“Well, I’ve never actually gotten to play on this kind of field before. You up for a little one on one action,Rookie?”
“Of course Sparky, the real question is are you ready to get that fine ass of yours kicked?” I kicked off my heels and ran across the field in my bare feet as Dylan headed towards the dugout, grabbing a handful of equipment. “If anyone’s ass is getting kicked around here, it’ll be yours.”
“Here, wouldn’t want that pretty little head of yours to get hurt.” He pushed a helmet on to my head and pulled a baseball cap onto his head backwards. Hmm, maybe he could wear that later with nothing else. Decisions, decisions.
“I should probably help with your stance since ya know, I’m practically the professional and all.” I rolled my eyes at him and made my way over to the batter’s box where he positioned his body behind mine. “Just like this,” he whispered against my neck, grabbing onto my hips and nudging my legs open wider with his feet.
“Uh huh, I think that is perfect.” He backed up with a finger to his chin, examining my stance and tilting his head to the side as I looked over my shoulder at him and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I bent down to grab the bat and I heard his intake of breath as I slowly stood back up. Too bad I hadn’t braved the weather and worn a skirt tonight.
“I know what you’re doing, Sparky.” He came up and slapped my ass before jogging out to the pitcher’s mound. “You’re trying to distract me, but that’s not going to work. Once my head’s in the game that’s the only place that it stays. Even your fine ass can’t take my mind off of it.”
“How ‘bout you quit running your mouth and just throw the ball?”
“Alright, you asked for it,” he answered back with a smirk and wound up to throw his pitch. The ball whizzed by me, bouncing off the wall, and I heard his laugh echo through the stadium. “Um, you actually have to swing the bat to get a hit, Sparky.”
I nodded my head at him, placing the bat over my shoulder again, while he wound up and sent the ball towards me. This time I did swing and I heard the familiar crack of the bat as it sailed over his head into the outfield. “Holy shit!”
I headed towards first as it took a minute for Dylan to realize I had actually hit the ball and he chased after it while I rounded second. I started to run backwards to third base to taunt him while I watched him chase after the ball and come barreling towards me before he tackled me to the ground.
“You’re out.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on his face as he tagged me with his glove, how he was taking it so seriously. His weight pressed into me as I took in big gulps of air, trying to calm myself down.
“Did you actually think I wouldn’t hit the ball?” A smile tugged at his lips and he brushed his mouth over mine. “Well no, not really. I know you love baseball but I didn’t know you could actually play.” I let out another laugh and I could feel his chest vibrating against mine.
“I kicked your ass Rookie, what would the team think if they found out your girlfriend got a hit off of you and let me just add that it was a really good hit. Like a good enough hit to where I should probably take over for you from now on.”
His eyes turned serious as he pulled his head out of the crook of my neck, lightly running a finger over my cheek. My body was humming from the closeness of our bodies as we laid there intertwined.
“You are seriously the perfect girl, every guy on the team would be lucky to have you, but you’re mine. I love you.” His brown eyes held such intensity as he spoke those last three words and the teasing was put aside as the words he just said sunk in.
I could hear them over and over, and they would never get old. I threaded my hands through his hair and pulled his face closer to mine so we were just inches apart. “I love you too.” The perfect moment was interrupted when I heard a whirring noise and felt a wetness covering us and I peeked an eye open to see that the sprinklers had clicked on. Apparently, Dylan hadn’t planned everything out.
“Oh my god Sparky, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about this.” The water continued to drench us as he pulled me to my feet, the dirt was caked onto them, instantly turning to mud. I stopped him with a hand, pulling his body to mine again.
“It’s alright, it’s perfect.” I pushed his hair off his forehead, water dripping down his perfect face and matting his long lashes. Our lips met in a wet mess, memorizing every inch of each other. This moment right here was the best part of the night.
