Spring Training

by KB Winters

  A deep, guttural moan slipped from her lips as I slipped from her and thrust back inside, harder each time. My fingers dug into her hips, pulling her big ass back against me with every stroke. I went back to stroking and teasing her clit as I fucked her and pretty soon her loud moans were bouncing off the walls. I grinned, loving the sounds she made—uninhibited, unhampered. Free.

  I fucked her harder and harder until I thought for sure she’d beg me to take it easy. Instead, the harder I slammed into her, the more she cried out, begging for more. She tensed and tightened, her coiled pleasure ready to release, and I buried myself deeply inside her as she came. Her tight pussy devoured me, eagerly clenching and pulsing around my cock as I spilled myself inside her.

  My eyes were still closed when I heard what I thought were footsteps. Grace was panting too hard to notice, but my ears perked and I hurried to pull away from her. Whoever is in here is going to get my foot up their fucking ass for interrupting us…

  “Who the fuck is that?” I called out.

  Grace straightened. I glanced at her and saw her eyes go wide. She shook her hands, fighting the bonds and I reached up and with a quick pull, had her free.

  I moved in front of Grace and turned off the water. She gasped. “What the fuck are you doing in here, Bailey? Can’t you see this is a private party?”

  I grabbed a towel hanging nearby and gave it to her. She wrapped herself up quickly as I stalked toward Bailey.

  A sneering face appeared in the entry to the showers. “Ballsy, Calloway. Fucking the boss’s daughter before you even started the season. Impressive.”

  Boss’s daughter? I buried my reaction and crossed my arms. “Get the fuck outta here, dickhead.”

  “I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen you before,” he continued, fixing Grace with a smug stare. “So I did a little research and figured it out. It’s a risky move, Calloway. Her daddy’s a hard ass and if I remember correctly, he has quite the gun collection.” Bailey laughed and sauntered across the room. I heard a locker open and close and then Bailey’s smug voice as he called out, “You two behave yourselves. Wouldn’t want daddy catching wind of this now, would we?”

  The door shut and we were alone again.

  “What did he mean? Boss’s daughter?” I asked, rounding toward Grace.

  She dropped her eyes to the floor.

  “Grace. Tell me.”

  She lifted her eyes to mine. “There’s something you don’t know about me.”

  Chapter Ten

  Grace

  The truth hung between us in thick silence. I dared to meet Justin’s eyes but then quickly looked away. All the lust and desire was burned away, replaced with something even darker.

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” he asked, his voice tense and coiled. “I would have fucking found out eventually. I’m not some idiot jock who couldn’t put two and two together.”

  “I know,” I replied, looking at my bare feet. I’d quickly thrown my dress back on after getting out of the shower but hadn’t slipped my sandals back on. My wet hair hung around my shoulders, soaking through the thin cotton. “I didn’t know what this was with you and me. It’s just casual, remember?”

  “I never said that,” Justin snapped.

  My eyes flew to his, surprised by the denial. “Yes you did. Or, at least, I thought you did.” I paused, searching my memory for his exact wording. “When you gave me the rules you said you didn’t want anything complicated.”

  Justin scoffed and rubbed the back of his neck. He shook his head, staring at the opposite wall. When his eyes found their way back to mine, there was a flicker of something new lingering behind them. “I believe I also explained that I demand full honesty.”

  Touché.

  I nodded and let my gaze slip back to the carpeted floor. “Sorry. I didn’t know what you’d think. Besides, I didn’t really plan on any of this. You know? It all happened so fast…”

  “Do you regret it?”

  The question cut me to the heart. I knew the answer but it felt frail and tender. Like a dark secret I needed to keep to myself.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I replied, side-stepping his question.

  Justin took a step closer and lifted my chin. “Look at me, Grace.”

  “Don’t!” I shook free of his touch. I couldn’t have his fingers on me. The rest of my body was still stuck somewhere between the deep pleasure of the way we’d been in the shower stall and the abrupt snap of shock when we’d been discovered.

