by Aria Cole
“Hey, eyes up, fucker.”
Rod’s face split into a grin. “Gotcha, man.”
He backed out of the doors, making an obscene gesture with his hands the entire way. I flipped him off before the door swung closed.
“You should go.” Delilah turned, her clothes clutched to her chest and hiding her beautiful self from me.
“I don’t want to.” I advanced on her, catching her chin in my fingers.
“But you should.” She pulled away from my grip, eyes averting to the floor. “I’m gonna get changed, so…”
I huffed, my cock desperate to find itself between her thighs again. Images of her naked swirled in my head, and I knew I’d have to leave ASAP if I had any hope of reining myself in.
“I’ll catch you after practice? Maybe we could grab something to eat.”
“Maybe.” She bit down on her bottom lip, and I knew then it wouldn’t happen. There was still something holding her back, despite her body screaming yes, despite the way she shivered and moaned when I touched her.
“I’ll be waiting, Delilah. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.” I trailed my thumb across the bow of her top lip, watching as her eyes fell closed and her cheeks burned crimson. Before she could respond, I turned, heading for the swinging doors. “Later, Grey.”
8
Delilah
“Most of the guys are gone by now,” I uttered to Tori, one of my closest friends. I’d managed to grab her an extra ticket to tonight’s game, which the Timberwolves had won. “You’ll get to meet a few of them, though.”
“What about that one who keeps shoving his tongue down your throat?” Tori’s eyes sparkled back at me just as the door swung open and Rod walked out of the locker room. His hair was still damp from his shower, his skin a warm cocoa, with the darkest eyelashes I’d ever seen on a man. He was gorgeous, his jawline strong, cheekbones high. I could see why preteen girls taped posters of him on their walls, but he was so cocky, so shameless. He wasn’t anyone I could ever date. Alarm bells rang loud and clear when he was in the room.
“Hey, Grey.”
“Hey—”
“I’m Tori Fountain.” My sweet, overly friendly friend burst between us, hand thrust out. “I’m Delilah’s bestie. Can we get a selfie?”
I rolled my eyes, but Rodriguez swung an arm around Tori, tucking her in close under his arm as she fumbled for her phone. “I can take the picture if you want.”
“No, I want a selfie.” Tori puckered her lips. Her blush deepened, her eyes glazing just a little when Rodriguez sent her a panty-melting half-grin.
I nearly threw up in my mouth.
Tori grinned wildly as they posed for the photo.
“They’re a pair.” Cash’s voice warmed my insides.
I sucked in a breath, trying to rid my mind of all the intoxicating thoughts that buzzed when he was around. “I shouldn’t have brought her back here.”
“Probably not your smartest move,” Cash said.
I shot him a glare, crossing my arms.
“Great game tonight, guys,” Tori crooned, eyes dancing from Cash to Rodriguez.
“Sure it woulda been better if we would have had this arm.” Cash’s hand curled around my bicep and sent a current of arousal straight between my thighs. “Didn’t know you had it in you, champ.”
“Of course she does. She’s like baseball royalty.” Tori grinned, and I sighed, thinking I didn’t want to get into that conversation now, or ever.
“Royalty?” I caught Cash’s arched eyebrow.
“Her dad, her granddad, even her godfather. It’s, like, a dynasty,” Tori sputtered on to my horror. She always got too chatty when she was nervous, but why did it have to be about me this particular time?
“She’s been drinking, don’t listen to her.” I grumbled, digging in my purse for my phone so I could pretend I had an urgent reason to get the hell out of there.
“You guys wanna do dinner tonight? I could eat a fucking pig,” Rodriguez belted.
“That sounds great!” Tori replied, and I tensed.
“Are you sure? Didn’t you say you had something to do tonight?” I shot Tori a serious glance.
“No, not till later. Plus, I’m starving.” She grinned, glancing over at Rodriguez.
“I can get us reservations,” Cash interjected, pulling out his phone.
