Caleb's Choice

by Sarah Hadley Brook

  “Hmm?” he asked, looking up at him under long lashes.

  “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

  Even in the near darkness, Caleb saw him blush. After scanning the parking lot and finding no other soul, he decided to take a big chance. He leaned down and brushed his lips against Lucas’ mouth, and that electricity he felt earlier ramped up and coursed through him. Lucas moaned quietly in the back of this throat, which only fueled Caleb on. The soft kiss grew heated as their lips slid together, Caleb’s tongue urging Lucas to open. When Lucas invited him in, Caleb took control. He wrapped one arm around Lucas’ waist and slid his free hand into the man’s hair. Lucas trembled in his arms and Caleb felt himself going under. He never wanted this kiss to end.

  Lucas pressed forward, his tight body fitting nicely against Caleb’s. Almost perfectly.

  Caleb placed hot, wet kisses across Lucas’ cheek and along the edge of his jaw.

  “Mmm, yes, Caleb,” he whispered, “yes.”

  Caleb pulled back and looked at Lucas, whose eyes were half-closed, his lips swollen from the kisses, and his blush traveling down his neck. Caleb growled and cupped Lucas’ ass. “Fuck! You’re so fucking sexy, Lucas. You drive me crazy!”

  “Kiss me again, Caleb,” he pleaded.

  Caleb groaned and leaned back in, still kneading Lucas’ ass, which felt good in his hands. He captured Lucas’ lips and once again took control. He nipped at the man’s lower lip and slipped his tongue back into his mouth, savoring his sweet flavor.

  He heard a rumble and realized it was actually coming from his chest, so he pulled back and stared down at the man in his arms. Lucas panting and pushing up against him was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. There was no getting around this—Lucas belonged in his arms.

  He pressed his forehead to Lucas’. “I need to slow down or I’ll end up taking you right here.” Lucas shivered in his arms. “You like that idea, baby?”

  Lucas only nodded and shyly looked away.

  They stayed like that for a moment until they heard voices and pulled apart. But Caleb didn’t want to—he never wanted to let Lucas go again. He knew it was irrational, but there it was.

  “I need to get home,” Lucas whispered.

  Caleb did, too. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

  Lucas nodded and slipped into his car.

  Caleb watched him exit the parking lot and he couldn’t understand why it felt like his future was driving away, leaving him alone.

  * * * *

  Caleb was dog-tired. Sleep had eluded him the night before. Hell, sleep had not come easy for the last week. Thoughts of Lucas filled his mind. He had replayed that last kiss over and over until desire overwhelmed him.

  He had been true to his word and called Lucas the next day. He’d even called again, but unfortunately, Lucas had been busy with assignments. The station had him doing interviews with different players, to be aired over the next few weeks. Basic get-to-know-your-home-team kind of interviews.

  Caleb was set to be interviewed next week and was looking forward to it, if only because he would spend time alone with Lucas. He sighed, thinking back to that phone call the day after the kiss in the parking lot…

  That night, he couldn’t sleep, his mind and body buzzing with electricity. All he could think about was how right Lucas’ lips had felt against his. He reached for his cell phone on the night stand.

  It was a few minutes after midnight, so technically, the next day. His lips curved into a small smile. Was it too late to call? Before he talked himself out of it, he dialed and held his breath.

  “Hello?” Lucas sounded sleepy. And sexy.

  Caleb’s heartbeat picked up. “Hey, did I wake you?”

  “Not really. Just watching a documentary on TV. Well, really just listening, to be honest.”

  “Documentary? What’s it about?” Caleb asked, genuinely interested.

  “Baseball.”

  “That’s great!” Caleb grabbed his remote and turned on the television. “What channel?” he asked as he stuffed another pillow under his head to elevate himself.

  “No, sorry, it’s not live. I rented it through On Demand.”

  “Oh,” Caleb said, clicking off the TV. “Well, is it any good?”

  Lucas was quiet for so long, Caleb thought he might have hung up. “It is,” Lucas finally answered, his voice a whisper, “but I’m having trouble concentrating on it.”

  Caleb smiled. “Why?”