  Justin took a step back.

  I met his gaze and crossed my arms tightly around myself. “I said I was sorry. What more do you want? Just leave me alone.”

  He studied me but didn’t say a word. Curiosity threatened to burn through me, but I managed to pull myself away. I grabbed my sandals from the floor and hurried from the room, only pausing to put the shoes on when I was out of his line of sight.

  I slipped into my sandal and then raced down the hall, my feet slapping on the polished concrete floors until I hit the side exit and raced out into the night just as tears started sliding down my face.

  ***

  I called in sick to work the following day and spent all morning wallowing on the couch, bundled up in a pile of blankets, hoping they could somehow insulate me from the world outside my locked front door. I couldn’t skip work forever and quitting wasn’t an option. I knew I’d have to face Justin in the light of day sooner or later, but I couldn’t bear the thought. It had been bad enough in the dimly lit locker room but I’d managed to get away without spilling my silly, little girl fantasies all over him.

  I needed some time and space to talk myself out of my ridiculous feelings. Then I could go back to work and do my best to pretend nothing had ever happened. Hell, maybe I could even find a way to convince myself that the entire experience had gone according to plan. After all, Farrah’s advice was to use Justin to gain some kind of life experience points, thank him, and move on. I’d done that, hadn’t I?

  Well, mostly.

  She hadn’t given me the secret to keep myself from falling for him. If that’s even what was happening.

  On a whim, I pushed up from the couch and grabbed my cell phone from the kitchen counter. I dialed Farrah’s number and silently prayed that she’d answer. We were polar opposites in a lot of ways, but she was still my best friend and would no doubt have advice for me.

  “Hey, Gracie-Lou-Hoo! You on lunch already?”

  I exhaled a sigh of relief at the soothing sound of her voice and the use of my familiar nickname. “I called in sick today.”

  “Are you sick?”

  “Something like that.”

  “What’s going on?” Farrah’s line crackled like she was walking in the wind.

  I frowned. “Where are you?”

  “Walking back to my car from the library. Getting some new books for my mom to read.”

  My heart squeezed. Farrah had returned home to do a term at the community college while she took care of her mother who’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. “How is she doing?” I asked, feeling guilty for not having led with that question.

  “She’s good. She had her last radiation session and goes to see her doctor in a few days. So we’ll get some more information then, but she’s in good spirits. She just can’t do much or go anywhere because she’s weak all the time. So, she reads a lot.”

  Farrah sounded upbeat which warmed me. The news of the diagnosis had wrecked her. I’d never forget the night she called to tell me.

  “In the car now. So tell me what’s going on with you. Why are you home from work? You playing hooky to go get your mind blown by your new friend?”

  I groaned. “Don’t make me regret telling you about that…”

  Farrah laughed. “Come on, Gracie. Your first time was with a legendary all-star pitcher! How could I possibly let that go? At least not this soon. I get a few more months of glee out of the whole thing, all right?”

  I rolled my eyes.
/>   “Are you seeing him again?”

  “No!”

  “Wow. That was…firm.”

  “Sorry.” I cringed. “I just—well—”

  “What is it?”

  I drew in a deep sigh. “Things kinda blew up last night.”

  “Really? You didn’t tell him you love him or something, did you? ’Cause, babe, that’d be cardinal sin numero uno!”

  I settled back on the couch. “No, nothing like that. We went to dinner and it was really nice. We laughed a lot and it felt like…well…it felt like maybe it could, you know, be something.”

  Farrah groaned. “Oh, honey.”

  “What?”

  “What did I tell you about guys like Justin? They’re not looking for something. They want clean, simple, and no-strings attached. Trust me, a guy like that probably has a fuck buddy in every city from coast to coast. He doesn’t want to meet your parents or buy you flowers. That’s why he was perfect for your first time! Remember? Easy. Clear cut.”