“No, you guys go on—”
“Call that Brazilian place, Greenwood.”
“I’ve got reservations for four at a Japanese steakhouse.” Cash swiped his thumb, then smiled and pocketed his phone. “They’ve got a floating floor—fish swim right under your table.”
“Sounds great. Whaddya say, ladies?” Rodriguez held out his hand, flashing Tori another one of his trademark grins, making her swoon. I nearly died of embarrassment. I didn’t want to go to this dinner for two reasons, one, the hormonal display of crazy happening in front of me sounded like the worst way to spend my night, and two, Cash's palm at my back, pushing me ahead of him down the hallway proved I couldn’t control myself with him. It was taking everything in me to not stop in my tracks, turn around, and beg him to kiss me.
My heart thudded hopelessly in my chest as Cash and I followed Tori and Rodriguez through the parking garage.
I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into, but it was proving to be the start of an interesting night for sure.
Twenty minutes later, after a heart-dropping and dangerous ride through the city, we arrived to a trendy new restaurant on the other side of town. A valet opened the door of Rodriguez’s Spider and we all filed out.
Cash’s palm hovering at my waist protectively sent butterflies scurrying in my stomach. I couldn’t deny that I loved his touch on me, but every smart brain cell in my head was telling me that he was all wrong. It took a special kind of woman to love a star athlete, one who could handle millions of other woman ogling their man, and that woman wasn’t me.
“This is great, isn’t it?” Cash pulled me closer to him as we stepped through the doors. A dim, blue-lit space opened up around us. And the floor. The floor was one long pool of crystal blue, all kinds of fish in a rainbow of colors swimming beneath the clear glass.
“This is incredible.” I stepped in, feeling instantly underdressed, even though I was already in business attire for work.
“Great call, man.” Rodriguez patted Cash on the shoulder as we were seated at an intimate table for four in a far corner. I glanced around, noticing most of the tables around us were occupied by couples on dates. We were all out of place here. The guys were still fresh from showers, and while they looked handsome in dark jeans and slim-cut button-downs, most of the men here were wearing suits and ties.
I mustered a smile when Cash pulled out my chair. He was going to get all the wrong ideas from this, and I was going to fall a little deeper under his spell. I should have bailed and grabbed a taxi home, eaten takeout, and caught the replays on ESPN. I had no business having an intimate dinner with Cash fucking Greenwood, star Major League pitcher.
“Relax, Grey.” Cash draped an arm across my shoulder, sliding his thumb around the base of my neck. My eyes shuttered closed, my heart hammering uncontrollably as I thought of us here, together. His hands on me. I sucked in a fortifying breath, which sent a blast of his spicy soap straight to my head.
“Something to drink?” the waiter asked. I nodded, my brain foggy at the proximity of Cash. Why couldn’t I control myself around him? Why was he doing this to me?
“You doin’ okay?” Cash’s breath washed across my neck, the hair feathering across my skin with his words.
“I’m okay,” I finally responded. I hoped he could hear over the hammering of my heart.
“You look beautiful.” Cash trailed a fingertip across my collarbone, visible just above the frilly neckline of my blouse.
I struggled to control my voice. “Thank you.”
“We should have them take a picture of us!” Tori called, jumping up and flagging down a waiter. I smiled genuinely when Cash
tucked me in closer to his body as we posed. The flash nearly blinded me, but I prayed the picture was a good one. I knew I’d cherish it, because despite everything between Cash and me, he’d had an impact on me, this entire team had. While Rodriguez could be cocky and mouthy sometimes, that was the biggest problem they had. Nothing beyond healthy competition and positivity radiated from this team, and they deserved to go all the way to the World Series.
“So, what got you into baseball?” Tori asked sweetly.
“It’s the only thing we had in Cuba. Every night I was out at the corner ball field, playing with the old guys. My dad didn’t have much time, he worked too much, but there were always guys at the field. My momma always knew where to find me.” Rodriguez tapped his forehead, emotion warm in his dark eyes.
