Chapter 24 Nate
TWENTY-FOUR
nate
I changed the load of towels in the wash while I waited for my raging erection to subside. I’d left my phone in the kitchen and had nothing to distract myself. And every time I thought about the kiss we’d shared—tent city once again.
I heard Austin in the kitchen talking to Olivia, and that finally did it. It had to be against the bro code to be lusting after your veteran buddy’s sister. But the lines with our team had been fucked all the way up this season.
“—she’s a mess, I know she sat here and hung out by the pool—but she’s barely hanging on by a thread.” As Austin spoke, I slipped into the kitchen, grabbed my phone, and made a beeline to my room.
“Gotta go unpack,” I mumbled. I was DONE with the team drama for the day.
Sorry, Lindy, but I hated your husband and didn’t want to spend my entire travel day thinking about him.
Instead, I’d shower and get myself ready for the sneaky bedroom date planned with Olivia once everyone in the house finally fell asleep.
It was at times like these that I realized how alone I was. My friends from high school had faded away; my former teammates had scattered: some went to college, a few tried their hand at the draft, and then there were the ones who ended up back home, trying to make a living.
My coach had been the closest thing to a father figure I’d ever had—but I’d never talked to him about girls or women—just baseball. There weren’t really girls to talk about.
My current teammates were back after a crazy road trip and probably just as sick of all of this as I was—the only person I felt I could talk to was Olivia.
Not about this. There had been enough sordid secrets; I wasn’t going to ask anyone to hide the fact that I planned to sleep with my teammate’s sister.
And yes, I had gone through the rational pros and cons, and I was still going to do it.
A list of pros and cons didn’t capture the essence of Olivia. Even knowing that this would never involve her returning my feelings, I was still running headfirst into heartbreak.
I unpacked and tossed my laundry into the basket before realizing that there was absolutely nothing for me to do in my room except watch the clock. I picked up the book I’d bought and flopped down on my bed, figuring I could at least try to read. And watch the clock.
I abandoned my book for sports news, and man, that was juicy.
Someone had spilled all the tea, and they had it all.
And while I was done hearing about the bullshit, I was interested in hearing what they thought about my prospects at shortstop.
They didn’t have years of playing to evaluate whether this would work, and some thought that if I was going to move positions, I should spend some time in AAA first. No one could see how easily I could move from one defensive position to another.
The commentary only fueled my desire to prove everyone wrong. Shortstop was my position—and Milligan had some significant issues fielding the ball; those issues had been ignored because he’d been around for a few more years, just like they ignored the fact that he was a giant dick.
Watching the commentary only made me itch to get into the gym. I wished Olivia had the setup that Austin had in his house. I thought he was going to move it over here, but it sounded like Ashley was playing every game she could think of to fuck with him.
My door burst open, and Olivia rushed in. She pressed her fingers to her lips, signaling for me to be quiet. I shrugged my shoulders in a silent question.
She whispered, “Coops in bed. Austin is in the shower.” She stalked over to the bed. “I wanted a warm-up.”
“Warming up is always good,” I said, barely containing my smile as she straddled my lap.
“You athletes and your pre-workouts—”
“Do you know many athletes?” I asked, wondering if she’d been with any other teammates of Austin’s. And generally curious about her sexual history. She’d been tight-lipped about it, keeping details private while assuring me that she’d had the appropriate tests and was “clean.”
“I’m guessing.” She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth. “I swore off baseball players a long time ago.” Not exactly a no, but at least it was a “not lately.”
“And you’re ready to dip back in?”
“Uh-huh. It’s time.”
Right as she swooped in and took my mouth, Austin yelled her name.
“Olivia—”
“Fuck. What does he want?” She mouthed as she jumped off the bed.
She bumped painfully into my erection, which had taken less than thirty seconds to arise.
Her phone lit up with a text message, and I passed it to her from where she had haphazardly discarded it when she joined me on the bed.
She held it up so I could see the message.
Austin: I need a towel.
She grabbed the phone and texted him furiously.
Olivia: Hold on. I gotta run to the laundry room. Coop must have forgotten to bring the towels up before bed.
Cooper and Austin shared a bathroom, while Ashley and I both had our own bathrooms adjoining our bedrooms.
She snuck back out of my room with a whispered promise of “later.” That woman was a fucking whirlwind, and I was here for it.
The sneaking around proved worth it when I slipped into her bedroom to find her dressed in black lace and spread out like a goddamn gift.
“Is this for me?” I asked, fingering the strap on her shoulder.
“It’s for both of us. But mostly for you.”
“Jesus, holy fuck,” I said, spluttering out a bunch of nonsense words.
“Are you religious, Nate?”
“My mom tried like hell, but you heard my mouth.”
“That’s good. Because we’re going to do some things with that mouth tonight, and I wouldn’t want you feeling guilty.”