Fastball (Wilde Players Dirty Romance)

by Hargrove,A. M.

  The ovation he gets is one I can see being a theme every time he plays in the future. There is greatness in him beyond anything I ever let myself see, and I’m so fucking proud. I slip away as my heart breaks. I don’t know what to do still, so I fly home and head back to the bar and talk to Sam. He’s been sort of a father figure to me these past few years.

  I explain everything, including my ideas for the future. I’d bounced them off of Cassie first, and she also agreed. Sam’s agreement only solidifies my thoughts.

  “Go get him, kid,” he says as he envelops me in a hug.

  Out of everything he said, I’m now excited about the future. But everything hinges on one man. He’s the last piece of the puzzle I need to put in place.

  Upstairs, I put on a dress. I don’t know why, as I hardly ever wear one like this. It’s summery and not made of leather or lace. It’s respectable if not for the fact that it’s shorter than something you’d where to church on Sunday. I frivolously use the plane I never asked for to get back to Charlotte and another car service to get me to my destination. It’s convenient. And ultimately, he’s worth every penny I spend.

  The room is filled to the brim when I arrive. I can hardly make out the floor color from the density of the crowd. I move with the tide until I spot him holding court in a far corner. A pretty petite woman is near, and when she wraps her arms around his neck and he bends down, I’m sick. I can’t turn back and flee. I’m pushed forward until I reach a back door and spill out into the night.

  So far, the backyard is empty. I spot a gazebo out in the distance. I push my legs to move when I find it hard to walk. Stumbling forward, I make my way there as tears gather in my eyes. What a fool I’d been. How could I have been so stupid?

  “Gina.”

  I turn, just as I reach the steps. For balance, I hold on to the wood railing, seeing Ryder jogging toward me. Furiously, I wipe at my eyes, not caring if my makeup smudges.

  “Hey, congratulations,” I say with false cheer when he catches up.

  Holding out my hand, he gives me a puzzled look as if my arm is a foreign object.

  “Is that what we are now?”

  “What do you mean? I’m being gracious. I wouldn’t want your date to get the wrong idea about us.”

  “Date?” His face screws up. “Kaycee, my cousin.”

  “Petite, pretty, and a second ago you were about to kiss her…”

  “On the cheek and she’s not my date.” He takes another step, crowding me in the darkness.

  His hand lands on my outer thigh and slides up under my dress. I suck in a hiss. Once he registers what I’m not wearing, he stares in my eyes.

  “Surprise,” I say weakly.

  “You’ve been walking around like this… bare.”

  I clamp my teeth together and force a smile that must look like I have the shits. I lift my shoulders and let them fall.

  He doesn’t waste time. His lips find mine, and it’s sweeter than honey and hotter than fire. Hoisting me up, he climbs the stairs and finds the darkest corner. I can hear him work at opening his pants.

  “Your shoulder,” I protest when he finally gives me a second to breathe.

  “It’s okay. I have another one.”

  It’s true. He lifts me with his left arm, and it’s seconds when his fingers dip inside me.

  “Wet,” he mutters.

  “Always,” I admit.

  Then the crown of his cock nudges at my opening. My back slides down the wood, and I fear a splinter has caught me. It’s forgotten as he presses inside. Audibly, I gasp. I’ve missed his invasions. Whenever he fucks me, I feel conquered.

  “I’m mad at you, Gina. I can’t be nice tonight.”

  “Give me your worst,” I beg.

  He plunges into me so hard, I see stars. That might be partly because I dropped my head back from the thrill of how good he felt. The wood behind me wasn’t pliable, and the knock to the skull I received will probably leave a bruise.

  He buries his face in the crook of my neck.

  “Damn, Gina. I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you. I will never let you go this time.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, ever.”

  I’m surprised by my words. I hadn’t been sure until now. But now I am. I love this man, or something so close to it. I can’t determine the difference.