  I gnawed on my lower lip.

  “Grace?”

  “I know, I know, and you’re probably right—”

  “No probably about it, girl. I’m totally right on this.”

  I sighed. “Fine, fine. Anyway, after dinner, he drove us back to the stadium lot because that’s where my car was parked. But instead of saying goodnight, he suggested sneaking into the team locker room for a little…well, you know.”

  “Very hot!” Farrah giggled.

  “It was…until…” I winced at the flood of memories. “Until we got caught.”

  “Ooh! By a security guard?”

  “Worse.” I dragged my fingers through my hair. I hadn’t bothered to comb it out when I woke up and tangles snared as I worked through it. I needed a shower. A real shower. The one with Justin didn’t even remotely count. “Nathan Bailey.”

  “Who?”

  “He’s a pitcher. Second-string. Doesn’t see a lot of field time.”

  “Oh! I remember him. He’s the ginger one, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What the hell was he doing there?”

  I stopped. “I actually have no idea…”

  I wondered why I hadn’t thought to ask. What had Nathan Bailey been doing creeping around the locker room after hours? Maybe he’d forgotten something? It had certainly been easy enough for Justin to smooth talk our way onto the premises. The guard hadn’t put up any kind of argument about it.

  “So he caught you two banging and then what?”

  “He outed me. Told Justin who I am. Or, more accurately, who my daddy is.”

  “He didn’t know?” Farrah asked, her voice riding an octave.

  “No,” I mumbled.

  “Grace…”

  “I know. I just, I don’t know. It never came up.”

  Farrah sighed. “And what, you thought you’d be back in Oklahoma City and go to a game and just avoid him? He would have eventually found out who you were even if that overgrown leprechaun hadn’t outed you. I saw your dad’s office one night after a game we went to together and if I remember correctly, your dad has a picture of you and your brother and him at a game that’s hanging in his office. I’m actually surprised Calloway hadn’t seen it already.”

  “Well, if he had, he didn’t make the connection.” I frowned down at my oval-shaped nails. “Back before that first time…he made me agree to some rules.”

  “Kinky!”

  My cheeks warmed. I hadn’t delved into too much detail when telling Farrah I’d slept with Justin. She didn’t know the things he’d had me do…or what he’d done to me.

  “One of the rules was one-hundred percent honesty and he obviously feels that I broke that.”

  “So he was pissed?”

  “Understatement.”

  “Ouch.” She paused for a moment. “So, what now? He doesn’t want to see you anymore?”

  “I don’t think so. He was really upset. I didn’t know what to say or do. I mean, I apologized but then kind of…bolted.”

  “Smooth.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  Farrah laughed softly. “I’m sorry, babe. But what else can you do? If he wants to be pissed off, you can’t change that. It’s not like he was your boyfriend or something.”

  I found myself nodding along, but the conviction didn’t quite soak all the way into my brain. Or was it just my heart that was confused?

  Either way, the only thing clear was that my time with Justin was over.

  Chapter Eleven

  Justin

  Ignoring Grace required more energy than I had to give. Between grueling workouts, training sessions, and the exhibition games, I was worn down and found my resistance weaker than usual. When she finally returned to work after our argument in the locker rooms, she wore a pair of oversize shades that hid the good majority of her face. I couldn’t see behind the polarized lenses to find out what might be going on inside her head even if I wanted to.

  Which for the record, I didn’t.

  I wanted to move on from the whole thing. Grace hadn’t outright lied to me. I acknowledged that. But I felt betrayed all the same. Her lie of omission was a whopper and carried some complications. The whole point of finding a woman like Grace was to keep things simple. Finding out she was the team president’s daughter was about as complicated as it could get. When things eventually ran their course, she would still be thrust into my life. Even if her father never found out about our relationship, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she wouldn’t eventually cross my path again. She’d return to Oklahoma City and with daddy being the team president, she’d naturally show up for games and be allowed VIP access. Then what was I supposed to do?

