Spring Training

by Stacey Lynn Rhodes

  He wasn’t joking either. The media had picked up on their close friendship, especially when they’d been on rival teams, and rumors still flew even now and then that they were boyfriends. Didn’t seem to matter that Deke was married to Julia and now expecting a baby, or that Aaron dated women.

  “Well, I’m pretty convinced that the ‘bromance’ is all in their imaginations. You seem pretty into females to me.”

  “I’m into you,” he corrected and came to a halt to take her in his arms.

  That came out a bit more blunt than he’d wanted, but before he could backpedal, Teri rose up to press a kiss to his mouth, murmuring against his lips, “I’d love to really have you ‘into’ me.”

  He groaned into her mouth at the sexy invitation, but he was fully aware of their public surroundings, though it had been a while since they’d passed anyone. He kept the kiss mostly chaste, then with a parting peck regretfully pulled back. “Want to head back?”

  “Yes, we should probably see if Emery’s still there. I’d like to spend some time with him if he is.”

  “And if he isn’t?”

  “Then I’ll have to settle for an evening in with you.” Her eyes promised good things, and Aaron was torn between wishing the condo was empty when they got there, and hoping Em had seen the error of his ways and would be able to hang out with his mom before she left.

  The mental reminder of her short time there was definitely a buzzkill and there was quiet between them as they headed back to the path to the condos.

  Chapter Ten

  Surprisingly enough, Emery was waiting in the living room when they walked in the door. The music still blared.

  “Hey, Ma, where’d you go?” Emery looked a bit put out. He was in his comfy, at-home attire—sweats, a T-shirt that she thought she’d used for a rag at least once, and bare feet. While she was happy that he obviously wasn’t planning to go repeat last night’s mistake, part of Teri would have enjoyed putting an empty condo to good use again.

  “Aaron and I went for a walk.” She crossed the room to plop down next to him on the couch. “He showed me a nice path along the river.”

  Aaron grabbed a remote and used it to lower the volume of the music then went into the kitchen.

  “Could he even keep up with ya? For a shrimp you sure do walk fast.” Emery grinned at her.

  She didn’t bother telling him about just strolling. He either wouldn’t believe her or he’d think it was weird. “I’m not a shrimp,” she played her part.

  “You’re too short to even be a good place to rest my arm anymore.” He nudged her.

  She smacked his arm. “You need to stop growing then. And stop leaning on me.”

  “I was going to see if you guys wanted to put a game on, but I don’t know. Is it safe to come in?” Aaron appeared with a couple of glasses of iced water. He handed one to Teri then sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room.

  “Yeah, that’d be great. And it’s just the usual bickering. This one doesn’t like to let me forget that he grew taller than me at twelve years old.”

  Emery snickered when Teri gave him a mock shove then rested against his shoulder. Emery automatically put his arm around her for a hug and they sat that way as they watched Aaron flip through the channels until he found a ball game for them to watch.

  It wasn’t often that Teri found herself distracted from a game, but her mind and gaze kept wandering to Aaron lounging a short distance away. He glanced over and their eyes met. A current passed between them that Emery was thankfully unaware of. Aaron’s heated regard traced her from head to toe and back up again, and she felt that perusal like a physical touch.

  At that point, Teri excused herself and headed down the hall to Emery’s room. She was woefully out of practice at exchanging covert romantic looks with someone while one of her kids was in the room. She took a deep breath as she double-checked her appearance in the mirror above the dresser.

  A knock came at the door. “Teri? You okay?”

  Her cheeks instantly pinkened at the sound of Aaron’s low voice. “Yes, just a moment.” She took a couple of steps to the door then paused to gather herself before she opened it.

  Aaron looked her up and down but made no effort to enter. “You all right?”

  “Fine, just needed a breather.” Now, why had she admitted that?

  “Oh yeah?”

  He was killing her, lounging there with his broad shoulder leaning against the doorjamb, a slightly smug smile on his face as though he knew exactly why she’d fled the room.

  She thought about their shower then flashed back to the uncharacteristic and raunchy comment she’d made out on the path, and couldn’t keep her gaze from drifting below his waist. The soft material of his sweats did little to hide the fact that he was just as into this flirtation as she was.

  As she watched, he dropped a hand to cup his semi-hard cock. “See what you do to me? Hard to keep from showing it. Makes me interested in what I might be doing to you.” Aaron leaned back and glanced down the hall, then stepped inside the room and closed the door.

  Teri moved into his arms and he braced his back against the door, which had no lock. She sent a mental plea for Emery to stay interested in the game for at least a few more minutes. His eyes searching hers, Aaron toyed with the elastic waistband of her shorts then delved inside, bypassing her panties and gripping her bare ass. Then he moved one hand around her hip, still inside her clothing, to trace along her pubic hair.

  She couldn’t keep from licking her lips as he stopped moving, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. She parted her lips, unable to get enough oxygen through her nose, the anticipation driving her crazy. With the warm pulsing between her thighs, she craved his touch on her pussy. Then he surprised her by sliding that hand upward to cup one of her breasts instead.

