Rookie Mistake: A Sports Romance Novel (The Beasts of Baseball Book 1) (26 page)

***

I sat out by my pool with my phone in hand. It was hot outside, the air thick and muggy and a dip in the cool water sounded refreshing, but I couldn’t get motivated to do it. I didn’t want to do anything. I dialed Whitney’s number and got the same “mailbox is full” bullshit. I felt like a stalker as I dialed it three more times.

I had Holly’s number in my phone and knew she’d know where Whitney was, even if she might not tell me, so I dialed it. It rang twice and then connected. I waited for Holly to say “hello” or “fuck off,” but I only heard music for a few seconds before the call dropped. I was getting ready to dial her again when my phone rang, Holly’s number on the screen.

I tapped accept. “Hello?”

Nothing but the same music from before.

“Hello!” I screamed into the receiver.

Nothing but music. She must have butt dialed me by mistake when she shoved her phone back in her pocket.

I heard her voice, then another female. I turned up the volume and hit the speaker button to try to make out the conversation. It was Whitney, I knew that for certain, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“He’s not good enough for you,” a man said loud and clear. “He’s a liar and cheat, always will be.” I couldn’t recognize who it was.

Whitney mumbled something I couldn’t make out.
What the fuck was she saying?

“I’ve seen many a good kid turn in this world,” the man said.

Whitney said something else. A mumble but it sounded like, “I love him.”

Oh God, if she loves me, there’s a chance, and these bastards are all trying to turn her against me!

I gripped my keys and rushed out my front door. I was heading to Ace’s, to confront the guy, to make Whitney listen, to get my life back.

I didn’t bother to knock, knowing Ace left his door open for his large parties. The place was crowded, and the usual naked girls and team members were floating around the house. I didn’t see Ace. I figured he was upstairs shoving cocaine up his nose while his guests ran wild unsupervised. The back room behind the kitchen had a large red sofa and a big screen TV, it was the quietest place in the entire house so I rushed through the kitchen, hoping to find Whitney there to talk some sense into her before she got on a plane and flew home. I knew she would never come back again, not after this.

Rhett sat on the couch next to Whitney and fucking Todd Morris was on her other side, his arm around her shoulders. She was smiling, even laughing it looked like.

Was he flirting with her? Was she enjoying it?

Every emotion known to man ran through me — rage, fear, sadness, even joy. Happiness at the thought of getting to see her again, to maybe to talk to her, touch her. She was just within my reach.

“What are you doing here?” Holly asked, her eyes wide with surprise as she stepped between me and Whitney.

I turned from her to look at Whitney, who hadn’t seen me yet.

She grabbed my arm, but I didn’t try to shake her off. This was Whitney’s friend, and she was only trying to protect her. I laid my hand on hers, turning back so she could see my eyes. See the truth in them.

“It’s okay, Holly. After she hears me out, if she still wants to leave, I’ll never call her again.”

Holly’s face softened, and she did that quick blinking thing again. “Please don’t hurt her again,” she said with a soft sigh, then gave me the stink eye and punched me in the arm.

Thinking that was my cue to move forward, I gave her a reassuring smile and headed straight toward my girl. Todd Morris looked up and his arm tightened around her shoulders as our eyes met. “Can I help you?” Morris snarled.

Whitney looked up, and there they were, those beautiful eyes. So green, so perfect I wanted to dive into them. “Hey, can we talk?”

It was like everyone in the room froze for an instant, then reanimated, then sped up. Rhett shot up from the couch while Morris nestled Whitney closer to him. A hand came down on my shoulder, a quick glance showed me it was attached to Ace.

I didn’t shake him off. I didn’t raise my voice. I only looked at her.

“From the moment I spoke to you on the phone, there’s been no one but you. I have proof, if you’re interested in seeing it. And if you aren’t…” I swallowed hard, knowing these next words were going to be the hardest I ever had to say, “then I hope you have a happy life and that you find someone you can trust and grow old with. Someone who loves you the way I love you, but who treats you as you deserve.”

She just sat there, not moving, not blinking. A stone would have been more animated. My heart sank into my toes.