  He rocks into me, and each thrust brings me closer to an emotional edge I hadn’t known existed. But this time I’m ready. Never before in my life have I been this ready.

  As the orgasm tears through me, I confess, “I love you.”

  RYDER

  “And it’s about fucking time.” Her words work their way through me and settle into my heart, wedging their way into my soul, sealing our fate forever. She’s mine and will be for life. “I love you, too, you beautiful crazy woman.” My lips seal the deal as they press against hers, and she swallows another moan. I set her down on the steps.

  “You know how to spoil a girl,” she purrs.

  “Trust me. You haven’t seen anything yet. Promise me something.”

  “Anything.”

  “You won’t ever run from me again.” She leans back, and even though her eyes are still soft from the orgasm I just gave her, I can see there’s something she needs to say. “What is it, princess?”

  Her fingers lightly skim over my cheek, and she says, “I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I did it because I had to. There were things I needed to do, to take care of.” And she explains. But the kicker is, she was at every one of my games. She watched me pitch every ball.

  “Why didn’t you let me know?”

  “I didn’t want you to know. I would’ve caved, Ryder. You have to know that.”

  Her bottom lip trembles just slightly, but enough that I notice, so I lean in to kiss the quivering away. “No more sadness or regrets. From this point on, it’s you and me. Together. Forever. You’re going to be Gina Wilde. I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

  “Wait. Don’t you think you should ask me first?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I want you to have a choice.” She finally notices the curve of my lips, and I’m rewarded with a solid poke in the ribs. “Hey, a man has to have a plan. That’s all I’m saying here.”

  She peeks out at me from under a fringe of dark lashes, and that sexy look gets me rock hard again.

  “Shit, Gina.” I put her hand on my cock, and she grins.

  “Won’t people notice we’re gone?”

  “I’m sure they will. But a quickie?” I beg her for more. “I’ve been deprived of your sweet pussy for these last several weeks, and look what’s happened.”

  Her throaty laugh doesn’t help either. But her hand does. Long, tight strokes leave me hungry for what’s between her legs, so I use my fingers to spread her lips and mark her in return. She’s still soaked from our lovemaking a few minutes ago, and it makes me moan. “God, you are so ready again. You feel like warm, wet silk.” I brush her hand off me and spread her thighs apart, wrapping them around me as I slide my cock deep inside her warmth.

  “I’ll never get enough of you. Of this. Of us. I want us to go home and be together for the entire night. I’ve missed our nights together, with you next to me.”

  She murmurs things to me, but I’m lost in her tight heat, her silky cunt, and all I want to do is fuck her.

  “Harder, Ryder. I need it hard.”

  “Like this?” I thrust hard, lifting her off the step each time.

  “Yes.”

  It doesn’t take long for either of us to find our release. Afterward, she lets out a long bellowing laugh.

  “We’re like two teenagers. Look at us. My dress looks like shit.”

  “Sexy shit.” Sitting back on my heels, I let my eyes roam her. “I love it when you’re messy after we’ve just made love.”

  “So, we’ve gone from fucking to making love, have we?”

  The question concerns me. Not for my feelings, because I know exactly where my heart
is, but because I don’t want her running off scared again. “Can I be honest here?”

  “Ryder, if you ever give me anything but honesty, I can promise you, you won’t like the outcome.”

  “Fair enough. So then, being with you is an adventure. Every single time. And, yes, we fuck. Like crazy. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. But somehow, I believe my heart got wrapped up in you from the very first time, so even though we do fuck, and we do it right, we also make love right, too. I hope I’m making sense here.” I’m pretty damn sure I just hit a home run, because even though the light is so dim, her smile lights up the entire stairway we’re sitting on.

  With her smile still in place, I say, “Come on.” I realize she’ll need the restroom to make herself look presentable, so I pull her up, kiss her one more time, and add, “I would stay here all night with you, but we can’t. So, let’s go back to the party.”

  “One thing,” she says softly.

