Beyond the Bases

by Kaylee Ryan

  Parking my truck in my reserved spot, I climb out and rush to her door.

  “You sure we’re allowed to be here?” She glances around the empty parking lot.

  “I’m sure.” Taking her hand in mine, I lead her to the players’ entrance gate. Pulling out my key, I make quick work of unlocking the gate and pulling her through.

  “You have a key?”

  “I do.” I grin. I don’t tell her that I had to come back last week to get my gear that I left and had to swing by coach’s house to get his extra key and have yet to give it back. Making sure the gate is secure behind us, I lead her down the dimly lit hallway. Her hand clutches onto mine. On instinct, I release her hand and place my arm over her shoulders, holding her next to me.

  “It’s so quiet,” she says in awe.

  “Yeah, it’s a lot different after hours.” I lead her out onto the field that’s lit only from the lights of the surrounding city and the night sky. I don’t stop until we reach the outfield.

  “Wow,” she whispers, looking up at the stars.

  Her head is tilted toward the night sky, and her hair is cascading down her back. I step close, invading her space. When she lifts her head, our eyes collide and our breaths mingle. “You’re beautiful, Larissa.” My hand reaches up to cup her cheek. Her hand grips my wrist, and I hesitate just long enough for her to push me away. She doesn’t. Closing the space between us, I press my lips to hers. I have to fight to keep it slow, to not devour her.

  “East,” she whimpers.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “What are we doing?”

  “I’m kissing you.” I trail my lips down her jaw.

  “But why?”

  “Because I can’t not kiss you,” I say, kissing her just below her ear before pulling away. Sitting down in the middle of the outfield, I tug on her hand and motion for her to sit between my legs. She hesitates but eventually takes her place nestled between my thighs, her back to my chest. Immediately, I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her neck. “Tell me what I have to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What do I have to do for you to give us… give this a chance?”

  “Why me?”

  “Besides the fact that my body prickles with awareness anytime you’re near? How about the fact that you’re not impressed with my career or the fact that I’m a Monroe? You make me work for your attention. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day I met you.”

  “I’m a single mom, busting my ass to make ends meet. You don’t need that baggage.”

  “Can I tell you a story?”

  “Yeah,” she whispers.

  “One day there was this ten-year-old little boy name Easton. His father was a bad guy, a crooked cop, heavy into drugs who no longer wanted his family. Easton and his mom started over on their own. They were doing fine on their own, but one day that all changed. A man, a good man, fell in love with his mother, fell in love with him. That man changed their lives for the better. He loved them both as if they’d always been his. He brought them a family—brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents. Suddenly Easton and his mom were more than doing fine. They were great.”

  “Is that true?”

  “Yeah, my dad, he adopted me after he and my mom got married. He’s never once treated me as if I’m not his biological son. His family welcomed me and my mom with open arms.” I tighten my hold on her. “That little girl is a part of you, Larissa. I know this is a package deal. I wouldn’t pursue this otherwise.”

  “Your father is a good man.”

  “The best,” I say, before kissing the top of her head. “I know this is all fast, but I’ve never wanted someone the way I want you. Not just so I can fuck you.” She tenses in my arms, and I rush to finish what I was saying. “It’s more than that. I just like being around you. Your smile lights me up inside. And as far as your little princess, she’s just that, an adorable little girl who I would be honored to get to spend more time with.”

  “I’m worried she’s going to get attached to you and she’s going to get her heart broken.” A pang of longing hits me, causing an ache deep in my chest. I want her to get attached to me. I want to be engrained in their lives. I know I have to prove it to her, but no way would I break either of their hearts. In fact, it would be quite the opposite if she were to let me in and then push me back out of their lives. My heart would be the one broken.

  “I won’t hurt either of you. I know what’s at stake here. I know it’s more than just about me and how much I want you. I know what it means to date a single mom; I’ve lived it.”

  “Yet you’re still here.”

  “I’m still here. This is where I want to be.” Her body relaxes against me, and I smile in silent victory that maybe, just maybe, I’m getting through to her. “Tell me about her dad.”

  Rather than stiffening in my arms like I expected her to at the mention of her husband, I’m relieved when she presses even closer to me. “Steve and I were high school sweethearts. We had everything all planned out. We’d both work and save up money. He would go to the police academy first since it was a shorter program. Once he got a full-time job, I’d start on my degree. We were so young and a lot alike. He was a foster kid, and well, all I had was my mom. The day we found out I was pregnant, we were thrilled but scared out of our minds. He left for work that same morning, and I never saw him again. A few hours later, there was a uniformed officer at our front door telling me he was killed in the line of duty.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that,” I confess. Although it would mean we were not here in this moment, I wish I could somehow change the outcome for her. For both of them. Then it hits me. I can change it now. Maybe that’s why I met her, maybe that’s the pull I feel toward them.

  “Yeah, I get that a lot. Steve had life insurance, but it was small. We were young and thought we had time. He was a rookie so his pension and benefits, although helpful, weren’t much. It was enough to cover the funeral and get caught up on the bills I was behind on from not being able to… function for a few weeks after his death. Eventually, I knew I had to start living again, for our baby. I gave her his middle name, Paisley Gray. I wanted her to always know she had that part of him. I don’t know what I would have done without my mom. She’s helped me so much, watching her on days she doesn’t have to work.”

