Wild Pitch (Dominating the Diamond Book 1)

CHAPTER 45

Four notifications are waiting for me when I reach the locker room. I’m buzzing with a combination of excitement, adrenaline, and worry, and I pull away from my celebrating teammates to read the texts.

The first message is a picture of his family. Vanessa, Leila, Oliver, and Reyes all crowd around his mother in a hospital bed, but they’re all smiles and rosy cheeks. I smile, worried to see them in the hospital but relieved to see that his mom is clearly up and alert, and scroll to the next message.

Reyes:

That was an amazing game, mami. You had us all cheering so loud, they were about to kick us out of the hospital

Reyes:

I knew you could do it, obviously. But I’m so proud of you. And proud to call you my girl

Reyes:

I’m sorry for how I left things this morning. I had every intention of feeding you in bed and then eating your pretty pussy until it was time to head to the park

As I’m staring at the phone and trying not to blush, another message comes in.

Reyes:

Don’t rush. Get back to the hotel safely, but can I call you when you do?

Me:

Is your mom okay?

Reyes:

She fell in the shower. Had to have emergency hip surgery, but she’s doing good. She can’t stop talking about how beautiful you are, actually

Somehow, the thought of his mom talking me up makes me blush harder than his messages about eating me out. I slip into my locker room to take advantage of my privacy. Biting my lip, I contemplate what to send back.

Me:

Are you still all crowded together, or is your screen safe from prying eyes?

Three dots torture me. I pace the floor of my shower-less, little closet, not at all missing being here in Texas and strip out of my sweaty uniform without setting down the phone. I take a quick bird bath with a washcloth and cold tap water, and still my screen is haunted by three dots. I’m half-naked in clean panties when my phone finally buzzes twice in quick succession.

The picture comes first: a mirror selfie of Reyes alone in what is clearly a hospital bathroom. The skin under his eyes is dark, and he’s wearing the same shirt he had on when I brought him to my room last night, but he’s as handsome as ever.

Reyes:

I’m all yours mami

Before I can think better or worry about the consequences, I snap a picture back. My hair is a mess, and my face is still flushed from the game, but my small tits are on perky display, and my nipples are hard from the conditioned locker room air.

Reyes:

I changed my mind

Reyes:

Hurry your ass back to the hotel

Cool sheets feel incredible against my freshly shaved legs. I crawl into bed with my hair mostly dry and hanging loose around my shoulders and work up the courage to video call Reyes. I’m wearing one of his shirts just in case he isn’t somewhere private, and I keep the screen focused on my face as it rings.

When my call goes unanswered, I try not to let my heart drop. I can feel myself failing, but my phone buzzes one heavy heartbeat later.

Reyes:

Give me two minutes

Reyes:

I want to take you somewhere a little more private

That should make me smile, but I keep fidgeting until he calls back. When I answer, Reyes stares back at me from the driver’s seat of a car lit only by the hazy city skyline. He was handsome in the picture. Up close like this with shadows dancing over his face, he sends heat flooding to my core with a simple, “Hey, mami.”

“Hey, viejito,” I respond while I try to figure out what else there is to say.

“I’m sorry for leaving like that,” he says. “I’m not going to say that I didn’t want to wake you or some other excuse. The truth was, I lost it when Nessa called. She tried to tell me that my mom was alright, but I couldn’t stop catastrophizing. The entire way here, all I could think about was, what if something happened to her, and I wasn’t here? It’s not that you weren’t on my mind, or that I wasn’t thinking about you all day; I just felt like such a bad son, I didn’t know how to process anything else.”

“I get it.”

“Sierra–”

“Really, Mateo. I understand. I was never mad; I was only worried because I care. I’m glad she’s alright, and I’m glad you went home to her.” His face softens while I speak. I wish I could go to him this instant; what so many strangers to kink don’t understand is the moments like this. The moments when all I want in the world is to hold him, and care for him, and know all the little things–the shows, the music, the foods–that make him feel loved and soothed. “You know you aren’t a bad son though, don’t you, cari?ito?”

He laughs. “She makes it difficult. Won’t let me buy her a new house where she doesn’t have to go up and down stairs. Won’t let me move her closer to me.” He shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to take care of her.”

“I know,” I tell him softly. “She does, too.”

“Enough about me. You were amazing tonight.”

“I can’t believe you watched,” I say, suddenly self-conscious in spite of the thousands of fans who had watched from the stands. I shrug and grin at him. “I guess you could say that I had something to prove.”

“To me?” He raises his eyebrows with incredulity. “Ramirez, you’ve got nothing to prove to me. I’ve known what you’re capable of since I saw you pitch that game against Sacramento in the minors.”

“To the Scorpions and the fans. To our team and that asshole Williams. Most of all, to myself. They all really had me so shaken up that I believed I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Sierra, I want to be there with you. I want to help you when I can, but I help you because I see what you can do, not because I’ve ever thought that you needed me.” He props the phone on his dashboard so he can lean back and get more comfortable. “I think, maybe, I’m the one who needed you. Remember that bus ride when you got in my face and accused me of not caring about anything or anyone off the diamond?”

I cringe at the reminder. I had been so much angrier with him than was reasonable. Which in hindsight makes sense if rejection was what really fueled that spiteful moment.

“It got to me because it felt true even though I knew it wasn’t.” He pauses and adjusts the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know if you’ve ever wondered why my ex spends so much time with my family, and I appreciate that you’ve never asked.”

My heart falls, worried that I’ve overestimated his interest in me. Was Oliver always the one who got away? Is that why he’s thanking me, for helping me see that?

“We were together for almost a year. The team had just missed the playoffs when I met him, and for a few months, everything was great. I had to do keep up in the gym and with my endorsement deals, but I was barely traveling. I had plenty of free time to devote to my relationship, and I was so used to being the busy one that I didn’t mind when he was too busy for me. I loved him, and I know he loved me, but we both knew things were over months before we finally called it off. The truth is, I kept trying to force it because I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want to only have baseball. And I was able to blame my career for us breaking up instead of acknowledging all of the other ways we weren’t making each other happy.”

I nod along. I’m not sure where this is going, but I’m less on edge now that it doesn’t seem like he’s about to tell me they’re getting back together.

“I didn’t hate him when we broke up. I didn’t mind that my niece kept in touch with him; she grew up without a dad or a grandfather, and I get why she was so attached to her Tito Oliver. When he moved up to the Bay Area a last year, he got back in contact with Nessa and my mom. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew, Oliver’s name was popping up on my phone for the first time in years, and his voice was on the other end of the line, asking for permission to date my sister.”

My eyes go wide with shock. I don’t have siblings, but I have seen enough of my cousins’ relationship drama to know that this is the sort of thing people get their asses beat over.

He laughs again and shrugs. “I didn’t even hate him then. He’s been so good to Nessa, and she deserves that. She deserves so much more than a man who won’t leave her a single, teen mom. She deserves a man who will treat her like she walks on water. They’ve been together since then, they’re engaged now, and I’ve been happy for Nessa and Leila the entire time.” He pauses for effect and stares so deeply into my eyes, I forget there are screens and seventeen hundred miles between us. “It took meeting you for me to finally be happy for Oliver, too.”