“I was able to squeeze you in.”
His eyes darkened slightly and his smile changed, turning lecherous. That look always had the ability to turn me inside-out. “I’m exercising significant strength to restrain myself from making a dirty comment. See how good I’m being for you?”
I laughed. “But you know you already said it in your head.”
“But don’t I get points for keeping it to myself?”
“I suppose you do.”
His eyes then softened and his hand reached for mine, squeezing it. “I’m really glad you came.”
Oh, the things this man did to me. It shouldn’t be so natural for him to affect me like this. “Me, too.”
“I’m going to be playing for you, you know,” he said as his fingers caressed the back of my hand.
I scrunched my nose up at him, trying to act bothered by that but I wasn’t in the least. “Corny, but I still like the sound of it.”
He chuckled lightly and pulled his hand away. “Cheer loudly for me.”
“I will.”
With one more smile, he turned around and took off.
I won’t lie, I totally checked out his ass the entire time. Nobody would blame me. The man had the best ass in the major leagues and he was wearing tight baseball pants. I was pretty sure there wasn’t a woman in this entire stadium who wasn’t ogling him.
I could feel eyes on me as I went back to my seat, could practically hear the whispers of speculation as to who I was, whether or not I was Parker Cruz’s girlfriend. I didn’t hear them, though, nor did I care.
I made the decision right then to forget about the past and our complicated history and just enjoy watching Parker play.
Because in that moment, none of the rest of it mattered anyway.
##
The game was tied in the bottom of the ninth inning and, of course, Parker was up to bat. It was only spring training—not even regular season—so it wasn’t as if these games made a huge impact on the team’s record or anything. But I had been a ball of nerves the entire game and I wasn’t sure why.
I just loved to watch him play.
Every time he swung the bat or dove for the ball, my breath was lodging in my throat and I was gripping the crap out of my seat. He’d had an amazing game, too. He was four for five and had made two defensive plays at third that left little to the imagination as to why he’d been named the American League’s defensive player of the year last season.
But now, the game was on the line and it might as well have been the World Series championship hanging in the balance with how much I was freaking out.
Parker stepped up to the bat and everyone in the stands got to their feet. There were two outs so Parker had the chance to be a hero if he could get his guy on first base in to home. The crowd started to clap loudly—there was a surprising number of Boston fans here considering where we were—but I couldn’t do anything except stare at Parker’s powerful form hovering over the plate.
The first pitch was a ball, low and outside, which he let go. He swung at the next and chipped the ball, sending it careening into the stands by the first baseline. The next pitch was high and inside, causing him to raise his arms and quickly shift his body to avoid being hit.
I had to force myself to breathe again when I noticed I was getting lightheaded from holding my breath.
On the fourth pitch, his bat connected with the ball, sending it soaring into left field as a collective gasp filled the stadium. Every person in the stands watched with bated breath as it flew through the air, close to the foul line. Too close to the foul line.
The ball dropped into the stands, barely a foot to the left of the foul pole. Straighten it out.
I watched closely as Parker stepped back from the plate to shake out his shoulders a little and to glance at his third base coach. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head. What was he saying to himself? Was he nervous?
He stepped back into the batter’s box and slowly swung his bat around, taking his stance and giving the pitcher the signal he was ready. I had to admit that he sure looked calm but I could never tell with him. He’d always been hard to read, especially when he played. He always had a mask of concentration on so you never knew if he was happy or pissed.
The next pitch sailed into the catcher’s hands and I sucked in a breath because Parker almost swung at it. His bat moved forward but he stopped himself at the last second before it could make a full rotation. It was a good thing, too, because it ended up dropping below his knees, but it definitely fooled him for a second. I’d grown up enough around baseball—plus, I lived with a star pitcher older brother—that I recognized the pitch as a change-up, delivered at a much slower speed to screw the batter up.
Parker had almost fallen for it.
He didn’t waste any time by stepping out of the box this time, though. He stood his ground and practically dared the pitcher to throw him another one just like that. I had a feeling that he was going to swing at the next pitch no matter where it went.
Too bad the pitcher didn’t take advantage of that because as soon as I heard the crack of the wooden bat on the ball, I knew it was gone.
It went straight over the center field wall and the whole crowd went nuts. Hell, I went nuts. I probably looked out of my mind with my hands in the air, jumping up and down, screaming. Parker and the guy on first ran the bases, Parker thrusting his fist in the air as he rounded third, much to the delight of the Red Sox fans.
And much to my delight, as soon as his foot touched home plate, he looked up at me, finding me in the sea of shouting fans.
When his eyes connected with mine, he pointed directly at me and smiled.
That was when I knew. Or rather, that was when I finally admitted it to myself and accepted it as truth.
I was still in love with Parker.
Just like he had when I was seventeen years old, he was once again turning my life completely upside down.
And right then, I didn’t mind one damn bit.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kinley
“Got to say, I’m impressed, Cruz,” I said, smiling at him as he came out of the door leading to his team’s locker room. He ran over to me right after the game and asked me to wait for him to take a shower and then we’d leave together.