  “Tease,” she breathed.

  His lips spread in a wicked grin, and he ran a thumb across her beaded nipple. Unexpectedly, he used the hand that had been caressing her ass to reach farther down into her pants, finding the slickness of her pussy from the rear.

  She gasped and arched as his finger entered her.

  “You are so wet.” His thumb teased at her nipple while he pumped slowly in and out of her grasping channel. “God, I could just sink into you.”

  “Yes.” She didn’t realize she’d said that aloud until it reached her own ears in the quiet of the room.

  His expression regretful, he withdrew his fingers, leaving a slight trail of moisture as he skirted his hand past her ass and out of her pants. The other hand he slid around behind her and pulled her into a hug.

  “We can’t right now. Later?” he whispered in her ear.

  God, he had more willpower than she did. She just wanted to rip his clothes off and have him do her against the wall. If only they were alone…

  But they weren’t.

  She blew out a breath then nodded. “Later. If I can,” she added. “It might be really late.” Who knew when Em would get to bed? And it obviously wasn’t going to happen while he was awake, a fact that she was grateful for Aaron being the one to remember and put on the brakes for.

  He nodded, squeezed her one last time then firmly put her away from him before reaching for the doorknob. “You go first. I need to put on something a bit thicker,” he muttered, looking down at his obvious erection with chagrin. “Damn thing. I swear I usually have more control than this.”

  Teri chuckled as she moved past him into the hallway before she succumbed to temptation and jumped him.

  Aaron’s laughter joined hers as he headed toward his bedroom and she returned to where Emery was still slouched in the living room, eyes glued on the set.

  “You didn’t miss much,” he informed her.

  “Good,” she responded automatically, settling in next to him again.

  But I’m actually missing quite a lot right now.

  * * * *

  Aaron glanced at the glowing numbers of the bedside clock again and sighed. The Sanduskys ha
d outlasted him. He’d started yawning around midnight, and finally Emery had noticed. “Hey, man, you don’t have to stay up just ‘cause we are.” He’d even turned down the volume, but didn’t look the least bit tired. Then he’d resumed chatting with his mom about his impressions of some of the other teams in their division.

  Teri had looked at Aaron ruefully and given him a slight shrug. It had been obvious that Emery wasn’t going to turn in anytime soon, so he’d gotten up and said his goodnights, then had gone through his nighttime routine and hit the sack.

  He might be tired, but he couldn’t turn his brain off, not when his thoughts kept returning to Teri. His erection continued to make its presence known as well, but he didn’t want to get himself off if there was any chance at all that Teri might join him later.

  So here he was, staring at the dark ceiling and listening.

  He must have drifted off at some point because the next thing he knew, he felt the dip and movement of the mattress.

  “It’s me,” Teri whispered as a cool draft preceded her touch and the covers settled over the both of them. He shifted to wrap an arm around her and pull her close. She rested a cool hand on his chest and her head on his good shoulder. “He finally went to bed. I thought he’d never wind down.”

  “Me either. But I’m glad you got some good visiting with him in.”

  “Me too.” Teri moved a bit and he felt her lips touch his pec, her warm breath skating over his skin. “I don’t want to talk about him at the moment, though.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” he teased, running a hand along her back. She must have changed, because there was a softer, thinner feel to whatever top she was wearing. He slid his hand down her side along the dip of her waist and swell of her hip…and reached bare skin. Nothing on the bottom then.

  “Maybe I don’t want to talk.” She lifted her leg to nudge between his and entwine them. He could feel her pussy hair against his flank and thanked heaven he was wearing briefs, otherwise he’d be tempted to pull her on top of him and slide right into her without any protection at all.

  Instead, when he did pull her on top of him, they had that thin barrier between them as she bent to press her lips to his. She settled her welcome weight on top of his hard cock and wriggled around for a few seconds as their kiss deepened in a hurry. It went from a hello to an all-out carnal mating of mouths in seconds as she rode his cock, rocking along his length while he bracketed her bare hips with his hands and allowed her to set the pace.

  He lifted his head slightly to add movement to the kiss, stroking into her accepting mouth with his tongue and kneading her ass as a rhythmic counterpoint to their thrusts. The heat between them was incendiary and it was becoming harder by the moment to remember why he couldn’t roll her over, lose the briefs and bury himself in her.

  Before he could lose his control, he stilled her hips then pushed her from atop him.

  “What’s…?” Her protest trailed off as he ran his hands up her torso, taking her sleepshirt up and off. He reluctantly left his underwear in place for the moment then gently guided her onto her back and moved to kneel between her thighs.

  Her pale skin glowed in the tiny bit of light coming from between the partially open blinds. He ran his hands along the soft skin of her inner legs then moved downward to trace a trail of kisses up one thigh. Aaron smiled at the sigh of response and gave the other leg the same treatment before going to his belly on the sheets, shoulders between her legs, supporting them slightly. He shifted to adjust his cock to a comfortable angle then kissed his way as teasingly and slowly as he could to her core, wrapping his hands around her upper thighs to hold them in place as she gave an impatient buck.