  “Look, this is crazy. I don’t date closeted men. I just don’t do it,” Lucas proclaimed, then sighed.

  “But?”

  “But, I can’t get you out of my mind.” he hissed.

  Caleb’s heart flip-flopped, and his breath came out in a whoosh. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. “Lucas?” His voice came out a little shaky, which surprised him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why do you think I called you?” Caleb waited for an answer. When none came, he forged ahead. “I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss, either. My mind is filled with you, Lucas.”

  “Really?”

  Caleb smiled again. “Really, Lucas. Look, I know this thing between us is undefined and we said we’d take things slow. But hell, I don’t really know what that means. This hit me hard and I know it’s not the best situation. I’m not asking you to change your stance on dating men who aren’t out, but…but can you give me a little time? Can we see each other…date each other and keep it quiet? For now? Until I get things sorted out?”

  Lucas remained silent.

  “Please, Lucas? I had planned on coming out after my baseball career, but…well this…this situation puts things in a different light.”

  “It does?”

  Caleb squeezed his eyes shut and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. How had his whole world been turned upside down in such a short time? “Yeah,” he admitted. Fuck, he needed to think. And the more he talked with Lucas, the harder his dick became, which would lead to things other than thinking.

  “Okay, well, um…I’ll think about it. I know I’m probably giving you confusing signals and I don’t mean to do that. When I’m near you, I want more, but when I’m away from you…well, I try to look at things rationally. I think we could have something pretty amazing, to be honest, Caleb. If and when you are ready. I need time to figure things out, too.”

  Caleb’s heart fell and he fought the urge to beg Lucas to come over. “I understand,” he lied.

  “Okay. I need to get to sleep, then,” Lucas whispered.

  “Sweet dreams, Lucas,” Caleb murmured as he listened to Lucas’ quiet breathing. It soothed him in ways he didn’t understand. Yet, Caleb felt he would go to great lengths to learn anything and everything about Lucas—about this man settling into his heart.

  Chapter 3

  “Good morning, Mr. Sheldon,” Lucas told his boss as they passed in the hall.

  “Morning.” He stopped and turned back, looking quizzically at Lucas. “What are you doing at the office today?”

  “Oh, I know it’s Saturday, but there’s no game today and I thought I might do a few things around here.”

  “But why aren’t you at the stadium?”

  Lucas blinked. “The stadium?”

  “The Rabbits are hosting the Rain Valley High School team, right? So why aren’t you there?”

  Lucas blinked again. “Sir?”

  “Dammit, Lucas, you need to get the hell over there. This is a big deal! Our listeners are parents. Parents of kids who attend that high school. They will expect coverage!”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize…I’m sorry. I’ll get over there right away.”

  “I want lots of interviews of the kids, understand?”

  Lucas swallowed hard and nodded. How had he not known he needed to be at the stadium? To think, he’d been looking forward to his day of reprieve from baseball.

  He almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to get to his
car. Yeah, let’s just start the day with a face-plant onto the tile flooring. He’d already had a frustrating morning. When he’d awakened, he’d been rock hard, and all he could think about was Caleb. God, that man was under his skin.

  Over the last couple of weeks, they’d texted and phoned each other often, and had even managed to carve out a little time at the stadium, but more often than not, they couldn’t get together.

  Although last Monday had been nice, he thought with a smile. More than nice. Hot, really…

  The team had been at a series of away games and Lucas hadn’t seen Caleb for almost five days, although they’d talked nightly. Many of their conversations centered around getting to know each other, missing each other, and Caleb’s struggle with coming out. As for the latter, Lucas tried to be a supportive ear and not guide him one way or the other. He strongly felt it was a decision only Caleb could make.

  Lucas had been waiting at the stadium late Monday night when the team arrived home. He pretended he wanted to get statements from the players—partially true—but he really wanted to surprise Caleb. He’d received a text from the man earlier that day, saying he’d call when he got to home.

  But Lucas had been going out of his mind thinking about Caleb. The more they talked, the more he wanted to be with him—whether he was out or not. Lucas couldn’t help it; he was falling hard.

