“Alright, so anyhow, let’s not be assholes,” Coach shoots me daggers, “And lets welcome Mac to our team. Game tomorrow, ya’ll know that already, so I am guessing that I don’t need to reiterate the rules laid down by Laci? No extreme booze tonight, no partying. No fucking orgys or any of that shit. Our flight leaves bright and early tomorrow, and I expect you all to be well rested and ready to play. We’ve got a new lease on this season, let’s not fuck that up.” He glances around at all of us, before nodding. “Ok, good. All on the same page. Mac will be here daily, so if you’re looking for a new workout regime, hit him up. That’s all I got. Good day gentleman.” He tips his hat to us, before turning and jogging back up the dugout steps and onto the field.
Laci flashes us all a smile, before turning to go. And fuck me, if Mac doesn’t do the same, before placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her out of the dugout.
“Laci.” I bark, jumping up from my seat and stomping towards her. She spins around, her cheeks instantly flushing, but the fucker Mac? Stays right next to her, with his hand still on her back. I stare at him, leveling him with my eyes, before tilting my head towards his hands.
“You always so handsy with women that you barely know?” I cross my arms and glare at him.
“I, uh.” He stammers, before dropping his hand to his side.
“Jake! What the hell?” she hisses, matching my stance, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are you being such a dick?”
“Why does he have his hands all over you?”
Her mouth drops open, as she glances over my shoulder before looking back at me. “Wow, Jake, just. Wow.” She shakes her head before turning back around and heading off of the field.
“I’m sorry about that Mac, he’s not usually such an asshole, I don’t know what’s gotten into him today.” She glances over her shoulder at me, glaring at me, but whatever. At least that piece of shit keeps his hands down.
“Jake, son, we gotta talk.” Eddie nudges me, but I don’t turn around, until I can’t see Laci anymore.
I grab my glove and my bag before heading to the showers.
“Oh, ok, so you’re gonna ignore me, like I didn’t just watch you lose your shit out there?”
“I didn’t lose my shit. If I lost it, you would have known.”
“Jake.” He reaches out and grabs my arm, forcing me to stop. “What’s going on with you and Laci?”
“This isn’t about Laci. I just don’t like guys like him.”
“Guys like him.”
“That’s what I said.”
He crosses his arms as I walk to the shower, turning it on and standing under the stream.
He steps into the shower next to me, before turning it on, and laughing his ass off.
“Uh huh. You’ve got it bad, brother. And you’re going to have some explaining to do to the rest of the guys. You pretty much just blurted out that the two of you are together.”
“What we are is my business.” I glare at him, but the fucker just keeps smiling.
“Yeah. Ok.” His grin widens.
“And what you are is obvious, man. You are in love with her.”
Don’t I know it. And not being able to announce that to the world is damn near gonna kill me.
“Laci.” I fling the door to her office open, making Mac jump and Laci’s eyes snap up to the door.
“Jake, what in the hell? You know you can knock, right?”
“Mac.” I sneer the word at him, as he stands abruptly and starts to collect paperwork off Laci’s desk.
“We can finish this later, Laci. No big deal. If you need to meet with Jake…”
“I don’t.”
“She does.” I say at the same time, cutting her off and staring hard at Mac as he side steps me and heads out the door.
“Jesus, Jake, what in the hell is the matter with you?” Laci screeches, as I spin around, shutting her door and locking it before turning back to her and crossing the distance to her in two long strides.
“Jake. What are you…”
I grab her into my arms and press my mouth hard to hers, stifling her words. My god, she tastes so good. I could do this all day, have her body pressed up against mine, let her smell surround me as her taste covers my lips. My hands travel all over her, before moving down her thighs and grabbing the bottom of her skirt, before pulling it right up to her waist.
“Jake, we can’t do this here.”
“Yeah? Well we can’t do it anywhere when you are too busy to see me.”
“You’ve been busy too!” She cries, before her hips buck against me and her breath catches as my finger glides between her folds, where of course, she’s soaking wet and hot for me.
“I can’t stand the way that fucker looks at you.” I growl into her mouth, before sinking my finger inside of her, making her hips buck faster against me.
“Oh my god.” She murmurs, gripping my shoulder with her hand.
“I can’t stand the way any man looks at you.” I growl, before adding another finger inside of her. “I want to plaster a sign on your ass that says taken.”
“You’re crazy.” She moans, as her head tilts back.
“Crazy in love with you.”
Her eyes lock on mine, full of heat, as I continue to stroke her clit and finger fuck her, as her pretty pink lips moan my name.
“I love you too.” She murmurs, before reaching up and pulling my face to hers, letting her lips and tongue explain to me just how much she does in fact love me.
“That’s right baby.” I reach up with my free hand and unbutton her blouse. It drops open, showing off a plain white demi cup bra, that is instantly pulled down, letting those gorgeous breasts of hers spill out into my hands.
“Fuck.” I mutter, as my lips crash onto hers, my hands fumbling all over her body.