  “Aaron…”

  “I’m getting there,” he promised.

  “Get there faster.”

  He raised his head to laugh softly and met her eyes in the dimness of the room. “Yes, Teri.”

  It was almost more than she could handle, having him down there and not doing a damn thing to assuage her ache, an ache that had been hounding her since their walk earlier.

  Now that they were in the privacy of Aaron’s room, behind a locked door and under the secrecy of darkness, he should be doing something besides laughing at her impatience, damn it…

  His mouth unerringly latched onto her clit and she almost yelled with her relief. She clapped a hand over her mouth just in time, then fumbled around to grab a pillow and placed it over her head.

  “Hey, now, don’t smother yourself.”

  “Enough talking,” she whispered and strained against his iron grip on her lower body. “Or I’ll smother you instead.”

  His huffed laugh fanned warmth over her wet clit, immediately followed by a long, meandering lick from there downward to her moist core.

  Teri whacked him on the back with the pillow then sent it winging across the bed as he nibbled and licked his way back to give her peak the attention it craved. With how turned on she’d been all night, it didn’t take any time at all before she was on the edge of losing control.

  She ran her fingers into his hair, but the short cut didn’t allow her to grip easily and it turned into more of a caress. Suddenly, the pressure became almost too much, as though the coming orgasm would be way too intense.

  She jerked her head up. “Aaron,” she called urgently, trying hard to get him to back off, but he had his own ideas on the matter. He kept right at what was making her crazy. Her head thumped back on the pillows and her body arched as she went supernova against his talented mouth.

  He groaned against her then covered her with his body, meeting her mouth in a wet kiss that tasted of him combined with her own slick juices. His rigid erection settled right against her pussy and she realized he hadn’t even taken off his briefs yet.

  Her hands went to his waistband in the back and she began to tug at them, trying to get them off. “Off, off,” she chanted. “C’mon. I want skin.”

  “Too tempting, unless I immediately put on a condom,” he warned, still thrusting against her. The drag of the fabric against her sensitized clit was promising, but at the same time, she needed more. She needed to be filled.

  “Do it then. I want you in me. Been wanting it since our walk. Since we met,” she babbled. She continued yanking until she feared she would rip the underwear right in two.

  “Fuck, you’re hot.” Finally, Aaron got with the program and knelt up, but only pushed his briefs down enough to expose his cock and balls before taking his cock into a firm grip. “Can’t wait this time. Tomorrow,” he promised huskily as he pumped himself, obviously right on the edge.

  She reached down to cup his balls in her hands and almost immediately he began to come. Teri lightly massaged his balls and cupped her other hand above his under the head of his cock, forming a curve for him to thrust into, come into.

  Aaron threw his head back. “Fuck, Teri,” he growled before pinning her with his gaze. “You’re killing me. God.” He slid his cock along her cum-filled palm a few more times, then she took over, stroking his cum down his still-firm shaft, mindful that it was probably very sensitive. After a few passes, he gripped her by the wrist and she let go. Only then did he take off his briefs and offer them to her as a rag.

  She wiped off her hand then he took it and swabbed at himself a few times before tossing them out of view and taking her into his arms. They settled together and Aaron reached to pull the covers up from somewhere.

  “I can’t fall asleep in here,” she murmured even as she snuggled in against his strong chest, enjoying the warmth and closeness.

  “Sure you can. We’ll be up before him.”

  “But what if he gets up in the middle of the night and notices—?”

  “Teri…” Aaron cut her off.

  She stilled, listening.

  “Would it be the end of the world if by chance he learned that something had happened between us?”

  Teri thought about that for a minute. Would it be? The answer was no. Em and Alex were adult
s now, and she was more than just a mom. In fact, Alex had been after her for years to start dating. He’d likely be thrilled. But Emery was a bit oblivious to the fact that she had a life beyond work and parenting. Not that she actually had much of one.

  “I guess not. Still, it isn’t exactly the way I’d want to broach the subject.”

  Aaron nodded. “Fair enough. Stay for a little while? Then you can move back out to the couch if you’re more comfortable with that. I don’t want you to do anything that will detract from what’s happening between us.”

  Silence reigned at that point, and she really tried to just enjoy the time for what it was. But Aaron’s choice of words kept circling in her head and continued to do so long after she eased away from Aaron’s sleeping form and made her way back out to the cold sofa.

  What exactly is happening between us?

  Chapter Eleven

  When Aaron woke up and Teri was gone from his bed, he wasn’t surprised—just even more determined to convince her to stay with him tonight. Nothing she’d said suggested that she had done much dating, so between work and raising Emery, he figured she was due for some adult fun. That much he could deliver on.

  A huge part of him wished, however, that he’d met her at home, not here. Something about Teri really seemed to click with him, and for the first time, he could really see getting involved with someone being worth it…if she had lived in the same city, that was.

  He knew better than to get his hopes up for a future with her under the circumstances. It was hard enough on players’ partners with all of the travel…he couldn’t imagine lumping a long distance relationship on top of that. They’d never see one another.