20. Heaven and Hell
TWENTY
HEAVEN AND HELL
RYAN
We won the game, but I couldn’t even tell you how it happened. I was operating fully on autopilot for the nine innings we played. My focus entirely on the woman sitting behind our dugout in my jersey.
Some of the older guys have talked about how much they loved seeing their wives in their jersey, and I never really understood it.
But now? Now, I get it. Seeing Isa in my jersey unlocked something inside me I didn’t even know existed.
It chanted mine mine mine at seeing my name written across her back.
And I’m hoping the fact she showed up like this means what I think it means.
I take the fastest shower I think I’ve ever taken after a game and quickly throw on my street clothes. Pulling my phone from my locker, I see a message from Isa.
Firecracker
I brought my work badge so I’ll wait for you at the door to the players’ lot
Ryan
Perfect. I’ll be out in 5
I toss my dirty uniform into the laundry basket and throw the last few things into my duffle.
Grabbing my wallet and keys from my locker, I shove them into my pocket and tug a Suns baseball cap over my still damp hair as I practically sprint from the locker room.
Austin, Cooper, and Hunter are snickering behind me as I book it to the exit.
I lift my hand to flip them off over my shoulder without looking.
They caught me staring at her anytime I wasn’t on the field and when they followed my attention to see her wearing my jersey, they knew exactly what was going on inside my head.
The animal pounding on the bars of the cage, begging to be set free and claim her.
God, I would’ve given anything to have been able to touch her after I saw her in my jersey.
If it wouldn’t have severely pissed Coach off, I would’ve said ‘fuck it’ to the game, thrown her over my shoulder, and left the ballpark.
I needed to feel her. Touch her. Make sure this is real and not an incredible dream.
I round the corner and see her leaning against the wall by the doors into the team lot.
She looks like a fucking angel. My fucking angel.
Her denim shorts are molded to her ass in a way her usual dress slacks don’t.
And rightfully so. The shorts alone are enough to have my cock hardening in my pants.
The jersey she wears unbuttoned over her yellow crop top? That’s the icing on the cake.
She looks up when I’m a few steps away and her cheeks go pink as she gives me a shy smile.
Oh, she’s nervous. Interesting.
“Good game,” she says as I stop in front of her.
“Was it? I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened on that field tonight.” My eyes roam her face, cataloging every little feature. The sparkle of amusement in her eyes, the dusty pink tint of a blush in her cheeks.
She lets out a soft laugh. “Oh, I’m sure that’s not true.”
I raise an eyebrow at her before I drop my bag and step into her space, crowding her up against the wall.
My hands land on either side of her head, caging her in.
The amusement leaves her eyes and melts into something molten, heated.
Very interesting. I let my head drop so my breath ghosts her ear as I whisper, “My focus was solely on the feisty brunette who decided tonight was the night to drive me completely crazy by wearing my jersey.” I remove one hand from the wall to flip my hat backwards as I pull my head back from her ear.
I let that hand drop so it trails along the buttons on her jersey.
She clears her throat. “It was Liz and Jordan’s idea.”
“Remind me to thank them later,” I say, my voice more gruff than usual.
“So, are you going to go all caveman now and take me back to your cave?”
That… is exactly what I want to do. “Do you want me to?”
“I wouldn’t say no,” she says quietly.
My head drops back with a groan. “Thank fuck. I swear you’re going to be the death of me, firecracker. Let’s get out of here… but first, there’s one thing I need to do or else I might combust.”
“What’s that?” she asks breathily.
“I need to kiss you, firecracker. Please, tell me I can kiss you.” My eyes bounce between hers, looking for permission.
She stares up at me for only a moment before she launches herself at me.
Her arms loop around my neck and lips crash into mine.
I can’t help the groan that leaves me the second our lips touch.
I wrap one arm around her waist, pulling her as close to my body as is physically possible.
My other goes to the back of her head, threading through the strands of her hair as I push her back against the wall.
She tastes like the ciders I know she drank throughout the game, and I can’t get enough of it. Pretty sure I’ll never get enough of her.
She kisses me like she’s as desperate for this as I am. I’ve been fantasizing about kissing her for weeks now, and those fantasies don’t even come close to the real thing.
My tongue swipes against the seam of her lips and she immediately parts them, allowing me in.
Our tongues tangle with each other. I lean in, pressing her further into the wall.
I stick a leg between hers and kick her foot out, widening her stance as I wedge my thigh between her legs.
The way her breath hitches tells me that she likes that.
She likes that a lot. I remove the hand that’s looped around her waist and firmly grip her hip as she starts to move, seeking out the friction from my thigh.
Ripping my mouth from hers, I begin to kiss down her neck, starting at her earlobe where I give it a gentle nip but then soothe the pain with a quick suck. I kiss down her neck, along her pulse point fluttering wildly under my lips.