  “What about the other times?”

  “She goes to daycare.”

  “Damn, Ris,” I murmur into her neck. Our stories are so similar yet so very different. I can’t help but think that if she would let me in, if this thing building between us grows even more, she wouldn’t have to work. She could focus on finishing school and taking care of P. Hell, I would do that for her now. That’s how important these two have become to me.

  “What?”

  “I know this is going to sound bad, but hearing what you’ve been through, how strong you are, it makes me even more attracted to you. You’re a fighter. It takes a strong woman to be with a professional athlete. You remind me a lot of my mom, in a non-creepy way.” I laugh. “She did what she had to do to make ends meet, working two jobs. I admire you for that.”

  “Thank you,” she says, looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes shine in the moonlight. They captivate me, but it’s the look itself that leaves me speechless.

  Acceptance.

  I can see it. She’s no longer hiding. I know I still have a long way to go, but this feels like a huge victory. Leaning in, I press my lips to hers, and as I trace her lips with my tongue, she opens for me. I’m not sure how we manage it without breaking the kiss, but she turns to face me, straddling my thighs. My hands grip her ass, guiding her so that she’s rubbing her pussy over my hard cock.

  “Oh God,” she moans.

  “You like that, baby?” I ask against her lips.

  “It’s been so long,” she murmurs.

  “How long?” Her eyes are closed, and her teeth are sunk into her bottom lip. I cup her face
in my hands. “Larissa, how long?”

  Her eyes pop open. “Since Steve. There’s been no one since him.”

  “Clarify that for me, babe. No one… as in… no one has been inside you?” I thrust my cock against her for good measure. “Has anyone had their mouth here?” I ask, bringing my hand around and tweaking her nipple through her thin cotton shirt.

  Eyes locked on mine, she humbles me with her words. “No one has touched me or even kissed me since him. It’s just been you.”

  My lips crash against hers, my hands finding their way back to her ass and gripping her tightly. Together, we rock her hips back and forth over my hard cock. Her head is tilted back, and her eyes are tightly closed. The moonlight shines down on us, and I commit this to memory—the way she looks bathed in the moonlight, writhing against my cock.

  “Don’t stop,” she moans when I loosen my grip, taking in her beauty.

  “I’ve got you, babe.” I grip her ass, lift my hips, and guide her back and forth, over and over again.

  “I….” She moans deep in the back of her throat.

  “Come for me, Ris. Let me have it, baby. I’ve got you. Let go,” I coax her.

  Her hands clamp down on my shoulders as she rides me. “Oh God, Easton!” She shouts out my name, and it takes everything I have not to blow my load in my pants like a teenager.

  She slumps against me, and I take the opportunity to wrap my arms around her. She returns my embrace as if I’m her lifeline. What she doesn’t realize is that I want to be exactly that. Breaking our embrace, I cup her face in my hands and kiss her lips, then her chin. “I think that gives a new meaning to a home run,” I tease. Her laughter echoes throughout the stadium.

  My cock is still in my pants, hard as steel, twitching and wanting more of her. This still qualifies as the hottest sexual experience of my life. Tonight just solidifies what I already knew: I’m in deep with this girl.

  Time to bring my A game.

  I haven’t seen Easton since that night at the stadium. His schedule has been grueling with practices and two games this week. Mine has been just as crazy with work, class, and Paisley. He’s texted and called every day. He even tried to convince me to bring P to a game, but I declined. She’s talked about today all week. She loves the zoo, and she’s pretty fond of Easton too. I like to keep her on as much of a routine as I can, so a late-night game just wasn’t in the cards. Easton made me promise that his next weekend home game we would come. I caved. Of course I did. I can’t seem to tell him no. Not that I really want to. Something changed between us that night at the stadium. I still worry that this is all going to end in disaster. It’s not so much the heartache. P and I can get through that. It’s the thought of giving him all of me, and losing him. Not just breaking up, but something terrible happening to him. I could live with us not being together. I could handle that pain, so could P. We would have to. But truly losing him, not breathing the same air as him, that’s a fear I’m struggling with. After losing my father and then Steven…. Tragedy takes the men that I love, but there is something about him, his smile, or the way he treats me, and let’s not forget the way he is with Paisley. I can’t resist him. I just hope and pray it all works out in the end.

  “Mommy, when will he be here?” Paisley says from her perch in the window. She’s been staring outside for the last twenty minutes.

  “He should be here any minute.” I barely have the words out of my mouth when she screams “Easton!” and runs to the front door.

  “Don’t open that door, missy,” I yell after her.

  “But it’s East.” She says it like he’s her best friend—then again, in her four-year-old mind, he just might be.

  “Regardless of who you think it is, you never open the door without an adult with you. Understood?”

  “Yeah, can we open the door now,” she says, dismissing me with her little diva attitude. It comes out every now and then, and I know today it’s because she can hardly contain her excitement. When he knocks on the door, she yells his name excitedly yet again. I pull the door open, and she launches herself at him. “East, I didn’t think you would ever come get me.”

