Then he walks out of the suite leaving me a hot, speechless mess.
~ ~ ~
Caden winks at me from the practice field. I love watching him play. And the man finally got his wish. I am, in fact, now a bona fide baseball lover. He taught me a lot during the off-season and I can’t wait to go to his games, knowing I’ll be able to fully understand everything that’s happening.
My phone chirps and I look to see Kirsten has sent me a text.
Kirsten: Did you block Tony?
Me: Yes. I don’t have anything to say to him.
Kirsten: But he needs to talk to you.
Me: Every time he’s needed to talk to me in the past six months it was to ask me for money.
Kirsten: You really should talk to him.
Me: You haven’t contacted me since the day I moved out, Kirsten. If Tony is just getting you to do his dirty work, I’m going to block you, too.
Kirsten: I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
I don’t even acknowledge that with a reply. I just block her number. Jamie is the only one of my old roommates who I’ve talked to since I left. She told me that Kirsten hasn’t been able to land much work lately, but that Tony stays with her because he can’t get anyone else. Even Tori and Pauline stopped sleeping with the bastard. Does that mean they developed a conscience, or that he’s just gotten to be that bad?
It makes me feel dirty that he was able to ‘get’ me. How could I have been so gullible?
I pull out my sunscreen and lather it on. I don’t want to get red like I did at the beach yesterday. Caden wasn’t happy that he had to handle me with care last night. But then again, he didn’t mind it when I asked him to rub aloe on me. And boy did he give me a good rub down.
I hear some girls laughing a few rows over. The stands are fairly empty in this minor-league stadium, but there are a few pockets of girls, and even guys, who have come to watch the Nighthawks pre-season workouts.
I shake my head in irritation when I overhear one of the girls bragging about how many of the players she’s slept with. I’m not surprised to hear the names of both Brady Taylor and Sawyer Mills. Those boys better be careful or they will end up getting someone pregnant. I know Caden has told me they claim to be as careful as he was, but still—if you throw enough darts, one of them is bound to stick.
My back stiffens when I hear one of them mention trying to get with Caden. I smile when she calls him an arrogant prick for ignoring her advances.
When Caden gets a break and jogs over in my direction, the girls next to me start squealing, thinking he’s coming over for them. When he walks past them and over to me, they all look at me with pure hatred. I think they finally realize who I am. Our relationship is no secret. Caden and I were interviewed by a popular nightly news show last month. Anyone who follows baseball has heard about the love story of the Hawks player and the girl he hit with his home run ball.
I stand up and walk down the bleachers to meet him, fully aware of a dozen eyes burning into the back of my head. Then one of them yells out, “Caden, you don’t have to hit me with a ball to get me to fuck you.”
He looks at her and laughs. “Yeah, because your incredible charm would win me over.”
The girls scoff at him.
“I told you he was an arrogant prick,” another girl says.
I lean over the bulkhead and wrap my arms around him. “I love you, you arrogant prick,” I say.
He pulls me over the wall and into his arms. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when you leave, Murph. It’s great having you here.”
“You’re going to focus on being the best ball player you can be, that’s what.”
“I predict this will be my best year ever because I’ll have my lucky girl with me.”
I roll my eyes at him. “We’ve gone over this, Caden. There is no way I can go to every game.”
“How about just the home games?”
“That’s still a lot.”
“Okay, four games a week,” he says.
“Are you negotiating with me, Kessler?”
He laughs.
“One,” I say. “I promise to go to one game a week.”
“Three,” he says, leaning down to nibble on my ear.
“You’re incorrigible,” I say, laughing. “Fine. Two. Two games per week and that’s my final offer.”
Someone calls him back over to practice, so he lifts me up over the half-wall and gives me a kiss. “I would have settled for one,” he says, walking away. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”
I blow him a kiss. “I almost caved at three.”
He shakes his head, laughing as he jogs back to the others. Before he gets there, he turns around and gives me a big smile. A smile that says it all. A smile that says he’s mine.
Yeah – happy is definitely not a strong enough word.
Chapter Forty-five
Caden
Opening day. There is nothing like it. Looking up into the stands and seeing forty thousand fans is surreal. Some days I still can’t believe I get to play ball for a living. I stick my head out of the dugout and take a long look around. Just as the last Beatles song is finishing up in my ears, my eyes land on Murphy. She’s gorgeous in her Hawks shirt.
I wonder what hat she’s wearing today. She has quite the collection of hats in her apartment now. And often when we’re together, she’ll wear one and I’ll take it off her to see which date is inside. Then we’ll reminisce about how she came to have the hat.
I try to guess which one sits on her head right now. The one I gave her on our first Christmas? Or maybe the one I gave her the day we met in the hospital. Or better yet, it could be the one I gave her in the tent on the beach when she came down to Tampa. Each one holds a special meaning. And I find myself hoping she never stops wearing them.
I take my earbuds out and stash them in my bag. When I do, something falls out and Sawyer reaches down to grab it. He opens the small velvet box to reveal a diamond ring.
“Shit, Kess. Really?”
I shrug my shoulders. “What can I say, man? She’s the one.”