“Kinda the same for me, too,” Cash chimed in. “My dad wasn’t around a lot. In fact, baseball was about all we had to talk about. I remember getting three home runs on my little league team one day. He was so proud of me. I was only eight, but I swear, that look drove me forward.”
My hand instinctively went to his thigh under the table. I wasn’t thinking, only knew that he was revealing something special about himself, and acknowledging it felt like the only thing I could do.
Cash turned to me, eyes burning up mine. “What about you? What brought you to the ball field?”
“I feel like I’ve never had a choice.” I answered, unfiltered, then regretted it. “I mean, family or work, I keep finding myself in a baseball diamond, no matter what I do.” I tried to laugh off the comment, but it fell on silent ears. I’d said more about myself than I’d ever intended to. Tori knew my entire history, but it’d taken her years for me to open up and tell her all the details.
“You were born to be on a ball field.” Cash fingered a wisp of my hair, sending the edges tickling along my skin. A cool chill raced through me, and I shifted, distracted by the arousal dampening my thighs.
“I don’t know about born to be on a ball field, but there is something about it that feels like home. I swear I didn’t think I’d ever take a job with a baseball team. I’d done every single other sport, but I couldn’t pass this one up for some reason…” I trailed off, smiling up at the waiter as he set glasses of water on the table.
“I wanna hear more about this baseball royalty thing. I want names, Grey,” Rodriguez shot across the table.
“No way,” I laughed.
“Delilah doesn’t tell anyone. I didn’t even know who her dad was for years! That bitch left me hanging!” Tori giggled.
“It’s true.” I looked at Cash. “I don’t tell a soul.”
“I’ll get it out of you.”
“You think so?” I crooked a grin at him.
“I know so,” he promised, sending molten lava through my veins.
“What makes you so confident?” I shot back.
“I’ve got a lot of talents, Ms. Grey.” A shudder raced through my system at his words.
For some reason I believed him.
Cash slipped a thumb under the neckline of my shirt, causing my breath to stick in my throat.
I had a feeling I was going to discover just what those talents were.
9
Cash
“Mornin’, beautiful.”
“Oh my god, this again?” Delilah rolled her pretty eyes. Dinner had gone amazing last night, and while she’d opened up a little, I could still tell she was holding back on me. This girl was making me work for it, that was for sure, but there was something down deep that pulled at my insides whenever she was around.
“What ya up to?” I landed in the bleacher seat next to her.
“What’s your best guess, Greenwood?”
The way her mouth curled up at the corner made my dick ache. “I was gonna guess you came to check out ball players.”
“Because it’s my job.” She shot me a sideways glance. “And you’re being distracting.”
“Wouldn’t know what else to do with my time.” I shrugged, crossing my arms and ankles before propping my legs up on the seat in front of me.
“There’s got to be a million other things you can do besides bother me.”
“You wound my heart!” I clutched at my chest.
“I bet.” Her eyes narrowed, but her smile deepened. I loved that look on her face because I was the one who had put it there, and I damn sure planned to put a few more there.
“I’ve got nothing better to do with my time than watch a few players practice with the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”
Delilah’s eyes widened before her gaze turned back to the field. She held a pencil in her hand, tapping the eraser against her knee as she fidgeted.
“Everything about you draws me in, Delilah.” I stroked my fingertips up the line of her thigh, watching a visible shudder roll through her system as she shifted in her seat. “What happened last night, I want it to happen again.” I reached her waist, trailing a fingertip across the waistband of her pants before darting beneath the fabric.
She licked her perky lips, her mouth parting just slightly with soft breaths. I glanced around the field, thankful as fuck she’d chosen this dark little corner to watch warm-ups from. We were so far out of anyone’s line of sight, we virtually had the stadium to ourselves.
