Her hand travels under my shirt, sending a jolt of electricity through my system. I jump, causing her to pull away from me and laugh. And that’s when I see it—the lust in her eyes—and feel the uncertainty building within me. I cup her face and kiss her lightly on her forehead, nose, and finally her full lips, letting them linger there.
“I have to get to the stadium.” The lie falls easily when it shouldn’t. I still have hours, but I need to take a break. I need to process everything that is going on.
“Okay,” she says softly. Her voice is laced with disappointment. “What time will you be back?”
Shaking my head, I sigh and step away from her. I need to have some space because if I don’t, I’m liable to take her now. “I won’t. Not until after the road trip is done. We leave right after the game.”
“Oh…” Her voice trails off. “So I won’t see you for six days?”
“I think it works out to be about seven…technically.”
“Right.” She sits down on my bed, only a few inches from me. The night we first shared comes rushing back to me. Her, in my shirt with my number pressed against her back, her milky white skin coming to life with my touch, and the way she held onto me with her fingers digging into my skin when we connected for the first time.
“Baseball season is tough, especially on families.” I don’t know if my words are meant to warn her off or what, but she needs to realize that I’m not going to be around a whole lot from March until October. I take a chance and look at her. Her eyes are downcast, and I can see the wheels spinning in her head. Maybe this is a good thing, me leaving for a few days so she’ll know what it’s like when I’m gone all the time.
“I’ll call you,” I tell her, kissing her quickly on the cheek and making a hasty exit. I need to get out of here before I do anything stupid.
* * *
I’m antsy as shit as I drive to the stadium. I hit every single light and car trying to make a left-hand turn against the afternoon traffic. Aside from the obvious reason for having my windows tinted, today was especially helpful because I was flipping people off right and left.
After I left my apartment I went over to Davenport’s, only to find that he wasn’t home. He’s by far my closest friend on the team, and I need to talk to someone. As soon as I get my car parked, I’m hauling ass to the clubhouse, praying that he’s there. I find him in the gym, working out with Kidd.
“Hey,” they both say when I walk in.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I try to act nonchalant about it, but Kidd eyes me warily. Ethan follows me out of the gym and back to my car. It’s the only safe place to talk without someone eavesdropping. The last thing I want right now is for what I’m about to say to get out and rumors spread. Ainsley and I don’t need that.
“You quitting or something?” he asks, once inside the confines of my SUV.
“Nah, man, but I need some advice, and I didn’t want to talk inside the clubhouse.”
“Okay, what’s up?”
“Remember that chick I was digging in Florida at the beginning of the season? The one from the zoo?”
He nods. “Yeah, she was hot.”
“Right, well we hooked up a few times, and now she’s here…pregnant.”
His mouth drops open before letting out a long, exasperated sigh. “Is it yours?”
“Yeah, it is, but that’s not the worst part…she’s Wilson’s daughter.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
I shake my head and keep my eyes focused on the outside world. I can’t look at Davenport right now because I don’t want to see judgment.
“Dude, does he know you knocked his daughter up?”
I nod.
“Wait, did we know he had a daughter?”
“No, man, and that’s the fucked-up thing. Ainsley didn’t even know he was her father until after her mom died.”
“And now she’s here? She just showed up on your doorstep?”
“Nah. She called me the other night. We were at the bar, she tells me she’s in town, so I go meet her for lunch. And she stands up and the first thing I see is this chick that I really liked, pregnant. And I start to think about how I fucked up with her and now she’s with some other dude and how I’ve lost my chance.”