4. Royce
4
ROYCE
The moment Abby stepped up to the plate, I knew the game was about to take a turn. She had a determined glint in her eyes that I recognized from all my past encounters with her at work. She was a woman with an agenda, and that meant trouble for the opposing team.
I held my breath when the ball was pitched to her, but my girl hit it with the grace of someone who'd scored a thousand home runs before.
My girl? Where the hell had that come from? She was definitely not my girl. In fact, I was fairly certain she hated me, at least off the field.
And I couldn’t blame her for that. I'd been avoiding her at work, but I had my reasons. Mostly that it wasn't easy being around her when every little thing about her pulled me in and made me more interested. I was trying to maintain professional boundaries, but it wasn’t easy with such a cutie like her. At least out there on the field, I could freely watch her with the excuse of wanting to help her learn the game.
Which might have been slightly believable if she didn’t toss her bat into the air and grab it like a professional player.
On Abby’s second at bat, she slid into home base just as the catcher fumbled with the ball. Our team erupted into cheers and stormed the plate to hug her.
Abby jumped to her feet and dusted herself off with a triumphant grin across her face as the team pulled her into hugs and high fives. Her gaze instantly found mine, and she absolutely beamed.
Fuck, she was gorgeous.
She really was an unexpected ringer.
"Who knew you were a softball shark, Abby?" Corinne gave her a hug. “You were amazing out there.”
Abby shrugged and finally broke eye contact with me. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Indeed they could.
As everyone started talking about hitting a bar to celebrate, I noticed Abby's expression waver. Her enthusiasm dimmed, and she almost curled in on herself.
“Abby, you’re coming with us, right?” Corinne was there again, hooking her arm through Abby’s. “It’s right down the street.”
"Uh, no, thanks. I'll have to pass on drinks, but you guys have fun."
As if she’d just announced she was an alien, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at her. Amongst the team, post-game drinks were a bit of a tradition, and anyone who didn’t partake was suspicious.
"Are you sure?” Brad stepped up and put his arm around her shoulders as if he knew her, but the way she cringed made me step closer too. “Come on, Abs. One drink won't hurt."
“She said no.” I leveled a death stare at Brad, and he immediately removed his arm before I did it for him. “You guys go on without us.”
“Us?” She waited until everyone drifted toward the locker rooms before following up with her question. “You’re not going either?”
"Nah, I don’t need to drink for fun anymore." I took a step closer, and she instinctively backed up against the chain-link fencing. “I drink enough with customers and prospective customers that my liver needs a break when I’m not trying to win business.” My party days were over. Now drinking was always part of networking or sealing deals, and it was hard to enjoy something when it was an occupational necessity.
“I’m the opposite. I only drink in the safety of my home unless I have someone to…” She stopped short and then looked up at me from under her long lashes. “Well, someone to make sure I don’t do anything silly.”
Something about her choice of words made me imagine things about her that probably weren’t true. But fuck, I liked thinking about her needing me to keep her safe when she was a little tipsy. “Smart girl.”
Her eyes darkened as if that were the secret code to break through to her. “Thank you.”
I stared at her for a few more moments before backing away. “We should probably get changed. Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
Right before she turned into the women’s locker room, she bit her lip and smirked. “How do you feel about floats?”
It took me a second to catch up to her. “Like, root beer?”
"Yeah." The corner of her mouth twitched upward in a smile. "Ever tried Mamma B's orange creamsicle float? It's got sherbet and pineapple whipped cream, and it’s the yummiest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth."
Fuck me. Now she was just messing with me. "Can't say I have, but I love yummy things in my mouth." I waggled my eyebrows, lightening the moment.
She giggled. "Then it's settled. You're coming with me to Mamma B's. We'll celebrate our win with ice cream instead of inebriation."
I raised an eyebrow, trying to talk myself into saying no, even as I caught her playful grin. Going out with her one on one was a bad idea. Definitely, not smart. Yet, I found myself nodding in agreement. "Alright, let's do it."
"Yay!" Abby clasped her hands in front of her chest and bounced a little. "Just give me a sec to hit the showers."
"Yeah, same." My pulse was already racing even as blood began to pool southerly.
Was this a date? Maybe she was just being polite. Or maybe she wanted someone to look after her now that it was dark out. I had no business thinking about a staff member as anything more than a colleague, but how could I resist?
And as far as I was concerned, it was definitely a date.
In the locker room, I peeled off my sweaty clothes and tossed them in the mesh pocket of my duffel. The heat from the game still radiated off me, and a trickle of sweat made its way down my spine.
As I stepped under the spray, the image of Abby rounding the plates with her ponytail swinging like a pendulum made my dick perk up. I cranked the temperature from hot to cold just to shock my cock into submission, but it didn’t help much. As I ran my hand over my skin to rinse off the sweat, I wondered what she was doing in her shower. Was she touching herself and thinking of me?
Fuck. I turned to get my backside and then turned off the spray. I brought loose jeans to wear home and didn’t want them tenting during our little ice cream float date.
It was getting harder to pretend I wasn’t attracted to her in a way that wasn't just about looks—it was about everything she was. And she’d been showing hints of having a Little side that intrigued me to no end.
My brain did its best to talk me out of pursuing anything more than a friendship, but if she showed any real interest in me, there was no way I’d deny her. I had to see where it could go.
Mixing business with pleasure was a recipe for disaster on a good day, and with the way our roles constantly interacted, one of us would have to make a change if things got serious. But I was getting way ahead of myself.
For now, all future plans needed to be put on hold until I’d actually spent some time with Abby. Genuine one-on-one time that would make things more clear. Maybe.
Apparently, I was gonna do that over ice cream floats.
A smile tugged at my cheeks as I dried off and got dressed. There was something freeing in making a dumb decision and ignoring the potential fallout that could come from a workplace fling. She was a sweet little thing, and if she wanted to have dessert with me, I was all in.
I rarely let my guard down around new people, so hanging out with Abby was exciting. She was one of the few people who challenged me, and that was intriguing. She also frustrated the hell out of me, but much of that was on me. I glanced at myself a final time before grabbing my bag and heading out toward the parking lot.
"Hey, Royce." Abby was standing just outside the building, fresh-faced and with her hair in a french braid. In a simple dress, she actually glowed in front of the setting sun. Gorgeous.
"Hey." I tried not to stare at her curves and the way her full lips spread when she smiled. I could imagine them spread around my cock, and that was exactly what I didn’t need to be thinking about. "You promised me a life-changing float."
"And I never break my promises!" She winked and spun on her toes. “Let’s go.”