Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Romy
We’re parked outside the softball field in the back of Zander’s SUV, with DeSoto outside after he’s done a perimeter check to make sure there aren’t any wild bulls ready to chase us down. We’re here early, so my legs are swung over his lap, and his hands are lazily massaging them.
“All right, so explain this to me again. Grown men and women are playing softball?”
“I don’t know why it’s such a big thing to you.
Ranches play against other ranches. We have a really big rivalry with Wild Bull Ranch.
” I remember that when Zander was trying to get out of being at Plain Daisy Ranch, they were going to go to Wild Bull Ranch.
“And just so you know, Wild Bull Ranch does not have a Romy. You should count yourself lucky you filmed your video at Plain Daisy Ranch.”
He laughs. God, I love hearing his authentic, genuine laugh. And the way his head rocks back makes me a goner for him.
“Nobody has a Romy. Believe me, I know how lucky I am.” His fingers slide higher under the hem of my shorts, brushing the inside of my thigh.
I press my hand over his. “Hey, you have a game to play. And I’m really sorry about where you are in the lineup. I’m not that strong of a hitter.” Zander is taking my place on the team for this game.
“No problem. I don’t need the pressure of trying to get a hit.” He shifts, bringing me closer, his hand sliding under the denim waistband. His finger thrums against my panties, and I gasp.
“Zan,” I whisper, knowing we shouldn’t but not having it in me to fight him too hard.
“Goddamn it, Romy. Tell me you’re wet for me right now.”
“You’re starting the dirty talk a little early, aren’t you?”
“Are you?” He ignores my question.
He pushes past the edge of my panties, his finger coasting under the elastic. My head falls back against the window with a sigh.
“That’s my girl. Wet and warm for me,” he whispers.
“God, Zander…”
He withdraws his finger and brings it to his mouth, rubbing his bottom lip before snaking his tongue out and licking. “Open those jeans, Romy. Pull them down so I can see your pussy.”
I straighten in the seat. “Oh my god, no! DeSoto is standing at the back of the truck. Are you crazy? We cannot do this here.”
“Oh, yes, we can.” His hands go to my hips, and he eases me back into the position I was in. “I might not be able to get off, but you sure as hell can.”
“Then you’re going to be sporting a hard-on in the middle of the game. That’s not the bat you’re supposed to be playing with out there.”
He laughs, but God help me, he pops the button of my jeans, and I don’t stop him. His fingers dive under the waistband, gliding along my stomach. That’s all it takes. I slide the zipper down and scoot them low enough.
“There you go.” His voice is laced with seduction, and I am here for it. He pulls my panties aside and stares, his teeth locking down on his bottom lip. “Shit. So perfect. So fucking perfect. And all mine.”
His thumb lazily circles my clit.
“We should not be doing this.” But there’s zero fight in my voice.
“What do I have to do to get you to pull your shirt up and slide down those bra cups?”
“I am not going to sit in this car half naked for anyone to see.”
My words don’t stop Zander, and his thumb’s lazy pace makes my heart race.
“That’s a Zander Shaw perk. Tinted windows.” He quirks his eyebrow.
“Oh, the perks.” I chuckle low in my throat.
“Come on, baby. Show me those tits.” He applies a little more pressure, and with it, the promise that I’ll be coming soon if I cooperate.
God help me, I do what he asks. I tug my shirt up and pull down the cups of my bra.
“Just as perfect as your pussy.” He leans forward and captures one nipple in his mouth, his teeth scraping along my sensitive skin, before he kisses the valley between my breasts. “I need you.”
“You can’t have me yet. You have to wait. Maybe we put a little wager on this.”
He draws back and looks at me in the eye. “A wager? Sounds interesting.”
In the meantime, his fingers work me over, sliding, circling, pushing me closer to the edge.
“These hormones make me lose the ability to fight you on this.”
He withdraws completely, staring me in the eye. “Don’t blame your hormones, baby. I’m getting you hot because I’m your boyfriend, and I know exactly how to get you off.”
He plunges a finger inside me, and my head rocks back against the glass.
“There you go.” His voice goes back to a seductive low tone.
Another finger joins the first, his thumb pressing just right. His tongue swirls over my nipple, every nerve ending sparking and traveling right down to my center.
“Come on, baby. I know you’re close. Don’t hold back.” He shifts to my other breast, sucking hard, his pace between my thighs quickening.
I grip his forearm as though I’m afraid he’s going to stop.
He lifts up and kisses my neck, his breath in my ear causing goose bumps to explode over my skin.
“Squeeze my fingers. And after you come, I’m going to suck you off my fingers, so I have the taste of you on my tongue the entire game.
And I’m going to play really good, baby.
So good that you’ll want to suck my cock tonight. You want that, right, baby?”
“Zan,” I pant, my thoughts a jumbled mess.
“But I’m not going to come in that mouth, no.
I’m going to come deep inside your warm, wet pussy.
” His voice is so low in my ear that I clench again, not wanting this to end.
“That’s it. Yes, I can feel how close you are, Romy.
Now give it to me.” He plunges deeper and sucks my earlobe into his mouth.
I close my eyes as he rockets me over that cliff. Stars burst behind my eyelids as I tense, then collapse against the seat as he slowly withdraws his fingers, the wet sound echoing in the small space.
True to his word, he brings his fingers to his mouth, eyes closing as though he’s never tasted anything sweeter.
God help me. This man is going to be the death of me.
A bang on the window jolts me upright with wide eyes, but not Zander. He just leans back as though he knows no one will open the door until he says they can. I scramble, yanking my bra back in place, shoving down my shirt, and yanking my jeans back up.
Zander laughs the whole time. “Shit, baby. Calm down. Don’t worry about it.”
