Pitch Please (There's No Crying in Baseball 1)

This was my first time seeing him in all that time, and I didn’t feel one single ounce of remorse.

None.

Not with Hancock currently in my bed only two rooms away.

“What do you want, Langston?” I asked carefully.

Langston narrowed his eyes at me.

“What’s happened to you?” he asked, letting his eyes linger on my breasts once again.

I gained weight after we broke up, that’s what happened.

Did I tell him that, though? Hell no. Then he’d just make a fat joke, and I’d heard enough of those to last me a lifetime.

“I wanted to ask you if you’d be interested in attending my work picnic.” he cleared his throat.

My brows rose in surprise.

“I’m busy,” I told him without hesitation.

“You don’t even know what day it is,” he countered.

I shrugged uncaringly. “It doesn’t matter what day it is, I’m busy.”

“I’d really like you to give us another chance.” He took a step forward.

“Angel!” Hancock bellowed. “Where are you?”

“Who is that?” Langston stiffened, trying to walk past me toward my room like he’d done a million times, and I stepped in front of him.

“That is none of your business,” I challenged. “Now please, I gave you my answer. You may leave.”

He growled.

Langston was a big man.

He was perfectly coifed at all times, and today was no different.

I would shit my pants if the man ever let a whisker grow on his face. He’d proven to me more than once that he was willing to shave twice a day so that he always looked clean-cut and presentable.

He also got his nails done once a month and made sure to always condition his hair for the recommended amount of time on the bottle.

I’d never seen him in anything that wasn’t perfectly starched and pressed, and the one time I’d seen him get dirt on his shoes he had a freakin’ conniption and demanded we go home immediately, even though we’d paid to go to the baseball game.

So yeah, all in all, Langston was a big ol’ pansy.

“I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe,” he denied petulantly.

I nearly snorted my stray hair up my nose.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I laughed.

“Kidding about what, exactly,” he asked defensively.

My brows lowered.

“You really think you can protect me?” I snickered. “Langston, you’d have a cow if you ripped a shirt, let alone your skin. How do you think you’d defend me when you’re too scared to get your hands dirty?”

Langston’s eyes narrowed.

“Please, just go,” I groaned. “This has been over for a very long time, and I don’t want to deal with your shit right now. I’m starving and could really use a donut; not to mention I’m tired and irritable.”

“You shouldn’t eat donuts. They’re not good for you. However, I’d be happy to take you to get a multi-grain bagel,” he offered pleasantly.

I could do nothing but shake my head.

“It’s like I’m talking to a brick wall sometimes,” I muttered as I skirted around him, heading for the door. “Thanks for stopping by.”

He didn’t move from where he was standing in the middle of the room.

At least not until Hancock’s angry, “She told you to leave,” filled the room around us.

Langston’s eyes widened at seeing the big man standing directly behind him.

Swear to God, the man moved like a cat! I hadn’t even seen him arrive in the room, let alone creep up on Langston.

The differences between the two men were staggering. Even Hancock, who you could tell was sick as a dog, looked ten times better than Langston at his most pristine.

How had I ever found a baby face attractive? When it came to Hancock’s beard, I was in love. The beard just made his already perfect self even more perfect.

Where Langston was soft, Hancock was rough.

Hancock had tattoos galore, where Langston wouldn’t be caught dead looking like a ‘hoodlum.’ His words, not mine.

And from what I could remember, Langston had never looked like Hancock in his boxer briefs.

“Who are you?” Langston snapped, his chest bowing up in his perfectly pressed button-down dress shirt and purple striped tie that I’d bought him one year for his birthday.

Hancock’s eyes narrowed.

“Why do you care?” he said pleasantly. “Angel, come back to bed.”

A smile started to pull at the corner of my lips, and the words were out before I’d even meant them to come.

“You were moving like crazy and woke me up. I need donuts and coffee, stat,” I shot back. “And, unfortunately, nobody’s come up with a donut delivery, so I have to go get them if I want them.”

He sighed. “I’ll come with you. But after we’re done, we’re going back to bed with them.”

I shook my head.

“Umm, hello,” I snickered. “Glaze flakes in bed probably won’t be very much fun to sleep on later.”

“But imagine the possibilities when I lick them off your naked…”

“That is enough, Sir,” Langston hissed, taking a step forward. “She is a lady, not a whore. Don’t talk about her like that.”