Chapter 26
Paige
“I am so not ready to get up.” My eyes fluttered open as I heard Dylan groan loudly and slam his hand over his alarm clock for the second time. He shifted his position behind me and I scooted closer against his warmth. I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped my lips. It felt so right waking up in his arms.
I felt his smile against my ear at the sound and he pulled it between his teeth. His lips slid down to my neck as he trailed open-mouthed kisses down it, pushing my hair aside as he went. “Mmm, I really don’t want to leave,” he murmured against my skin and I reached back to slip my fingers into the waistband of his boxers. Dylan jerked backwards and flew off the bed.
“Uh uh Sparky, if you start with that I definitely won’t be able to make myself leave. Now I’m going to take a very cold shower.” I let my eyes shut for just a few minutes longer as I heard the water turn on and off quickly and peeled them open again when I heard the door open. I admired every inch as the towel dropped to the floor and he opened drawers. “Enjoying the view?”
“Of course,” I answered back as I stretched out my body, pushing myself up to my knees so I could throw my arms around his neck. “Do you really need to leave?” I murmured against his bare neck.
“Yeah, I don’t think Coach would approve if I missed out on our first away series. I’ll miss you though.”
“I know, I’ll miss you too.” I couldn’t imagine being Dylan. I was already busy enough as it was with classes, studying, and work. On top of that, he had baseball and traveling added on. His work schedule had basically been cut in half since baseball season started, so my nights at work tended to drag on.
“Well, at least you’ll keep busy while I’m gone, Claire mentioned something to Chris about a girls’ only sleepover. What do you girls do at these types of things? Naked pillow fights? Talk about how well-endowed your boyfriends are?” He twisted around to stare down at me, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement. Ugh, I would miss those eyes.
“If that’s the fantasy you’ve conjured up in that messed up head of yours, believe whatever you want to believe. Just don’t expect any pictures. And as far as the well- endowed part…” I trailed off with a giggle when a faked hurt expression covered his face and he tackled me to the bed.
“You’re lucky I’m about to be late or I would be giving you a crash course on that right now.” His hips ground against me, showing just how in the mood he was and he placed a single kiss on my forehead. “I love you, but I gotta go. You better be waiting here naked when I get back.”
“Oh of course,” I replied with an eye roll. “I’ll just stay that way the whole time you’re gone, waiting for your return.” “You better,” he snorted, slamming the door behind him.
**********************
“Hi Dad, how’s it going?” I answered my phone after finishing up with classes for the day, hoping to make it home to squeeze in a quick nap. After working late last night and then having an early class this morning, I was in major need of one before our girls’ night. Especially since Kitty had planned the whole thing, I’m sure we would be up all night.
“Pretty good, Paige. I wasn’t feeling too great the past couple of days but today seems to be a little bit better. I just wanted to check in with you and see how things were going. How’s living with Dylan?”
This is what I seriously loved about my dad, whatever decisions I made he always supported them. I was nervous to tell him that I had moved in with Dylan, so Dylan actually called my dad to ask for permission. Litt
le did he know my stuff had already been there for a week before he called. And my dad was surprisingly okay with it.
“Things are going good I think. It took a little bit of time getting used to living with him, he is seriously a neat freak when it comes to his room and you know I’m not exactly the cleanest person. He’s out of town right now for an away series.”
His booming laugh echoed through the phone and it was really a great sound to hear, even if he was laughing at me. “I know about that all too well, Paigey. I was tempted on multiple occasions to throw your stuff onto the front lawn when you didn’t clean up after yourself. Any guy who can put up with your messes is A- Okay in my book.”
“Gee thanks, Dad.”
“Not a problem. So the reason I was calling was that I checked the schedule and saw Dylan has a home series coming up, I thought maybe MaryAnn and I could come up for a visit. She’s not a baseball fan at all but we figured we could make a little weekend trip out of it and maybe take you two out to dinner. I really would like for you to meet her.”