Then we hear DeSoto shout, “Emmett, get away from that fucking door!”
“It’s game time,” Emmett argues.
“They’ll be ready when Zander says he’s ready.”
Knowing that DeSoto won’t let anyone open the door without Zander’s word, I straddle him. “Good luck today. I feel like I should’ve been the one giving you the orgasm for taking my spot.”
“That’s okay. I’m just playing for my reward later.”
“I never actually promised you a reward.”
“Baby, you’ll be on your knees later tonight. Every time I’m at bat, I’ll be thinking about impressing you more and more, so you’ll want my cock tonight.”
I laugh and kiss him one last time. “Good luck. Don’t take it too seriously.”
He grabs my ass, pulling me against him. “What do you mean, don’t take it too seriously?”
“It’s just a regular softball game against another ranch. Well… it is competitive. We’re not playing Wild Bull Ranch tonight, but still. I think it’s the second-best team.”
He kisses my neck, then pats my ass. “All right, all right. We better get going.”
We climb out of the SUV.
Emmett is halfway to the field by now. He must hear the car door because he swings around. “Hey, Zander. Why don’t you sing the national anthem?”
“Fuck no,” Zander shoots back, laughing.
Almost everyone is here. Which means everyone knows I was in the SUV with Zander the whole time—probably saw it rocking.
I kiss him once more before heading to the bleachers, while he joins the crew in the dugout with Emmett.
Sadie, Gillian, and Briar stare at me, wearing their matching shirts—Jude’s girl, Ben’s girl, and Emmett’s girl. Daisy is playing in the dirt with Wren and Leia in front of the fence. Colter is on his mom’s lap.
Sadie nudges me when I sit down. “So it’s true.”
“What’s true?”
“That you and Zander Shaw are a thing.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks. I see now why Zander doesn’t like the whole first and last name. It makes him sound more like a thing than a person.
Gillian rolls her eyes. “Please. You two are all anyone is buzzing about. Just confirm it for us.”
I glance toward the field. Zander is throwing the ball back and forth with Emmett, muscles flexing, and then—God help me—his eyes catch mine, that half smile tugging at his lips.
“Yeah. We’re together,” I say.
The squeals erupt. Sadie fans herself while Briar swoons.
Finally, Briar says, “I was starting to think we’d have to lock you two in the barn until you admitted it.”
Before I can answer, Beau drops onto the bleacher beside me. “Grown men playing softball. This is what happens when you have too much free time.”
“You don’t sound impressed.” I chuckle.
“Yeah, well. Why would I be? I’ve lived through this.”
“You played baseball?” I ask.
“Fuck no. Foster care picnic every year. Zander was the strikeout king. Couldn’t hit the ball for shit.”
I glance at Zander again. “No way. He hasn’t said anything about that.”
“We used to bet on how many swings it’d take.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s going to do great.” I straighten my back.
Beau laughs. “Said like any good girlfriend.”
I turn toward him. I assume Zander has told Beau, but we haven’t talked about it. Is Beau happy or upset about the status of our relationship? He’s smiling, smug and cocky, but still smiling, so maybe he’s okay with it?
The game starts, and we all face the diamond. It takes the second inning before Zander gets up to bat, and after Beau’s insight, I’m more worried than I was before.
Zander steps into the batter’s box. The pitch comes. Crack. The ball soars over the shortstop’s head and skips into the outfield. Zander sprints out of the box, rounds first, and slides into second. When he stands, his eyes seek me out.
I clap and cheer for him along with the other ladies.
“Well, looks like his strikeout days are over.” Beau shakes his head. “Must be the Romy effect.”
Something warms in my chest.
The game passes in a blur of banter, laughter, and cheers. And when it’s over, we’ve won. Zander went three-for-three.
Beau is still shaking his head. “I can’t fucking believe it.”
Later, as the bleachers clear, I turn to Beau. “Hey,” I say, pulling him aside.
He puts his hands in the pockets of his slacks, smirking.
“You know?”
“Yeah, I know.” He rolls his eyes.
“And?” I bite my lip and fidget with my fingers.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Listen, Romy, my friendship with him comes first. He’s my best friend.
My brother. I want him to be happy. I want him to have everything he wants.
You make him happy, so that makes me happy.
Will there be more bullshit to deal with as a result of this?
You bet your ass. You and him and…” His gaze falls to my stomach.
“Complicates a lot of shit. But I’ll do it with a smile because I love the guy. ”
“Can I help with any of it?”
He smiles and shakes his head at me. “Yeah, I get why he fell for you. Just don’t argue about your security detail.”
“What? Oh my god, that’s not going to happen.”
He sobers and tilts his head. “Romy, you don’t know this world yet. You only saw a small percentage while you were on the bus. You’re important to him. Which means you’re important to me. So I need to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“But it’s just the ranch.”
With a sigh, he opens his arms. “Let’s take this slow, but don’t think for a second that I don’t welcome you into our pseudo family with open arms. That means as long as you’re with him, you’re stuck with me.
I’m Uncle Beau. And good luck with him. He’s not the easiest guy to deal with, so if you ever need someone in your corner, call me.
” He pulls me into a hug, and the warm feeling in my chest spreads further.
Zander leaves the dugout with the rest of my cousins and family.
Beau breaks away from me and slaps Zander on the back. “Way to go, buddy. Didn’t live up to your reputation today.”
I lean back, watching them laugh together, and I’m thankful that if Zander didn’t have an easy childhood, at least he had Beau.
Then Beau’s words echo in my head—security detail, a world I don’t fully understand. I think we’re in for a bumpy ride, but it’s all worth it to see that smile aimed at me.