  “What’s that?” I stare into her deep brown eyes.

  “We didn’t use protection.”

  I shrug, even though I hadn’t thought about it. Caught up in greed and need, I just went for her. “Maybe I just got you pregnant. Not like it matters. You’re mine, and the baby will be mine. And I’m clean.”

  She narrows her eyes. “And that’s that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You didn’t ask my status.”

  “I figured you’d tell me.”

  Nodding, she says, “I’m clean. I’ve never…” She waves an absent hand. “Never without with anyone, ever. But I get tested anyway.”

  “So we’re good.”

  Shaking her head, I lead her to the restroom first. From her squeals, my swimmers were falling victim to gravity. She wants to get to the bathroom before it happens, panty-less and all.

  I wait for her in the hall, surprisingly calm at the thought of her with my child, though she tells me she’s on the pill. When she emerges, she looks like a breath of fresh air wrapped around a warm summer day in the middle of winter.

  “God, I love you. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me, including baseball.”

  She slants her head and stares. “Wow, that’s really some comment.”

  I put my palms on each side of her face. “I am sincere in whatever I say to you.”

  She rewards me by throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me.

  “If I’d known that’s all it took to get a response from you like that, I’d have said it sooner.”

  We head back and join the party, where the rest of my family is. I introduce Gina to Kaycee and chuckle about her thinking my cousin was my date.

  “Gina, Kaycee just got back from Chile. She’s on the U.S. Ski Team and was in training for the upcoming season.”

  “Oh, that’s cool. I never thought about where skiers trained in the summer.”

  “Yeah,” Kaycee says, “we go to the other side of the equator. But in mid-November, we’ll start getting snow, hopefully, on our mountains here. So this is my time off.”

  “Nice. What’s your event?”

  “Downhill, giant slalom and super-G.” Kaycee is chirpy like a bird when she talks about her sport. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and all I can think about is that ten-year-old kid who was always a daredevil.

  “This one,” I point to my cousin, “was never afraid of anything. If there was a tree, she’d climb it. If there was a hill, she’d ride her bike down it like her hair was on fire.”

  “Yep, that’s me,” she says. “I like to go fast.”

  Gina says, “You must to ski that kind of stuff. How fast do you go?”

  “Very. The men go faster, though, because they weigh more. Honestly, I don’t really want to know. I think it jinxes me.”

  “So, Olympics?” Gina asks.

  “I’m hoping.”

  “Gina, don’t let her fool you. She’s one of the top skiers in the U.S. If she doesn’t make it, it’ll be because of something we won’t mention.” When Gina looks at me curiously, I shake my head. It’s totally bad luck to talk about injuries in front of an athlete, especially one like Kaycee. The danger of being a downhill skier is incredible.

  Riley runs behind Gina and pinches her butt. Gina spins around, but Riley has already moved next to me. When Gina turns back around, Riley stands there with an innocent look on her face, but she can’t hold it before she cracks up. Then the two women are hugging. They whisper some things to each other, but I have no idea what they are. And I won’t ask either. I’m only happy to see them with their arms linked together, chatting away as if they were best friends. I’m not sure what I would’ve done had they not gotten along.

  Soon, we’re joined by the rest of the Wilde clan. My parents, my aunt and uncle, Fletcher and Cassie, Mark, and even Fletcher’s little brother, Chase, came in from Europe to see the game. I’m so proud when I introduce my girl to everyone for the first time.

  The party is in full swing. The team is having a great time with each of their family members, and all of the coaches are present, the manager and so on, and I look up to see Cougar Whitestone walking in the door. I’m pretty sure my night is about to take a turn for the worse.

  Spoons clink against crystal, and she steps up to the front of the room. A round of applause goes through the room, with the men chanting, “Whitestone, Whitestone, Whitestone.” I can’t bring myself to join in. She makes a few comments about what a great team we are and how she always knew we could win the pennant. She saw that magic in us early on and knew with hard work and effort we would do it. Blah, blah, blah. The cheers and shouts fill the room. The men are on a victory high. Not me. I know what drives this bitch, and it’s not this. It’s preying on people her money can control.