“That sounds really great, Dad. We have an extra room at the house if you guys want to stay here, I’ll just have to check with Chris and Dylan to make sure it’s alright, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
I had been feeling guilty that I hadn’t made it home since Christmas; I really wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. But not having a car and Dylan being busy with baseball, made it nearly impossible. He had offered to let me borrow the beater mobile, but truthfully, I was a little scared to drive it.
“Okay Paigey, I can’t wait to see you. I love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.” I dropped my keys on the front table and collapsed in the bed, breathing in the scent of Dylan that covered his pillows. I felt a little pathetic with how much I missed him, he had only been gone for two days and I was miserable. Sleeping in this bed just wasn’t the same without him.
I woke up to the doorbell being rung over and over and over again. I glanced at the clock to see that I had been out for almost four hours. After rolling out of bed, I opened the front door and was basically run over.
“What the hell, Paige?” Kitty exclaimed, dropping an armful of bags in the front entryway. “I have been ringing that damn doorbell for like ten minutes. Of course, Christopher would never agree to give me a key to this place, I think I need to have a talk with Daddy about that.”
If that happened, we would seriously have to change the locks. I had loved living with Kitty but she tended not to knock. I could just imagine her whipping the door open on Dylan and I. “Sorry Kitty, I was taking a nap and slept way longer than I expected. Do you need help bringing anything else in?”
“No, no,” she replied with a wave of her hand. “Maddie and Kylie are bringing the rest.”
“Excuse me, did you just say Kylie? Please tell me I heard you wrong.”
Kitty let out a huff and began emptying bags of food and liquor onto the kitchen island. “No you didn’t. Maddie was packing things up to head over here and Kylie just assumed she was invited. I’m not that big of a bitch to tell her no. Don’t worry, she shouldn’t be too bad since none of the guys around.”
“If you say so.” I grabbed a giant bowl out of the cabinet and dumped in a bag of tortilla chips. From the looks of it, we were having a Mexican themed night with margaritas included. “Hey girls.” Claire came into the kitchen already dressed in her jammies for the night. She had practically moved in since I did and we had become quick friends. It was nice to have someone around this giant house when Dylan and Chris were gone, it felt so empty.
“Paige, Dylan left a surprise for you in the fridge, it kind of goes with the theme of the night.” I opened up the fridge to find a glass casserole dish covered with foil and a yellow post it note stuck on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, you can’t mess this up, babe. Don’t forget to take pix of naked pillow fights. Love you.
I giggled while punching buttons on the stove and pulled off the sticky note. “That boy is way too sweet, I never expected it out of him truthfully.” Claire hopped up on the counter, grabbing a chip out of the bowl. “Except for the whole naked pillow fight. What’s that all about?”
“You really don’t want to know and he can just keep on dreaming.”
The house was soon filled with noise when Maddie and Kylie arrived. Apparently, Kitty must have filled Dylan in on our themed night because he had made enchiladas that we demolished, along with chips and salsa and what seemed to be endless amounts of margaritas, we were having a pretty good night.
“Okay girls, face mask time.” Kitty brought around a bowl and we all tied up our hair. So far, we had done each other’s nails and toes, watched girly chick flicks that I still hadn’t taking a liking to and blasted music dancing around in our jammies. Living with Kitty had been a totally new experience for me, but my first sleepover with all girls was kind of mind-blowing.
“Here Paige. You can go first. You’re my very first test subject, doesn’t that sound like fun?” Kitty beamed, scooping her fingers into the bowl of goop and coming at me with green glob. “Hold up, what in the hell is that? I am not putting guacamole on my face Kitty Chapman. That’s where I put my foot down.”
“Oh, Paigey,” she giggled out, coming even closer with that green crap. “This isn’t guacamole silly. It’s avocados, honey, and yogurt. I heard it does amazing things for your skin. Normally I just get the store bought stuff, but I figured this would be fun to try out. Don’t worry, it’s not gonna make your skin fall off or anything, everything’s completely natural.”