  I purposely chose women who were easy to replace. A new team, a new city, a new woman. It worked better that way.

  “You ready, Calloway?”

  I tore my eyes from Grace and prepared to fire another pitch at my trainer who was crouched behind the plate. I scuffed my feet, wound up, and fired. A textbook perfect curveball. My signature pitch. It landed with a satisfying thump in my trainer’s glove and he rocked back on his heels at the sheer force.

  I allowed myself a smug grin and then jerked my head to let him know I was leaving the field for a minute. I jogged off toward the locker room and went right past Grace. As far as I could tell, she didn’t so much as look my way. It was the first time I truly felt invisible. I didn’t like it. Especially not from her.

  Fuck, Calloway. It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter. She’s just a college girl. They’re a dime a dozen. Tight piece of ass that was a nice ride. Did it end too soon? Sure. We could have had a lot more fun together. There’s a mile-long list of things I’d love to do to her sexy body. But is it the end of the world? Hell no!

  The pep talk didn’t help much. In fact, it made me feel worse. I punched the door open and strut into the locker room to change t-shirts. The sun was fucking relentless and I was tired of the way it was clinging to me. I tore it off and stuffed it into the bag at the foot of my locker. I’d considered locking my shit up to keep Bailey and Erickson from retaliating but in the end, decided it was best not to look like a scared pussy.

  As I changed, I glanced around the empty locker room. Where were the morons? Neither one of them were on the field. I scoffed to myself. Probably sleeping off their hangover from the night before. Pricks like that lived it up because they’d spent their high school and college years being second fiddle. The only reason they could score now was because of the money attached to their names.

  With my fresh shirt on, I backtracked through the locker room and stepped out into the hall. Like some kind of internal clock, it hit me that it was around the time Grace usually took her break to hit up the Coke machine. If I veered left, I could go out to the main concord and have a chance at seeing her. I didn’t know why, but before I could make a conscious decision, my feet took me left.

  I was halfway there when a couple of familiar voices perked my ear.
>
  “Come on, we want a little taste of what you’ve been giving Calloway.”

  “I have some tape in my bag, if that’s what you’re into.”

  My blood turned to ice and then quickly shattered as molten lava poured through my veins. “What the fuck…”

  “Get away from me, both of you.”

  Grace’s shaky voice spurred me on even faster. I raced around the corner and found Bailey and Erickson closing in on Grace who stood, Coke in hand, in the corner of the empty alcove. Bailey and Erickson snapped around at my thundering approach and both went white as sheets.

  I throttled toward Bailey and caught him around the throat. Grace yelped as I threw him back against the wall. “You’re a real slow learner, aren’t you?” I snarled. I tightened my grip enough that his eyes bulged. “I told you to leave her alone. What part of that wasn’t crystal fucking clear to you?”

  Erickson tugged at the back of my shirt. “We were just messing around. Fuck, man! You don’t have to be such a fucking douchebag about everything.”

  I sneered at Bailey, ignoring Erickson’s feeble attempt to pull me off his friend. Weak ass pussy. I squeezed another hair tighter and then released Bailey’s throat. He sputtered and rubbed the red marks where my fingers had pressed into his throat.

  The front office is gonna hear about this, Calloway,” he said with a hoarse voice. “You’re golden boy reputation isn’t going to save your ass this time.”

  “You’re damn right this is going upstairs. I’ll be taking this matter to management my goddamn self.”

  Bailey glared at me but wisely kept his trap shut. Erickson moved to Bailey’s side and grabbed him by the elbow. “Come on, dude.”

  “Not worth it anyway,” Bailey sneered in Grace’s direction. “Fucking whore probably has some kind of disease.”

  My fists clenched tight, ready to fire, but Grace reached for me and touched my arm before I could get a shot off. I stilled at her soft touch and glared at Bailey as Erickson dragged him off. When they were gone, I finally turned to Grace.