  He stood in the parking lot, watching the players exit the bus. When he saw Caleb, his heart nearly stopped. Was there a sexier man? Lucas doubted it. And when Caleb’s gaze landed on him and a huge grin spread across his face, Lucas knew he’d done the right thing by showing up.

  “Landry!”

  He turned and saw Jamie waving. “Hi,” he called, waving back. “How was the trip?”

  “Great!” he exclaimed with all the exuberance of a typical teenager. “I don’t usually get to go, but they had room on the bus and I bunked with some players.” He glanced around. “What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, I was just going to interview some of the players about the out-of-town series, but it looks like they’re all heading home.”

  “Yeah. Everyone’s pretty tired. Cranky. You might not get the best interviews tonight.”

  “Jamie’s right,” Caleb said, walking up behind Jamie and clapping his shoulder. “Those old guys are tired and just want to go to bed. You can interview me, if you want,” he offered, a gleam in his eye.

  Jamie glanced from Caleb to Lucas, then shook his head. “Okay. I’m heading out,” he said with a dismissive wave.

  “Where do you want to interview me?” Caleb asked and waggled his eyebrows.

  Lucas glanced around the emptying parking lot. “How about the locker room?”

  Caleb licked his lips and gestured ahead. “Lead the way.”

  The second they stepped into the locker room, Caleb dropped his duffel bag, grabbed Lucas, and pressed him against the door. Their lips met in heated, desperate need, and their tongues dueled for dominance.

  Lucas gave in quickly. He loved when Caleb took charge and knew how to drive him crazy.

  Their hands roamed everywhere, and Caleb tugged at Lucas’ shirt, wanting it off. Lucas grabbed the hem with both hands, lifted it over his head, and tossed it aside before pulling Caleb’s shirt over his head. They pressed against each other, kissing, touching, and thrusting. Lucas moaned and cupped Caleb’s ass.

  “I love to hear you moan,” Caleb whispered against Lucas’ neck. “I want to hear your moans all night. I’ll bet my baby likes to be loud.”

  Lucas was too turned on to feel embarrassed. “I can’t help it. You make me crazy,” he breathed.

  “I love that you’re so honest with your feelings. So open. It’s important I know what you like. That way, when I fuck your tight hole and make you mine, I’ll know how to make you feel incredible.”

  “Fuck, yes.” Lucas groaned.

  “I knew you’d like hearing that. My baby loves dirty talk, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes. Yes.”

  “You going to let me fuck that tight little hole, baby? You going to let me slide my cock inside you until I fill you? You want me balls-deep, don’t you?”

  Lucas nearly orgasmed just listening to all the explicit details. He shuddered as desire ran through him. “Fuck yes, Caleb. I want you to take me and make me yours completely. Fuck me hard.”

  “God, I want to,” Caleb whispered before dropping to his knees. He unzipped Lucas’ fly and tugged out his throbbing cock. He licked at the precum bubbling out of the slit before swallowing him to the root.

  Caleb’s tongue moved constantly as his hands grabbed Lucas’ ass, holding him close, urging him to thrust. Lucas had never in his life experienced anything so incredible. Warm, wet heat encased his throbbing dick, and it felt exquisite. Lucas tried to fight it, but the desire and need overwhelmed him, and he thrust—once, twice, three times—before he exploded down Caleb’s throat.

  “Fuck! Fuck, yes. Caleb!” His knees buckled, but Caleb’s strong arms held him steady until he could stand on his own.

  Caleb rose and kissed him hard. Lucas tasted himself on Caleb’s lips and it did something to him. “That was incredible,” he admitted.

  Caleb looked at him and grinned. “It was. It definitely was.” He reached for their shirts, then tossed Lucas’ to him. “You taste amazing,” he added with a wink.

  “But…what about you?”

  Caleb grinned wider when he put on his shirt. “Baby, the taste of you on my tongue, and hearing your cry out when you came, had me shooting in my jeans.”

  Lucas blushed. “Really?”