I bought the ring in Florida a few weeks ago. I’ve been carrying it around with me because I’m waiting for the perfect time to propose. I still haven’t figured out if I’m going to plan out an extravagant proposal or let it be a spur of the moment sort of thing. All I know is that I’ll know when the moment is right.
Sawyer takes the ring out of the box and examines it. “Damn fine ring,” he says.
“Damn fine girl,” I tell him, taking it back.
“We love you, Caden!” some girls scream next to the dugout.
I quickly throw the box into my bag and slip the ring in my back pocket to keep anyone else from seeing it. I don’t need some teenage fan-girl ruining the surprise by tweeting about me showing off an engagement ring to my buddies.
“Gear up,” our coach says.
Adrenaline flows through me like hot lava. I can’t wait to get back out on that field.
God, I love baseball.
~ ~ ~
My teammates pat me on the back on the way to the clubhouse. Today was an epic day by anyone’s standards, but a personal best for me. Not only did I have a two-run homer, but a total of four RBIs, and three double plays.
Lady luck was surely on my side. As I undress, the ring falls out of my back pocket. I forgot it was even there. I study it for a minute, thinking of the game I just had. I smile as I put it back into the black velvet box. It’s Murphy. She’s my lady luck.
I see an envelope taped to my locker. It has a sticky note on it from Melanie that says she was told the message was urgent. I rip it open and pull out a letter.
Since Murphy will no longer take my calls, and she walks into the back office when I try to confront her at the gym, I have no choice but to come to you.
I have something you want.
If you want to protect your girl, I suggest you meet me in the tunnel to parking lot B, right outside the locker room.
Now.
Otherwise, I can’t guarantee she won’t get hurt.
There’s no signature, but it doesn’t need one. It’s from Tony Fields. My blood boils. My jaw tightens. My temples pound. I want to tear up the letter, but I don’t. It could be evidence. He wants to hurt her?
Before I’m even fully out of uniform, I pull my pants back on, grab the letter and my phone and go out the back entrance of the clubhouse.
I text the head of security along the way.
Me: Meet me behind the clubhouse in the parking lot B tunnel. Now.
Drew: I’ll be there in 5.
I spot Tony immediately. I’m not sure how he got access. This tunnel is off limits to fans. It only gets used by players and stadium workers.
“You threatening her?” I yell at him on my approach.
“Well, if it isn’t the famous Caden Kessler,” he says, mocking me. “Can I have an autograph?”
“Are. You. Threatening. Her?” I say, slow enough for his pea-sized brain to understand as I press him hard against the wall.
He has the gall to laugh. “That depends on what you mean by threaten,” he says, trying to break free. “I’m not going to hurt her physically, if that’s what you mean. I’m not like that, man. I’ve never hit a girl in my life and I won’t start now.”
“And yet that fact still hasn’t kept you from being a complete asshole.”
“You might want to choose your words carefully,” he says. “Otherwise I might not play nice.”
“What the hell do you want, Fields?”
“I’ll tell you as soon as you take your hands off me.”
I take a step back, but still stay in his face. “Spill it.”
“What do you think I want?”
I shake my head. “Same thing as every scammer. Money.”
“Ahh, yes, it’s true,” he says. “Except for one thing. I’m not a scammer, big man. I’m merely an enterprising businessman. I have something you want and you are going to pay me for it.”
“Blackmail? Nice try. There is nothing you have that I could ever want.” I turn to walk away.
“I beg to differ. And I’ll bet Murphy would, too. But I guess it’s up to you if you want your girlfriend’s naked body all over the internet.”
Fuck.
I know he’s probably lying. I mean, this is Murphy we’re talking about. No way in hell would she have given him a naked picture of herself. But I need to be sure. I turn around. “If you have a naked picture of her, prove it. I want to see it right now.”
“Well, it’s not a naked picture exactly,” he says, chewing the inside of his cheek.
There. That’s it. He’s lying. Murphy said he chews his cheek when he lies. Or was it that he bites his nails? Shit.
“What do you mean it’s not exactly a naked picture? Either you have one or you don’t.”
“Oh, it’s a lot better than a naked picture, man. I’ve got full-blown video.”
“You’re lying,” I say.
He shrugs. “I guess I could be. But then again, are you willing to risk a million people watching your girlfriend come as she rides me?”
I pin him to the wall by his neck. “You stupid prick. If you really had a video, you’d show it to me.”
Drew walks up behind me. “Is there a problem here?”
I drop my hands away from Tony. “This shithead is trespassing,” I say. “Please make sure he gets to his car.”
Drew takes Tony by the elbow. “Sure thing, Mr. Kessler.”
Tony yells back over his shoulder. “I’ll give you a week, Mr. Kessler. If you can’t come up with a cool mil by then, I’ll make good on my word.”
I walk back into the clubhouse and take a quick shower. I know Murphy is waiting for me and I don’t want her to worry. But the whole time, I wonder. I wonder that despite the little prick biting his cheek, could it be true?
I can’t tell her about this. She’d be mortified. It’s most likely bogus anyway. He’s going to have to offer me proof. Proof he doesn’t have.