  He laughs, catching her in his arms. “How could I ever forget about Princess Paisley?” he asks sweetly. I can see her melt under his affection. Sad thing is, I do the same damn thing. “I have something for you.” He hands her a small pink gift bag, setting her back on her feet. Leaning against the door, I watch them.

  “A pink glove!” She launches herself at him for the second time in a matter of minutes. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I so so love it. It’s beautiful. A princess glove.”

  “For a princess,” he beams his megawatt smile at her.

  “Hey, Ris.” He pulls his attention from her and smiles at me. “You ladies ready to go?”

  “Yeah, let me grab my bag.” I reach for my small Under Armour backpack.

  “What’s in the bag?” he questions.

  “Supplies. Baby wipes, a change of clothes, snacks, and a couple of bottles of water.”

  “Babe, everything today is provided by the team. We’re going to have a picnic with booths open throughout for beverages.”

  “Habit.” I shrug.

  “Come on, you two.” He reaches for my hand, and I take it without hesitation. I’ve missed his touch.

  “I need to get her seat,” I tell him, stopping next to my SUV and pulling my hand from his.

  “I got it covered.” He bounces Paisley on his hip as they skip down to his truck, both carefree and laughing. I rush to catch up with them and see a bright pink booster seat in the back of his truck.

  “Is this your daughter’s?” Paisley asks him.

  “No, princess. I bought this for you. I thought it would be nice for you to have a seat in my truck too.”

  “For me?” she says in awe.

  “Just for you,” he confirms, setting her in the seat and buckling her in as if he’s done it a thousand times. I’ve lost count of the amount of times this man has brought tears to my eyes for including my daughter, for thinking about her best interests. This one is no exception. I take a deep breath, willing the tears not to fall. He’s going to think I’m a blubbering mess, when in reality, these tears are happy. He includes her in everything we do. What more could I ask for in a man?

  “You did better,” she tells him, referring to the last time he was fumbling to get her buckled.

  He laughs. “Can I tell you a secret?” he asks, lowering his voice. She bobs her head up and down. “I practiced. A lot,” he adds. “I wanted to make sure you were safe and I was doing it right.”

  I choke back my tears when she places her little hands on his cheeks and focuses all her attention on him. “You’re my best friend,” she tells him sweetly.

  “And you’re my princess.” He tweaks her nose before closing the door.

  “Thank you,” I push the words past my lips.

  “I’m just taking care of my girls.” He reaches in front of me and opens my door. And it’s a good job too as I can barely stop myself from throwing myself at this man. When I’m inside, he places his hand on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’ve missed you, Ris.”

  “Me too,” I whisper, trying to keep the little ears in the back seat none the wiser of our private confession. He closes my door, and I watch him as he rounds the front of the truck. It’s still hard for me to believe this is happening. Can he really be this perfect?

  “Who’s ready for the zoo?” he asks, pulling out of the lot.

  The drive to the zoo is about thirty minutes, and the two of them talk the entire way about all the animals they want to see. They debate which is better—the rhinos or the elephants. Easton never stops smiling, and from the chatter in the back seat, I know Miss P is already having the time of her life garnering all his attention.

  By the time we’re parked and out of the truck, Paisley is beside herself with excitement. “What are we going to see first?” she asks Easton.

  “How
about we see it all? We’ll start at the beginning and take it all in.”

  “Yay!” she cheers.

  We make our way to the entrance, and Easton gives them his name, retrieving our passes. He places the lanyards around our necks and grabs Paisley’s hand. “All right, princess, you ready?” He gets an enthusiastic nod, and then we’re off.

  He wasn’t kidding when he said we would stop at every exhibit. Paisley loves it. The place is deserted compared to the usual crowds, and I’ll admit, when an area is overly crowded, I tend to pass it up. With only Blaze members and their families here today, it’s a completely different atmosphere.

  We’re stopped at the gorilla exhibit when Paisley looks up at Easton. “Can I get closer?”

  “You can, but no climbing and don’t lean on the glass, okay?”

  “Okay.” She skips off to get a closer look. It’s maybe four feet in front of us, but I keep my eyes locked on her.

  East steps closer and laces his fingers through mine. “Having fun?” he asks.

  “She’s loving it.”

  “I know she is, but I asked about you.”

  “I am.” I don’t tell him that it wouldn’t matter where we were. If we were with him, we would be having a good time. By the smile on my daughter’s face, I can say the same for her.

  “You seem tense.”

  “I’m just… we didn’t think about the fact that we would be with your teammates today.”

  “What does that matter? Hell, we’ve not even seen many of them, except for in passing.”

  “You’re here with a woman and her kid, Easton. You know they’re going to give you shit for that.”

  “They won’t. Not that I would care if they did.” He pulls our entwined hands to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “You’re more than just some woman, and she’s more than just your kid. I want you here, and nothing anyone says will convince me to change my mind. Besides, the guys aren’t like that.”

  Apparently finished with that discussion, he turns to my daughter. “Princess Paisley,” he calls out. “You ready for some food? It’s almost lunchtime.”