Rescue Me

ppling quivers to let him know it.

“Uh.” I panted grunts as he finished exploding inside me before gently pulling out. My legs smacked together when I rolled to my side watching him dispose of the condom.

“Move over, I like coffee after my breakfast.” Theo nudged me until I made room for him. His version of coffee sounded more like snuggles. My eyes closed, and I fell deeply asleep, warmly cocooned in his massive arms, my hunger appeased.

3

Theo

I woke up in a bed not my own and a warm woman wrapped up in my arms. This weekend date had not proceeded according to plan, and I considered scrapping the rest of the plans in favor of winging it. Especially if winging it meant that we spent more time between the sheets. I liked not having a plan with Colbie. Unlike my ex who had been so regimented we scheduled sex. Rita had no place in my head this morning, and I pushed her out. Last night was spontaneous and fun, sexy and mind-blowing, and we definitely woke up hungry enough to demolish a full spread of food at the Gemini Diner.

And they said romance was dead, pfft.

Tempest, a beautiful red-headed dancer for The Rockettes who dated Hernandez and worked the breakfast shifts at the diner, stopped by to refill our mugs with hot coffee. She’d moved in with him right after a mugging in the neighborhood. They’d been together a few months now, and Hernandez planned to propose after his promotion this summer. I was glad the rookie wasn’t letting my divorce or the Lieutenant’s bitterness affect his future like so many of my other colleagues. Life was short, and love was precious. Tempest might not realize it yet, but she was a lucky girl with Hernandez, and I wished them the best.

Colbie cupped her hands around the hot ceramic mug, and we finished debating the pros and cons of standard operating procedures that had recently come under fire in the department. We agreed on one, the Lieutenant needed to retire sooner rather than later. We traded silly impersonations of him giving orders and being a general pain in the ass at the precinct. I decided to change the subject because the last thing I wanted to do was harp on work related topics when I had less than 48 hours of Colbie time all to myself.

“What do say we get out of here?” I reached for her hands across the table, cupping them over hers taking in the warmth from her fresh coffee.

“I thought you’d never ask, Rumson.” Colbie gave me a saucy wink, and I settled our bill leaving a hefty tip for Tempest.

We headed toward Chelsea Piers for the batting cages after we stopped at Colbie’s apartment. She grabbed a sweatshirt and a baseball cap after tying her hair back in a ponytail that begged to be tugged. I settled for wrapping my hand with hers in a protective grip, and she smiled the whole walk there.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she quipped.

“I want if you want.” My goal was to spend time with her. I didn’t care what we did, but this seemed like a good idea unless she hated baseball. I think I’d die if she hated baseball, so I had to ask. “You like baseball, right?” She paused, and I felt a niggling sense of worry. I was not going to pull a Seinfeld and drop her for this one thing.

Shrugging, she said, “Who doesn’t love baseball?” She bumped into me playfully, and I let out a deep breath.

We looked at each other for a moment and both said, “Rita.” As if my ex was a curse word before we howled laughing. I wasn’t in the market to make Rita the butt of our jokes, but she definitely played into this one.

Chuckling, she squeezed my hand leaning into me. “Well, I don’t want you to worry. I know a little bit about the game, maybe enough to play.”

“Thank goodness,” I murmured, leaning down to kiss the shit out of her on the street right in front of the field house before booking us an hour slot to swing bats at balls in a cage.

Colbie should have told me from the get go that she not only played the game, but her high school won their state group two years in a row, and she batted damn well. Heck, had I taken a good look at her hat I would have seen Roosevelt High Softball Champions embroidered on the brim. Some trained observer I turned out to be, completely distracted by everything Colbie. Watching her bat felt like a privilege each time the machine popped out a ball, and she smiled, cracking the bat against it and watching it fly off hitting the cage’s back net with skills that had to have been honed over years of playing the game.

“You’re a she-devil, Colbie. Remind me never to place a bet against you without having all the information at hand.”

“Awe, come on, Rumson, you would have found out soon enough when we had the PBA softball tournament.” She smiled, exiting the cage, swinging the bat playfully.

“Uh huh. I think I would have hung out just to see you in some tight white pants for that.”

“Stick around long enough and you might. I have an old pair in my closet back at my place.”

“No sexy elves dancing on them?” I teased.

“Nope, but the seam rides my crack nicely with thongs,” she quipped.

“Jesus, you’re killing me here,” I muttered.

“Hey, you said you’re a visual guy.” She tipped her cap at me saucy-like.

“Indeed, I did.” If she liked dressing up, I bet she’d make an interesting Harley Quinn. I looked forward to suggesting it for our station Halloween party.

Where had Colbie been hiding all my life?

Date number two ended with dirty water dogs and burnt cold pretzels from a cart near her place. Nothing showy but we dabbed mustard on each other’s noses and got smiles from a couple that had to have at least thirty years on us, and it felt good. I think it was safe to say we were planning on ending this date tonight in each other’s arms. Nothing had ever felt this good or right before, and I wasn’t letting it go.