I nodded and swallowed again. “Goodbye.”

As I turned, Ace’s arm fell off my shoulder, and I walked from the room, past a crying Holly. Past half my teammates. Past fucking Caroline, who blew me a kiss.

Ace stopped me at the door, grabbing my arm and whipping me around. “So that’s it?” he asked with his patented smirk.

I nodded. “Yeah. Sometimes you just have to let fate play out her hand.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline stand and take a step toward us. Still looking at Ace, I asked, “Why is she here?”

He followed my gaze and lifted a shoulder. “We’re friends, we fuck. Why do you care?”

I waited until he met my eyes again. “How much did the tabloids pay?”

His face turned into a mask of confusion, then his eyes widened. “Did she…?”

“Yeah.” I clapped him on the shoulder and tossed his words back to him. “Beware, Ace. She’s a man eater. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re next.”

I heard him mutter, “Fuck,” as I walked out the door.

I didn’t make it very far. On legs too weary to make it another step, I sank down on Ace’s little porch. Dropping my face in my hands, I pressed my fingers into my scalp, almost to the point of pain.

The door behind me clicked, then someone sat beside me. It was her.

Whitney nudged me with her shoulder. “Hey.”

I nudged her back, lifting my head so I could see her. “Hey.”

My face burned and my throat clogged as she linked her fingers through mine.

“So… I heard you wanted to talk to me,” she deadpanned, causing me to laugh.

I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her fingers. “Who in the world told you that?”

Her smile was tender and so very beautiful. “Let’s call it women’s intuition.”

“I’m sorry, Whit,” I told her.

The smile faded. “I know. Me too.”

I frowned at her. “Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong.”

That got a laugh out of her. “I wish that was true. I was such a bitch to you, almost from the moment I arrived in New York. I didn’t even know that girl was inside of me, but…” she hissed like a cat, pretend clawing at me. We both laughed, and I kissed her hand again.

“It was a big lifestyle jump for both of us, and I let it go to my head,” I confessed.

“And I let those awful tabloids get to me.” She laughed and made a cha-ching sound. “And your credit card.”

“So we both made mistakes,” I said, leaning into her.

Her head rested on my shoulder and sighed with that soft little squeak I loved so much. “Yeah, we did. Must be a rookie thing.”

I kissed her hair. “Yeah, it must be.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

e

Whitney

O
ver the next several days, we completely cleared the air between us. I attended his games even though he was in the dugout waiting for his rotation to pitch. After the games, we’d come home and talk some more. Even though Calvin usually hated this kind of stuff, he never once complained or seemed irritated by my need to talk all of this through. At night, I slept in my own room, not wanting sex to rush things between us.

I told him of the three men I’d slept with since our separation, and he told me about his… uh, more than three.

It was painful to hear, but it was good at the same time. Soul cleansing in many ways.

No, I never slept with Rhett. He was very flirty and attentive, but I realized he was like that with everyone. And I told him about Todd, how he’d fallen in love with me and wanted me back.

“Well, most couples find each other in their twenties, after they’d already sowed some wild oats,” I told him after we’d asked each other all our questions. “You and I were practically children when we met, so…”

“So we’ll call this our wild oats rookie season?” Calvin added helpfully.

I laughed, then pointed at his crotch, giving him the stink eye. “You better keep those oats in there from now on.”

He kissed me then, long and deep. Desire curled in my lower belly. “These oats are only for you,” he whispered against my lips.

“They better be.” I pinched his side and he yelped. The war was on.

In an instant, we were tickling each other and rolling around on the floor like children. We were back. Through the hell of his rookie season, we’d found each other again. Better, more grown up versions of the people we had loved so much only a few months ago.

As he was tickling me, his hand accidently covered my breast, and we both froze, staring into each other’s eyes. It had been so long since he’d touched me like that. Since before I left him the first time. In those short few days we’d had together before the tabloid ripped our world apart again, we had slept together, but hadn’t made love.

I was nervous, I realized as I pushed his shirt up to feel his skin. He was warm and solid, the muscles rippling beneath my fingers.

