Wild Pitch (Dominating the Diamond Book 1)

CHAPTER 54

I don’t think much of it when I wake up to an empty bed. Assuming Sierra is in the bathroom and preoccupied reliving last night’s introduction to kink, I roll onto my back and stretch. Between the mind-blowing sex, two of the most memorable orgasms of my life, and Sierra’s love of erotic massage, my body feels better than it has in months. In years, probably.

Every good feeling goes cold when I see her sitting fully dressed at the small table by the window. I know something is off immediately, but I can’t bring myself to accept what my instincts are screaming at me.

“How are you feeling?” she asks.

“I feel like I should be asking you that,” I say, gesturing toward her even though I want to pretend nothing is wrong. I pull back the covers and pat the mattress, wordlessly begging her to come back to bed with me. When she traces her finger around the rim of the empty candle instead of answering, I dare to hope that she’s only worried about my reaction after everything we did. “I honestly feel incredible. I’m never going to physical therapy again if I can keep getting my body worked like you did last night.”

Her smile is as small as it is fleeting. My blood runs colder than a frozen butt plug, and I rack my brain trying to figure out where things went wrong.

“Do you want to get breakfast? We can go out, or get room service, or go have breakfast with your moms if you want–”

“Maybe we should quit while we’re ahead,” she says.

“Is that really what you want?”

Sierra wrings her hands and leans forward with her elbows on her legs. “I think it’s what I need. I like you. A lot. Probably more than I should, considering we’re teammates–”

“Is this about your rule?”

“No. Not really. You’re worth breaking the rule; it’s just–” She trails off, but I sit up and wait for her to continue. I’ll beg her for a lot, but I won’t beg her to stay with me if her mind is made up. “If this blows up between us, it will go so wrong. We’re on the same team. We play complementary positions. If this blows up, I’m the one they’ll trade, and I can’t afford to let that happen. I can’t leave this team that actually accepted me and go somewhere that will treat me like the Scorpions did; I can’t let another team break me down like that.”

I can’t promise her that staying together now means we would never break up. I’d like to think we’re both mature enough to handle a break-up without blowing up our careers, but I can’t expect her to believe that when I’ve spent three years holding a petty grudge against Oliver, a man I didn’t have to see every day, much less work with, after a break-up that was amicable. It would be easy to tell myself that she’s stronger now and could handle herself on any team, but I saw how the Scorpions broke the confident pitcher I had seen during that farm league game that I went to with Dante and his kids a year ago.

“So where does that leave us?” I ask because I can’t promise any of the things that might change her mind.

“You were my first friend in the league.” Her laugh is a bittersweet chord, and she shakes her head as if to clear a memory. “No matter how hard you tried to fight it. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t had you in my corner from day one. I don’t want to lose that. I can’t lose you. My friend.”

She shrugs, at a loss for the sort of words that would make this hurt any less for either of us.

It would be easy to be angry. To ask why we had the best sex of my life last night, if this was where we were going to end up today.

Maybe I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with Oliver.

Maybe I simply can’t be angry because it’s her.

“Give me a minute to get changed, and I’ll drop you off at your moms. Think about what you want to pick up for breakfast. You can eat it at home with your moms, or you can eat it with me, your friend and teammate, but I’m making sure you get fed.” I climb out of bed and give her shoulder what I hope passes as a platonic squeeze before heading toward the bathroom. “Whatever happens, Ramirez, you’ll always be my rookie.”