I felt like I was in high school again, waiting for my boyfriend after his game. Strangely though, I didn’t mind it.
“I hit that home run just for you,” he replied, leaning closely into me, his hair wet and sticking in every direction, which I found incredibly hot. There was just something about a guy’s wet hair that made you want to get the rest of him all wet and slippery.
Yikes, I’ve clearly been without relief a little too long.
I laid a hand over my chest. “Aw, I’m touched. Is that what you say to all the girls you invite to your games?”
“Nah, you’re special. Some of them might get a couple of singles or maybe a double. But none of them have ever gotten a home run.”
I smacked his arm and I didn’t miss how hard that bicep of his was. Geez, the man was built like a tank. But not too muscular. All of him was just big, tight, and hard. I wonder how big his…
Scratch that.
I knew how big that was. Although we never slept together, we had certainly messed around all those years ago, enough to know that what he’d kept rubbing against me was pretty monstrous.
Okay, I’d been without relief way too long.
He pulled back and looked down at my body, eyes raking over me from head to toe. I pulled at my tank top self-consciously, knowing I didn’t look my best but hoping he wasn’t disappointed. His eyes came back to rest on mine and they were heated.
“What?”
“I need to get you my jersey to wear. I want you wearing my name on your back when you come to my games.”
I huffed, laughing sarcastically. “Caveman much?”
He put his arm around my shoulders, an action that I couldn’t deny
I loved, and smiled down at me. “Hey, you’ve known me almost my whole life. This shouldn’t surprise you.”
We started walking toward the parking lot, people yelling out “good game!” or “nice hit!” to Parker as we went. “So, what do you want to do?” I asked when we were almost to my rental car.
He thought about it for a second. “Did you book a hotel room?”
I swallowed and took a calming breath. “No. I sort of thought you might have room in yours for me.” I said it low, seductively, in a voice that even I didn’t recognize as my own.
His feet halted and his whole body froze. He slowly lowered his head to me, holding my eyes prisoner in his. “Oh, I’ve definitely got room for you. Only one bed, though.”
It was a question, not a statement even though that’s how he phrased it. He wanted to make sure he understood my intentions and that they matched his own.
“Then, you better not hog the covers,” I said.
Those deep brown eyes darkened, pupils dilating, turning his eyes almost black. I could feel the same tension coming off him, hear the air between us crackling with that chemistry that never faded.
“I think I can manage that.”
No more words were needed to be said as he led me to the car, putting me in the passenger’s side. “I’ll drive,” was all he said as he walked around to his side.
I heard someone yell at Parker from the parking lot and turned around in my seat to see one of his teammates call out to him.
“You going to introduce us, Cruz?”
Parker waved at him but didn’t hesitate to consider the question. “Next time, Corbins! We’ve got plans.”
I vaguely heard the other guy shout something that sounded like “I’ll bet you do” but I was getting too worked up to be embarrassed. Parker threw his bag into the back seat and then crawled in behind the wheel, adjusting the seat and rearview mirror. He turned the ignition and sat there for just a few seconds before he looked over at me. The lust was still there, becoming more intense the longer we stared at each other.
“I want to kiss you right now,” he said, his voice rough. “But if I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to focus enough to drive us all the way to the hotel.”
Yes, do it.
I needed him to kiss me. So bad.
But I didn’t say anything. Just kept my eyes locked on his. I was breathing hard, my chest rising and falling above my tank top. The air in the car was thick from all the heat being trapped inside during the game, and the heat from our bodies certainly wasn’t helping.
I licked my lips, watching Parker’s eyes track the movement. Something rumbled deep within his chest, coming out as a growl. “Oh, what the hell.”
He surged forward and attacked my lips, his mouth hungry and hot over mine, his tongue darting inside to tangle viciously with my own. Because of the console separating our seats, we couldn’t get flush against each other, but he wrapped his arms tight around me, pulling me in as close to him as he could get me.
His tongue stroked over mine, the rest of his movements jerky and desperate, and I wasn’t faring much better. Three weeks was too long to be apart, and I’d suffered all night watching him run around in that tight uniform. He smelled like manly spice from his shower, he tasted like mint, and he felt like heaven.
My body had been on fire for him ever since he first kissed me when I was seventeen, and tonight I needed him to finally put that fire out.
Or make it burn hotter, however you wanted to look at it.
He pulled back, breaking the kiss, and groaned in frustration. “Enough. Any more and I’ll be spreading you out on the back seat.”
“I might not mind that so much,” I panted, my body already missing the feel of his.
He vigorously shook his head, closing his eyes. “Don’t say shit like that. We’re not a couple of damn teenagers and our first time is not going to be in this car. We’ve waited too long for this.” He opened his eyes again and pinned me in place with them as he turned to me. “I need you in a bed. Somewhere we can take our time.”
Sounded like a plan to me. I nodded and tipped my head toward the road. “Let’s go, then. And maybe go over the speed limit.”
