly opened for him. Our tongues fought, and before long, his had won control. I was lost in a kiss that held so much feeling and passion. His teeth clamped around my bottom lip and scraped against it as he released me.

  I sat up fast and opened my eyes. My breaths were coming fast, and my body was shaking. Then my finger went to my lip and rubbed along the spot that ached.

  “What the fuck was that?” I whispered.

  I fell onto my back and let out a long breath. I'd never had a dream like that before. Parker was a total ass. I had no interest in him at all. My eyes closed and my mind went right back to that kiss again. I'd never had a man kiss me the way he just had in that dream. Not once had I gotten that clench your thighs feeling from just a touch or a kiss, not from any man. I'd only been intimate with one man and only kissed a few, so I didn't have much to compare him to. Him, I thought as a smile covered my face. It was a dam
n dream. I sat up and let out a laugh.

  “It was just a dream,” I said, as I pushed the covers aside and got out of bed. “It wasn't real. In real life, I bet his kisses are nasty and sloppy. What a punk.”

  I walked out of room and down the stairs.

  “James,” I said, as I rounded the bend into the living room.

  Sammie was sitting on the floor, folding laundry, with the four kids around her while her youngest was asleep in his swing. There was a cartoon playing on the television, but the kids were busy trying to hang on her while she worked.

  “He's not here,” she said from over her shoulder. “He ran over to Lance and Lauren's to help the guys with something.”

  “Of course,” I said without thinking, as I walked over and sat down the couch. “He spends a lot of time with them.”

  “We both do,” she said, as she went back to working while the kids climbed on her.

  Once she was done, she got up, took the clothes to the different rooms, and came back with another full basket. Then she plopped herself back down and the kids were right there again.

  “Why don't you hire someone to help you?” I asked.

  “With what?” she asked.

  “The kids and the house,” I answered.

  Sammie laughed, and then she looked back at me.

  “You were serious,” she said, and I nodded. “No, I didn't have kids for someone else to take care of them for me. What would be the point in that?”

  I stood up and walked toward the stairs.

  “I didn't mean it like that, Cassie,” I heard her yell from behind me, but I didn't stop. “Come back. I'm so sorry.”

  I walked up the stairs, hurried into my room, and shut the door behind me.

  “There's nothing wrong with a little help,” I said, as I fell onto my bed and closed my eyes again.

  Chapter 10

  Cassie

  The next two weeks went fast. Four times in those two weeks, Sammie had James watch the two babies and pulled me along with her and the kids to her baseball home. When she walked through those doors, it was like she changed into someone else. Don't get me wrong, Sammie was always happy, but when she was in her element, she had ten times the excitement flowing out of her.