“I’d like some of those oats now,” I whispered and watched his eyes dilate.

He pushed my hair out of my face, trying to read me. “You’re sure?”

I nodded and licked my bottom lip. “Absolutely certain.”

He continued to look down at me and pain flickered across his face. I ran my hand through his hair, then my thumb over his forehead, smoothing away the wrinkles that had formed there. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, well…” he swallowed hard. “I used condoms every time I…” Shame filled his features.

I blew out a breath at the reminder. “I did too,” I told him, meeting his eyes. “So we should both be clean. And we’ll both go to the doctor this week to make sure.”

He grinned. “That sounds like a very grown up thing to do.”

I grinned back, running my fingers through his shaggy hair again, pushing stray strands back from his forehead. “I’m going to act better, Calvin. I promise. If I ever start turning into that bitchy person again, you have to let me know. I want to be my best self with you. Give you the good that’s inside me.”

He searched my face, his eyes going from my hair to my nose, then to my mouth and back to my eyes. “You know, if I
tell
you that you’re acting bitchy one day… that, um, won’t end well for me.”

I laughed. He was right. I kissed his nose. “Then let’s make a pact to do our best every day, and if we notice the other not laughing at least five times a day, we work harder to make them happy.”

“I like that. A five-laughs-a-day rule.” He rolled on top of me, pressing me into the thick rug in front of his fireplace. “And how many orgasms a day?” he asked, his voice growing deeper, sexier, and my breathing began to quicken.

“There can be no limits on that, Mr. Hot Shot Baseball Star,” I said, wrapping my legs around his hips, pulling him closer.

Our lips touched, then his mouth invaded mine, exploring until I couldn’t breathe. When he broke our kiss and skimmed my jaw with his teeth, I sighed in pleasure. God, I’d missed this. Him. No other man could ever make me feel like this.

My skin was on fire, and his lips were making it worse, causing the ache deep in my belly to verge on painful. I needed him to soothe it, take the pain away.

I moaned as his mouth met the skin of my throat. I worked at his pants while he licked his way down my neck to my cleavage.

I was frantic now, wanting nothing more than to find oblivion in his arms. I didn’t want to think, or worry. I just wanted this. To feel good. To feel powerful and needed and wanted… and wanting.

He pulled down the top of the sundress I was wearing, then the cup of my bra to expose my breast to his greedy mouth. I cried out as he consumed my puckered flesh, biting and sucking as though he was starving and I was his only source of nourishment.

Hiking my dress to my waist, his hand roamed my heated skin, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. I cried out, running my fingers through his thick hair, wrapping my legs around him, arching up, searching for friction to sooth the heat between my thighs.

“Please,” I begged, and he moaned, the vibration of the sound against my nipple going straight to my core as I pleaded for him to be inside me. Warmth spread from between my legs through my entire body. I whimpered, undone by him.

He stood up and pulled his shirt over his head, then his pants and boxers were kicked into a pile. He was back, pulling me until I was sitting. In one quick movement, my dress was over my head, then my bra gone. Our eyes never left each other as he undressed me.

“So beautiful.”

I flushed under the intensity of his gaze, believing his words.

“What do you want, Whitney?” he asked, a familiar question between us.

What did I want?

I smiled. “I want everything.”

He growled low in his chest, then was on me again.

I writhed beneath him, clawing at his shoulders as he explored every bit of me, re-familiarizing the terrain of my body. He kissed and caressed my legs, my stomach, my hips. When he tongued my naval, I was lost in pleasure, every touch of his lips bringing me closer to my peak.

“Yes…” I moaned, encouraging him. He skimmed my skin with his teeth, just at the curve above my upper thigh, and I nearly screamed in pleasure.

“You’re killing me,” I cried when he spread my legs wide, settling between them, his hands moving under my ass to lift me up to his waiting mouth.

The first touch of his tongue was a jolt, an electric fire that turned heavenly.

I gripped his head and pulled him closer, grinding myself into his mouth, but he pulled back, intent on pleasuring me at his own pace, licking up and down my slit, going no deeper.