“I want to taste this pretty pussy,” I whispered as I drew a deft fingertip over the crotch of her panties. Her back arched in the stadium seat, the fabric of her shirt pulling across her tits and making me so fucking horny I thought I might die
Unable to hold back a minute more, I lunged across the seat, caging her in my arms and ducking to taste her lips. I worked the delicate little bud of her clit through her panties while my tongue darted into her mouth, swirling and tasting the decadent flavors. One of her arms wrapped around my neck as her leg hitched around my hip, her body ebbing and flowing against me like a wild wave.
“Christ, you’re responsive.” My palm trailed up her torso, pushing under her shirt and gripping at the flesh of one full tit. Soft whimpers escaped her throat when I slipped a thumb inside the lacy little bra and fingered her taut nipple. “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she whispered through agonized pants.
“We can’t keep our hands off each other. We were stupid to think it wouldn’t happen,” I nipped at the plump flesh of her bottom lip.
“I’m going to tell myself whatever I have to in the morning to forget this even happened.” Her eyes flared before she pulled my head down to hers, pressing ours lips together in a bruising kiss.
“Tell yourself whatever you have to, but right now you’re mine. I know for a fact that the security cameras are only on during games. We’re safe here, baby.”
“Oh my god,” she breathed when I yanked the pants and panties from her waist, giving me enough room to angle between her thighs.
“This is fucking beautiful.” I pushed her thighs apart, my gaze falling on her glistening pink pussy as every corded muscle in my body bunched and pulled, my cock flexing and wanting nothing more than to sink in and fuck her until neither of us could see straight.
My eyes connected with hers in that moment, and before she could even open her pretty lips, I grinned and dove in, trailing my tongue up and down her slit, then swirling at her pussy. Delilah’s hands clutched at my hair, my scalp burning with the pull of her grasp, and my dick pounding with every fucking heartbeat.
“Sweeter than honey, baby.” I sucked the bud of her clit into my mouth and drew in long pulls, enjoying every ounce of her body gyrating underneath mine.
Delilah's free hand trailed her body, turning me on with every stroke, when I laced our fingers together. Both of our palms molded the flesh of her breast, forcing our fingertips to pinch at the dark little nipples before I flicked my tongue, then danced one long finger at her entrance.
“I can’t wait to bury myself inside this body, but not here. I want you all to myself the first time. An entire night. Maybe
even the whole weekend.” I kneaded her gorgeous tit again before sliding my finger into her hot, wet body, feeling her spasm around my fingers, I hooked and worked my tongue at her clit before her thighs clenched around my shoulders, passion-fueled moans burning past her lips with her orgasm.
“You are my favorite thing first thing in the morning.” I grinned, making a point of wiping her pussy off my face, then sliding my thumb between my lips and licking it off.
“Cash, oh my god.” She attempted to cover her face before I caught her hands, pushing them around my neck before kissing the frown off her face.
“Don’t hide yourself from me, not ever. Got that, Delilah?”
“You’re crazy, Cash Greenwood.”
“Only for you.” I winked at her as I pulled her pants up her legs, rearranging her panties and putting her back together.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“We. We did that.” I sat back in my seat, catching her hand in mine as I did. “And get used to it, Delilah. I’ve been fucking starved for you, and this barely even scratched the surface.”
10
Delilah
My heart drummed frantic beats in my ears as his words echoed on repeat. What was he thinking? What was I thinking?
As if my surroundings were suddenly coming into focus for the first time, I glanced around at the players tossing balls on the field, a few others swinging bats as they warmed up their muscles.
“Cash…” I shook my head, suddenly feeling a wave of fear wash through me. I knew where this led, no point in taking it any further. A groupie tomorrow, another one the next day, my heart left bleeding out in the dirt. No way was that life for me.
“Oh, no you don’t. I know that look on your face.” Cash stood, placing a delicate kiss on my knuckles before backing away. “I’m leaving before you say something I’m gonna regret hearing. We both know that whatever you say today isn’t going to make a damn bit of difference tomorrow when we see each other.” He hummed against my ear and sent shockwaves through my body. “Have a great day, Ms. Grey.”