When I walk out the door, fans are screaming. I stop to sign some autographs and pose for a few pictures. Then I see her coming towards me. She’s still wearing my hat and one hell of a smile. I catch her when she flings herself into my arms.
“You were great, Kessler,” Murphy says, planting kisses on me.
I want to be happy. I want to celebrate with her. But I can’t. All I hear are Tony’s words about a million people watching her ride him. “Hey, what do you say we celebrate?”
“Definitely,” she says. “What did you have in mind?”
I lean in close to her ear. “Let’s get crazy and video ourselves making love.”
She pulls back, looking horrified as she studies me with a slack jaw. “Kessler, you are crazy if you think I’d ever do anything like that. Have you completely lost your mind?”
I can’t help it when my lungs deflate and I blow out a huge sigh of relief. I knew the asshole was lying. “Sorry,” I say, flashing her an innocent look. “I guess the adrenaline of tonight just got to me. I was only joking, Murph.”
She rolls her eyes, laughing. Then she leans up and whispers back to me. “But I’m not opposed to watching you make love to me,” she says, her hot breath flowing over my ear. “You do have a floor-to-ceiling mirror in your bathroom.”
And suddenly, I’ve forgotten all about the asshole scammer. Hell, I’m not even sure I can remember my own name. Because all I can think about is what I’m going to do to my girl when I get her home.
Chapter Forty-six
Murphy
Having Caden back home this past month has been both wonderful and eye-opening. He wasn’t lying when he said baseball owns his life during the season. Between his job and mine, we’re lucky if we get to see each other twice a week. And that’s when he’s not traveling.
He’s asked me to move in with him. In fact, he asks me whenever we’re together. He says he wants to wake up with me every day. I want that, too. But I keep making up excuses. What he doesn’t know, however, is that as soon as Trick finds a new roommate, I’m going to take him up on his offer.
Today is Saturday so the stands are jam-packed at the game we’re attending. I love the energy in the stadium—it’s like a drug. I can see why Caden embraces it.
Lexi and I make our way to our seats to find Scott and her dad already there. She hugs her dad and little brother. Since Shane and Scott moved to the city a few months ago, they have become a close-knit family. Caden and his dad are more than family now, they are friends. And I couldn’t be happier. And with Shane and my mom dating, she flies in from Iowa a lot so I get to see much more of her these days.
I look around and wonder how I got so lucky. How did I end up here … with this man, in this life? Sometimes it seems too good to be true and I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. Will Caden’s life ever become too much for one of us to handle?
Then we make eye contact when he looks up at me from the dugout, and all my fears disappear. Because the way he looks at me, it’s as if we aren’t surrounded by forty thousand people. We might as well be the only two people on Earth.
I give him a thumbs-up and blow him a kiss. It’s what I do before every game. He expects it. And he won’t look away until I do it. I guess it’s become another one of his rituals. Our rituals.
When he puts his game face on and turns around to do his job, Lexi hooks my elbow with hers. “You’re good for him, you know. In more ways than one.”
“I hope so,” I say.
“I’ve never seen my brother so happy, Murphy.”
I glance over at Shane and Scott. “I’m not the only one responsible for that.”
“I don’t know,” she says. “From what I hear, you are. Caden told me you are the one who convinced him to give our dad a chance. So, the way I see it, you brought our family back together. And Caden has never performed better on the field. He was great before, but now he’s on a whole other level.”
&nb
sp; “That has nothing to do with me, Lexi. It’s all him.”
I look down at the dugout to see Caden and his team taking the field. He won’t look up at me again until after the game. He never does. Not unless he has a home run. Whenever he hits a home run, he will find me in the crowd, pound his heart and point to me right before he steps on home plate. Even if I’m not at the game, he will still do it—he will look over to where I usually sit behind the net by the first-base dugout and go through the motions. It’s become a thing. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Even the ESPN announcers have picked up on it.
She laughs. “If he thinks it’s you, then it’s you, Murphy. You’ve been with him long enough to know that.”
In the sixth inning, I take Scott to get a hot dog and a Coke. Scott is a good kid. It must have been hard leaving the place where he grew up for almost thirteen years to move here. He seems to have fit right in however, and has become a celebrity in his own right at his school for being a carbon copy of his older brother. He’s even following in his brother’s footsteps and is a top player on a local Little League team. Lexi, Shane and I have skipped out on a few Hawks games this spring to watch Scott play.
“You’re Caden Kessler’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” a young lady asks on our way to the concession stand. “Can I have your autograph?”
I look at Scott. “You don’t want my autograph,” I tell her. “I’m not even related to Caden. But this is his brother. You should get his autograph.”
The girl squeals in delight and then gushes over Scott, realizing how much he looks like Caden. I smile, watching Scott get fawned over by an excited co-ed. He poses for a picture with her and signs her program. The grin on his face is priceless.
We make our way back to our seats, our hands filled with junk food. But before we get there, Scott stops walking. “You’re pretty cool, Murphy,” he says.
The Perfect Game: A Complete Sports Romance Series (3-Book Box Set) Page 23