She continues to rock against my thigh, her movements picking up pace.
“That’s right, baby. Use me to get off,” I growl as I continue my path to her shoulder, which is now bare except for the strap of her tank top since the jersey has slid down her arms. “You gonna come like this?”
She whimpers but doesn’t answer or stop her movements. I want her to come like this. I need her to come.
My cock throbs where it presses against the zipper of my jeans.
All it’s asking for is a little friction of its own, but this isn’t about me.
Granted, if she does come right now, pretty sure I’ll be doing the same without her even touching me.
Like some teenager hooking up for the first time.
I’d be embarrassed if she wasn’t the sexiest fucking woman I’d ever seen.
Her movements become more frenzied and inconsistent, even with my help keeping her rhythm and her breaths come out in short, stuttering pants. She’s close. She’s so close.
A door slams, echoing down the hallway to where we’re tangled up.
It serves as a bucket of cold water thrown over our heads as we’re both broken out of the lustful spell that had taken over us.
She shoves me away roughly, and I stumble back a few steps without a fight.
Her lips are swollen from kissing, her cheeks and neck flushed a bright red from her nearing orgasm, and her hair is all mussed and half falling out of its ponytail from my hands gripping and running through it.
She looks like a deer in headlights. Eyes wide and startled. The panic tries to take over, but I can’t let that happen.
I rip the hat off my head and step carefully back into her space. “Do you trust me?”
She doesn’t even hesitate to nod and gives a quiet, “Yes.”
Warmth blooms in my chest. I smile at her and lean in to place a quick peck to her lips because I can’t seem to help myself.
Then I make quick work of tugging the elastic keeping her hair tied up, allowing it to tumble down over her shoulders.
I bite the inside of my cheek to stifle the groan, because fuck.
I never thought the act of letting hair down could be so erotic and yet here I am, still hard, cock twitching from watching her hair float down.
Using my hand, I smooth it out and down to the best of my ability before I place my hat on her head, tugging it down enough so she can use the bill to obscure her face as we make our exit from the building.
“That should cover your face enough to get to my car in case there are any photographers or fans nearby.” I reach down with one hand to snatch up my bag and toss it over my shoulder and hold out my other hand for her to take. “Ready?” Our eyes lock and I can see her still warring with her senses.
This is that moment. The point of no return.
It was all fun and games but now we’ve officially broken the rules, and she has to consider the consequences of being caught.
One kiss could be written off as a mistake.
Coming home with me now to continue where we left off?
That’s a choice. I try to keep my face blank, but my insides are screaming with the hope she’ll take my hand.
After several long moments of my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest, she straightens her spine with determination and exudes all the confidence I know she possesses.
It’s incredibly hot to see her like this.
Bold and sure of herself. I fucking love it.
I fucking love her. But it’s also not helping the unresolved situation in my jeans.
When I answered my own question about being in love on our date, I was talking about her. Before now, I had never been in love. Even if I thought I had been, it’s nothing compared to what I feel for her. It was my way of telling her, without actually confessing my feelings.
She places her hand in mine and my heart soars. “Let’s get out of here.”
The smile that overtakes my face can only be described as bright and blinding. It could probably replace the sun.
Gripping her hand firmly in mine, I tug us both outside and straight over to my car, like a man on a mission. Which I suppose I am. I’m on a mission to get her to keep kissing me. To finish what we started.
We make it across the lot to my car in what feels like record time. I’m dragging her along with me to the passenger side where I all but throw open the door and drop my bag so I can guide her inside with my hands on her hips, dragging the seatbelt across to buckle her in.
“You know I can do that myself, right?” she asks with a laugh.
“I know. Just… let me take care of you. Okay?” I truly don’t know what’s come over me, acting so overprotective that I have to buckle her seatbelt for her, but I am.
And I do. It calms my frantically beating heart the tiniest bit.
I’m about to close the door with her settled in, but I stop at the last second. I need one more thing before I go.
I reach in and flip the cap, so it sits backwards on her head before I lean in and plant a searing kiss on her lips.
It’s not the full-on, R-rated make out session we had in the hallway, but it’s not the peck I gave her before we left the building either.
It’s somewhere in between and doesn’t last nearly as long as I would like.
I’ve been dreaming of kissing this woman for weeks so there’s no way in the world I’ll come anywhere close to satisfying that desire with only three kisses.
I return the cap to the right way around, giving the brim a playful flick when I catch her bashful smile and pink tinged cheeks.
Closing her door, I head around to the back of the car where I toss my bag into the trunk and then take up my spot in the driver’s seat.
I turn on the ignition and whip out of the spot.
As we pull onto the highway, I reach across and take her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers.
That’s where it stays for the entire drive to my place.