I pick her up, carrying her to her desk, where I use one hand to shove everything off it before setting her on it. She rests her feet on the chair, giving me the most fucking perfect view of her.
“Jesus.” I murmur, taking a step back and basking in the site.
“Laci, honey. You are so fucking sexy.”
With her shirt unbuttoned, her breasts exposed, and her panties off with her skirt around her waist, she is the sexiest sight that I’ve ever seen. And she’s mine.
“Spread your legs more, baby. Let me see all of you.”
She does as I ask, biting her lip the entire time and looking behind her nervously.
“Jake, we could really get caught.”
“Well then I guess everyone will know that you’re all mine then.”
“We can’t get caught! I would get fired!”
“So?” I step forward slowly, watching the way that her breathing increases with every step that I take towards her. “I’ll take care of you. You don’t ever have to work another day in your life, baby. I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”
When I’m in front of her, I reach underneath her bottom, lifting her just enough to ease myself into her. She throws her head back and moans as I slide inside of her, until I’m balls deep.
“So sweet.” I murmur against her lips, as I begin to move.
Her arms wrap around my neck, as she presses her body up close to mine, murmuring my name and moaning softly into my neck as I move my hips.
“Tell me how much you love me.” I groan, as the world starts to fade around me, and all that I can focus on is the way her body feels next to mine.
“So much, Jake. So damn much.” She murmurs, before reaching her hand up and turning my chin so that I face her, before pressing her lips hungrily to mine.
“All mine.”
“All yours.”
Our eyes lock, as she reaches down, grabbing my hips and pulling me harder into her. I take her cue, and pick up the pace, until I feel her clamp down on me, before losing herself all over me.
I thrust a few more times, before following her down, spinning and shaking, griping onto her as if she is my lifeboat.
“Jake.”
“Fuck Laci.” I press my forehead to hers, panting to catch my breath.
“Dammit, baby. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Jake. You have to trust that.”
“I do trust that. It’s just that, seeing that guy touch you today. Fuck.” I blow out my breath, before pressing my forehead to hers.
“It made me crazy. It’s just old insecurities coming back to me. I didn’t mean to freak out. It’s just that…”
My words trail off as her eyes meet mine.
“It’s just that I’m so in love with you. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
She just shrugs, before pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
“No worries, there, hotshot. I’m pretty in love with you too.”
“So, what’s the story with you and that guy. The shortstop, what’s his name?”
Inwardly, I roll my eyes as Mac questions me while we work out. Obviously, he knows exactly what his name is. After all, he works for the team and Jake is pretty much the most famous guy on the roster.
I’ve had a tiny feeling that Mac maybe has a crush on me, but he hasn’t made any advances so there hasn’t been any reason to avoid him. Plus, if anything, I could use another friend around here, and Mac has become somewhat of a friend. We work together often, and Mac keeps me updated on all of his plans where each player is concerned.
The guys have been gone all week, today being day four at their series away in Cleveland. Jake and I have texted every day, and the last two nights, I’ve fallen asleep with him still on the phone. Happy doesn’t even seem like a strong enough word to describe the way that I feel right now.
Maybe elated, ecstatic. Something along those lines. Because I am literally floating around on cloud nine right now.
I’m in love with a man, who is in love with me. And while he may be against everything that I’ve ever stood for, still. I’m willing to give this a go.
But, at the same time, while I’ve missed him, being away from him for a few days has given me a little bit of space to stop and think. And there has been a lot for me to think about.
First of all, we won’t be able to keep our relationship a secret forever. I’m just finally past the stages of the guys pranking me at every other turn, and the other times, calling me names. I feel that we’ve finally made it past the initial hazing period, and now that we are all on the same level, with that being making them look better in the public eye, things have been way less stressful.
But them finding out that Jake and I are together might open a whole new can of worms that I’m not ready to deal with. Of course, the threat of losing my job would be there, front and center, and that is my biggest worry.
There’s no way that I could make what I make right now somewhere else. As it is, I feel that I’m way over paid for my qualifications, since I have virtually none for this job. I could go back into business somewhere else, but that would mean a huge pay cut, and potentially ending up stuck in another stupid cubicle.
Never mind the fact that while Jake says that he loves me, in all honesty, that doesn’t mean that this thing with us is going to last forever, nor would I ever expect him to support me financially, even though he tells me all of the time that he would.
He could realize tomorrow that he is in lust instead of love, meet someone else and I could be completely forgotten.
Of course, the thought sickens me, but it’s the truth. And I do have to keep that firmly in my mind.
Also, I must accept the fact that if things do work out between us, and we do stay together, get married and have a little family, could I deal with him being gone all the time?
I grew up, seeing firsthand the way these relationships tend to work out. My parents were not a minority. Could I actually deal with that?
I’ve been to the practices where women are nearly stripping to get Jakes attention. I know that he could easily have any woman that he wanted, at any given moment.
Could I trust him enough not to do those things to me?
It’s all so new and fresh, that of course, right now it’s hard to picture. But a year down the road, or even five or ten years down the road, I just can’t be certain.