  Caleb wrapped his arms around Lucas’ waist. “Hasn’t happened to me since I was around thirteen.” He chuckled. “I can’t imagine what’s going to happen when we finally go all the way. Don’t laugh at me if I don’t last longer than ten seconds!”

  Lucas smiled and promised not to…

  Now, as he started his car to head to the stadium, he could barely wait to see Caleb again, even if it meant doing more work on baseball. Fuck, he felt like a lovesick teenager, he thought, then pressed his foot on the gas.

  * * * *

  When the high school baseball team arrived, the students were pretty hyped up. After a quick tour of the locker room, Coach Newberry corralled the teens out to the field and quickly assigned them to Rabbits team members based on positions.

  Caleb ended up with three guys who all played third base, and he spent some time going over the stretches and workout routines he did either daily or every other day. Two of the boys jumped right in, eager to work out with a real ballplayer, but the third one was either having a bad day or was just naturally an ass.

  “Hey,” Caleb hollered to the tall, brutish redhead sitting on third base, his legs sprawled out in front of him.

  The boy looked up, scowling. “What?” he yelled back.

  Caleb tried not to roll his eyes. “You need to get over here.” He raised his eyebrows toward one of the other kids he was working with.

  “Ethan,” the blond supplied. “His name is Ethan. And he’s pissed off because his girlfriend dumped him yesterday for a basketball player.”

  Ah, young love. Caleb would give the lovesick teenager a little leeway, but not a lot. “Ethan, why don’t you join us?”

  Ethan glared at him, then looked at the ground.

  “Fine, five more minutes. But when we start working on grounders, you need to participate.”

  “He’s kind of a know-it-all, but he’s a good player.”

  Caleb turned to the kid talking. He was on the short side, maybe five-feet, four-inches, with pale blond hair cut close to his scalp. From what Caleb had seen so far, the boy didn’t have much of a future in baseball, but he clearly enjoyed the game.

  The other boy—what was his name?—had some natural talent, but was easily distracted. Tall and lean, with big brown eyes and curly golden brown hair, he had a habit of saying anything and everything that ran through his brain. And after spending over an hour with
him, Caleb could honestly say that the kid had a lot on his mind.

  Caleb had a lot on his mind, too. Namely, Lucas. He was torn between his desire to be with Lucas and his dream of possibly playing in the majors someday. Coming out could derail his plans. If he gave all that up for Lucas, would it be the right thing to do? He barely knew Lucas, yet he was smart enough to recognize there was something special about the man. Caleb couldn’t deny the pull he felt toward him—or the deeply primal way his body reacted whenever Lucas was near.

  Shit, he admitted to himself, Lucas didn’t even have to be near. All it took was a thought and Caleb’s body responded like a hormonal teenager with no self-control. And Caleb had given in every night, allowing himself to fantasize about Lucas.

  “Hey, Austin,” Ethan bellowed as he sauntered over and slapped the curly haired kid on the shoulder.

  Austin—that’s his name.

  The kid’s jaw clenched. “Ethan,” he said quietly.

  Caleb noted that Ethan’s hand was still on Austin’s shoulder, and he stepped forward to diffuse the tension. “Glad you could join us, Ethan. Why don’t you grab your glove and we can work on those grounders.”

  Ethan grunted and removed his hand, flashing a sneer at Austin before he left.

  “Wanna tell me what that was about?” Caleb inquired.

  Austin shrugged. “Nothing.”

  The blond moved over to join them, and once Ethan came back, they listened as Caleb gave them tips, then took turns catching different hits.

  Jamie approached and clapped when Austin dived for a grounder. “Good catch,” he offered, grinning.

  Caleb would’ve had to be blind to miss the blush spreading across Austin’s face.

  “Jamie, these guys are from Rain Valley High School and play third base. This is Ethan, Austin and…” He cleared his throat and looked at the blond.

  “Jackson,” he reminded him.

  “Yes, Jackson. Guys, this is Jamie. He’s a very important member of our team. He’s our mascot.”

  “You’re the giant bunny?” Ethan howled.

  Jamie nodded, but didn’t remove his gaze from Austin.

  “So, Jamie, did you need anything?” Caleb asked.