  Gina’s small hand is in mine, and she gives mine a little squeeze every now and then. She doesn’t know what the cougar woman is all about because I haven’t told her. And I don’t plan on it unless I have to. But then when she opens up her next line, I know my road to victory was only a few minutes on the mountaintop. Whitestone doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the welfare of this team. She only wants what makes her happy.

  “So,” she continues to speak, “I have the pleasure of announcing that we will be making a trade with the New York Yankees. Ryder Wilde will be moving from the Cougars and heading up to New York.” If ever there was a room where crickets chirped, it was here. The expression on Gina’s face tells me more than I care to know. Her home is North Carolina.

  GINA

  New York, the name of the city keeps running through my brain as a ruckus erupts from the crowd. They, like me, aren’t thrilled with the news. I block out the words and shouts coming from the crowd. The smile plastered to my face is for Ryder. I don’t want him to know what I’m feeling. What am I feeling?

  “Gina.” I glance up to my other side to find Cassie’s worried expression. “Are you okay?”

  I blink a few times, and her face comes into focus. “Yeah, chica. What’s up?”

  Her eyes narrow. The plastic smile I’ve managed to maintain blooms into something more real. My best friend, my rock, my family. She’s here. And everything else is good. New York isn’t that far, and I have access to a freakin’ plane now. Fletcher and Cassie have managed to do it. The world is a much smaller place now.

  “You looked like something was bothering you,” she says, as Ryder is whisked away.

  “I’m fine, really.” I take several steps back, distancing myself from the chaos, leaving her with it.

  Swallowed up by his family, I watch as Ryder is bombarded with words and questions as I continue to melt into the background. Soon he’s totally out of sight, and I find a seat.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  Riley stands over me. I nearly jump out of my dress because I thought she was with the others.

  “You’re the second person to ask me that tonight. And I’m fine.”

  “He didn’t know,” she says.

  Tilting my head back, I realize that w
as the question that had been circling in my head. Then he’s there.

  “Gina.”

  I find the will to curve my lips. “Congratulations,” I muster.

  “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  As I nod frantically, he helps me to my feet. Riley still wears a worried expression. I really must look like shit.

  Unfortunately, we pass the owner along the way.

  There isn’t a thought when I tug my hand free from Ryder’s and march up to the woman who thinks she’s destroying his life.

  I get so close my finger is a millisecond away from drilling into her nose.

  “You are so stupid. You traded away one of the best players this team has.”

  “She’s right about that,” a big guy, who I think is Robinson, says.

  I ignore him and continue with my rant. “All because he wouldn’t fuck you, you stretch-faced old hag.”

  “If that’s what he told you—”

  She’s not getting the floor. It’s my turn. “He didn’t have to tell me anything. I saw those staged pictures of your lips on his. And when he didn’t give you what you wanted, you made good on your threat to trade him. And he’s too good of a person to call you out on your sexual harassment.”

  “I’ll fuck you if Ryder can stay,” Robinson calls out from somewhere behind me.

  “But he doesn’t need you. You’ll eat your trade when he wins the pennant for the Yankees. I’m only sad for all the great guys here that are stuck with you.”

  I didn’t know I’d balled my fist until Ryder had me around the waist telling me not to hit his former boss.

  Before I know it, the conversation melts away. Fresh air greets me before I’m in Ryder’s car.

  In anticipation of leaving with Ryder, I hadn’t asked the driver of the car service to hang around.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” he says, squeezing my hand.

  “I’m sorry. She fucking smirked at me, and I just had to say something.”

  “Thank you for saying what I couldn’t. It means more to me than I can say.”

  “She deserved worse.” I try to smile, but it doesn’t last.