It’s a lot to try to process, but at least I don’t have to try to do it all right now. For now, our relationship is just between us, and as long as the rest of the team doesn’t find out, we will be just fine.
But, I also need some advice on it. And who better to get it from than a guy?
I glance up at Mac from the stair stepper that I’m on, trying to catch my breath as I shut the machine down.
“Can I tell you something without it going any further than you and I? At least for right now?”
He nods, and I swallow a slug of water before stepping off the machine on shaky legs.
“It’s kind of a long story, but we’re sort of together.”
“Sort of together? How so?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with the details, but we are together. We have been for a while now. He recently told me that he loves me.”
I smile to myself as I begin to stretch, completely missing the dark look that crosses Mac’s face
“That fucking asshole.”
His growled words make my head snap up, and when I do, I see the look of pure hatred on his face.
“All of them, a bunch of fucking assholes. Laci, dammit. I hate to be the one to tell you this. Honest to god, it kills me.”
I’m barely hearing him, over the alarm bells ringing inside of my head. Between his words and the look on his face, I know that whatever it is that he is about to tell me is going to be bad.
And I don’t know that I can stomach it, since my entire lunch feels ready to come back up.
“Fuck.” He mutters, before turning around and running his hands through his hair.
I grab onto the wall, suddenly shaky all over. Maybe it’s from the workout that I just had, but I’m fairly certain it’s because Mac has something to tell me, and I’m pretty sure it may just wreck me.
Finally, after a few deep breaths he spins around and crosses his arms.
“Are you sleeping with him? Are you having sex with Jake?”
Numbly, I nod.
“And he told you that he loves you?”
I nod again.
“Laci, dammit, I am so sorry. I heard the guys talking, I didn’t really think anything of it, but I heard a few of them talking about a bet. The bet was about you. Jake made the bet.”
Suddenly, I feel very dizzy and my knees get weak. Mac rushes to me, grabbing me around the waist right before I go down.
“Oh my god.” It’s all that I can muster out.
A bet. Oh, lord. I am a foolish woman. I bought into everything that Jake said to me. I believed him when he told me that he loved me. Let him inside of my body without protection…
Oh my god. It’s so awful, so fucking bad that I can’t even comprehend it all right now. I sink onto the floor, completely numb, as my mind spins.
The sudden knowledge hits me like a mac truck. The goal was to get rid of me. He did all those things, said all those things, strictly just to hurt me.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” I muster, before Mac grabs a trash can and shoves it under me while I empty out the entire contents of my stomach.
My head is spinning, my eyes are watering from vomiting, and all I can hear across the room is a loud cackle.
Mac’s head spins before mine can, and I hear the name muttered under his breath.
“Emilio.”
“Oh, damn.” He laughs again. “I almost didn’t think that he would pull it off. Well, sweetheart, looks like you wrote your last fine to me and my guys. As much as it kills me to wear ole Jakey boys number for a day, I’m sure as hell glad to see that you’ll be outta here.”
Mac reaches down, and brushes my hair off my face.
“Ignore him. Are you ok?”
He hands me my water which I take g
ratefully, before nodding.
“I think so.”
I crawl to a standing position and manage to make eye contact with the asshole behind me.
“What did you say? About Jakes number?”
He laughs again, before staring at me with cold hard eyes.
“That was the bet. He nailed you, we had to wear his number for two whole days. Except he took too long to do the deed, so we had to renegotiate a few weeks ago. Brought it down to one day. I must say, I didn’t think Jake would be the kind of guy to dish out the L word just to nab a bet, but hell. Gotta give the man some props. Bah bye, Laci.”
They renegotiated a few weeks ago. That means that this entire time, every single thing that he did was all to win this bet. They renegotiated right before we had sex. Right before I gave him my virginity, even though of course, at the time, he didn’t know that.
I cringe inside at my stupidity. I can’t believe that I was such a fool. I watch as he turns and walks out of the gym, before I feel myself starting to fall again.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart. Here. Let’s get you sitting.”
I feel myself lowered onto the cool cement, and I press my head back against the concrete blocks.
Mac squats in front of me, handing me back my water.
“Deep breaths, Laci. It’s going to be ok, everything will be fine. I just need you to breathe, sweetheart.”
He reaches up, cupping my face with his hand, breathing with me. I stare directly into his face, and begin to try to take deep breaths, but the crushing pain in my chest makes it hard to inhale.
I do my best, letting out shaky breaths, beginning to be able to feel my body again. And Lord knows, I wish that I couldn’t. Because the pain that shoots through me has nothing to do with the intense workout that I just put my body through.
It has everything to do with the shards of my heart that have just been shattered inside of me.
“Listen, man. I’ve been really fucking nice to you about keeping your hands to yourself, but I swear to god, if you don’t let her go, you and I are going to have a serious issue.”
His voice washes over me, suddenly making the pain all that much more intense. Mac stares down at my face, as I close my eyes, and the dam that I have been trying to hold back suddenly breaks open.
Bet On It Page 18