“What the hell’s a speed limit?”
By the time we got to the hotel, I was actually concerned that he really didn’t know what a speed limit was. I wanted to toy with him on the way over, get him so hot that he’d be dragging me into his room. But I thought it best not to distract him further while he was driving a vehicle.
Pretty sure that classified as some kind of safety hazard.
You could tell his patience had left him as he yanked his bag and my suitcase from the back seat and strode with heavy footsteps through the building. I followed in silence, having to almost skip just to keep up with him, inhaling the masculine scent of the trail he was leaving behind him.
By the time we got to his room, the thread of control on both of our desires was dangerously close to snapping, the implication of which hung heavy in the air between us. That untapped fount of need that had always existed between us was about to release with a force that left me breathless in anticipation.
For a brief second as I entered his room and he closed and locked the door behind us—the action causing the walls to shudder—I wanted to be nervous. My brain was telling me that this moment was huge for us, finally coming together after all these years spent apart.
But I pushed those thoughts away. I didn’t need to be afraid or apprehensive. This was me and Parker and there didn’t need to be anything between us tonight, especially clothes. No pressure, no labels, just us in the moment. I was fine with that because I knew the more I thought about it, the more I would contemplate tomorrow.
And that wasn’t something I was interested in at the moment.
He dropped our bags to the floor and turned slowly to look at me. My entire body was vibrating, demanding physical release, as he stood there drinking me in. His eyes were liquid pools of lust and just that one look from him made me feel like I was going to combust if he didn’t get those hands on me soon.
“I need you to be sure about this, Kin,” he said in a deep whisper, if such a thing were possible. “Because once I get going, I won’t want to stop. Once I have you in my arms, I won’t let you go. So, you need to be absolutely sure that this is what you want.”
I didn’t even have to think about it. “I’ve wanted this since I was seventeen years old, before that even. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
His face softened into a smile as he processed my words, like what I’d said had reached a part of him that he’d kept locked away for too long and was now relieved to reveal to the world.
But then it suddenly changed. His expression transformed into something darker and almost feral—similar to that of how a predator looked at its prey right before it attacked. And then he was lunging for me, arms outstretched as they grabbed me, pulling me into him and sealing our mouths together in a heady collision of wet, aggressive lips and demanding tongues.
Parker picked me up underneath my thighs and shoved me against the wall, pinning my hips in place as my legs wrapped around his strong waist. His hands were rough on me as they slid from cupping my ass and holding it against him to gliding up my sides to find my breasts, begging for his touch.
My nipples had already formed into hard peaks for him, my body already aware of how much it wanted this man. I moaned into his mouth as his thumbs slid across the sensitive tips, something I could feel even through my tank top and bra. When he realized I was still wearing clothing of any kind, he quickly broke our kiss, leaned back and ripped my shirt over my head with a speed that made my core clench with arousal.
He took in my bra-covered chest with lust-glazed eyes, his lips red and swollen from my kiss. I watched him follow the movement of his own hands across my breasts, hands covering the mounds and fingers rubbing back and forth. He looked mesmerized by what he was doing and I was mesmerized by the sensations he was sending
through me.
“I’ve wanted my mouth on these for so long,” he breathed, his broad chest rising and falling as he continued to watch his hands. “In my dreams, I’ve done everything to them.” Then, he looked up at me. “I want to do so many things to you, Kin. Will you let me?”
Hell yes.
“Anything you want,” I told him. “Do anything you want, Parker.”
He leaned back in to capture my lips with his teeth, nibbling on them and groaning as he tasted me. “I love the sound of my name coming from these lips. Fucking love it.”
I was so lost in his essence, I almost didn’t notice when he unhooked my bra and pulled the straps from my arms. His hands immediately went back to my breasts, seeming to get more worked up when he finally had them free and naked and at his mercy.
Well, he couldn’t be the only one having fun.
My fingers started scrambling for the hem of his shirt, frantically trying to pull it up and over his head as quickly as possible. Feeling his bare skin on mine was suddenly the most necessary thing in my universe. He pulled back again and helped me get it off, carelessly tossing it to the floor when he had it free of his body.
Finally.
Finally, I had Parker Cruz’s body at my disposal, in my hands, pressing up against mine and hopefully soon, above mine. I knew that I could do pretty much anything I wanted to it tonight and Parker would let me without argument. The planes of his chest were hard and muscular, with light hair covering his sculpted pecs, his entire torso emanating strength in the sexiest way imaginable. I couldn’t keep my hands off of him.
“God, yes,” he moaned. “Touch me, please. Anywhere you want, baby.”
I was already on track for multiple orgasms tonight if he kept up that kind of talk. Not like I even needed further encouragement, but listening to him talk like that—with such unbridled passion—made me so hot I could hardly stand it.
I smothered his chest with kisses, licking from one shoulder to the other with his hand buried in my hair, guiding my movements. When I opened my mouth and lightly sunk my teeth into his skin, he sucked in a harsh breath and pushed me back against the wall.
Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) Page 21