“Fine, let’s get this over with then.” We all took turns letting Kitty apply the mask and then Kitty applied her own. We all looked like green goblins after she was finished. There was no way in hell Dylan was getting a picture of this.
“Oh my goodness,” Kylie giggled out, looking down at her phone that had basically been attached to her hand all night. She continued to chuckle softly, her eyes never leaving the screen.
“What’s so funny?” Maddie asked, probably more out of feeling obligated since she was here than actually caring. Maddie definitely hadn’t lucked out in the roommate department like I had. Whenever we met up for lunch, she always had some new story to tell me about Kylie.
“Oh my friend Zoe, who’s dating Dean, keeps sending me pictures. She went on the road trip with him. Apparently, the baseball team is having some fun tonight before they head home in the morning. I swear those guys really know how to have a good time.”
“Really?” Claire snatched the phone out of Kylie’s hands and scrolled through the pictures. Her jaw dropped open before handing the phone off to Kitty who had pretty much the same reaction.
“What’s the matter, is Chris in some of those?” Both answered with a quick shake of their heads and when I reached for the phone, Kitty pulled it back. “I don’t think you want to see these, Paigey,” she whispered out.
“Just give it to me.” I snatched the phone out of her hands and my own mouth dropped open when I saw Dylan, who was in almost every picture, sprawled out on a bed with a girl wrapped around his waist, and her hands looked to be…..everywhere.
“What the hell? Why would Zoe have pictures of Dylan in a bed?” My eyes narrowed at Kylie who was trying to look totally confused over the whole situation, even though I could tell she was faking it. Did she somehow forget that I was dating Dylan? I freaking lived with him!
“Well, I think Dean and Dylan usually room together so…” she trailed off, pulling on a blonde ringlet that had escaped. “I’m so sorry Paige, I didn’t really think about it before I showed y’all. What a complete asshole,” she let out a loud sigh, picking at her nails. Yeah, I could tell just how sorry she was. So heartfelt.
“You know, what I think I’m going to go to bed for the night.” I stood up and Kitty almost immediately jumped in front of me. “Paige, don’t you want to talk about this? There could be a perfectly good explanation.” Her argument was weak and I knew she didn’t believe
it. The evidence was pretty clear. I truly thought I had nothing to worry about when it came to Dylan, even though I had been told time and time again how much of a player he had been.
For god’s sake, I was his first real girlfriend! Granted, I was pretty new to the whole dating scene too but I hadn’t whored around with a bunch of guys before meeting him. My lip began to tremble as the images that were now burned into my head kept popping their way up. No, I would not cry over Dylan Turner in front of anyone. I wasn’t going to be that girl.
“I’m just really tired guys. I’ll see you all in the morning.” I left the slumber party and washed off the green mess that was stuck to my face. The living room was quiet and it almost sounded like everyone left, which I would kind of preferred. I really didn’t want to face anyone right now.
I felt like a complete idiot for giving my whole heart to him and he just stomped on it without a care in the world. The tears started to drip down my face the minute I hit the pillow. I picked up Dylan’s pillow and threw it across the room. The once comforting smell was now making me sick to my stomach and I knew I wouldn’t get a blink of sleep tonight.
Chapter 27
Dylan
“What. The. Fuck?” I pushed on the body that was lying next to me, that most certainly wasn’t Paige, and heard a small squeal when the body hit the floor. An unfamiliar exotic looking girl with long jet- black hair and almond shaped eyes popped up, dressed only in a bra and underwear, rubbing her elbow. “Ow, what was that for?”
“What the hell are you doing in my room, let alone my bed? I don’t even know who the fuck you are. And where are your fucking clothes?”
“I’m friends with Zoe,” she replied perkily, quickly forgetting about her injury. “She said I could sleep over last night after we went out.” She pointed to the hotel bed that was next to mine where Dean and Zoe were still passed out, probably from a very late night of partying. I had passed, much to the surprise of just about all of my teammates, except for Chris.
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