Sweet Spot: Homeruns #4 (14 page)

“That’s not it,” Bryce interrupted. “You’ve always been so quiet and reserved. We were starting to wonder if you were ever going to do the things most guys your age do.”

My cheeks flushed at the implication. I considered telling them we might be doing those normal guy things if they weren’t there, but refrained. The quicker we got this shit with Mark taken care of, the sooner they’d all get back to whatever they were doing and then Nick and I could finish getting reacquainted with one another.

“My dad said he’ll be here as soon as he can,” Nick said, bringing an abrupt halt to the analysis of my nonexistent sex life. “I didn’t give him much information, but told him we need to talk to him as soon as possible.”

“You do know there’s a chance he’s going to say there’s nothing they can do, right?” Drew asked, sounding defeated. He’d often told me it didn’t matter if they found out who’d attacked him, but it did. I couldn’t imagine knowing who’d done it and seeing him walking through the clubhouse. If I were in his shoes, I’d feel completely violated.

“Don’t think that way,” Eric scolded him. “Marcus is a fair man. He’s not going to let anyone get away with the shit Mark did. Not only did he attack you, he attacked Marcus’s son. This might be the time when we finally see the old man lose his shit.”

I tensed, waiting for Nick to get pissed about the implication that it was somehow worse because he was the GM’s kid. It never came. I hoped he finally realized he wasn’t being singled out because of his parentage. Any parent would be outraged when their child was wronged.

“I’m not holding my breath,” Drew muttered.

There was a soft knock on the door and Jason entered with Marcus in tow. I tried to put some distance between Nick and me, but he held me at his side. It warmed me to know he wasn’t trying to hide our relationship from his dad. Then, it started to worry me, because there was a chance his dad would have a problem with us being together because of my role with the team. It was a tricky situation because my job was to make the team look good. If people thought I was working harder to paint Nick in a positive light than the other players, it could strip away all the hard work I’d done with the team. While I knew that wouldn’t happen, it didn’t mean the accusations wouldn’t come. Shit. This whole time, Nick had been paranoid about people getting upset about his connection to the GM, and it was the peon intern he really needed to worry about.

The next half hour was spent relaying every suspicion to Marcus. I watched his expression and posture, trying to figure out what he was thinking as he listened to Drew and Nick, but I got nothing. When it was done, he excused himself and asked if there was someplace where he could make a phone call. Bryce got up to direct him to the office. Eric pulled Drew out of the desk chair and the two hugged. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but once again I was struck by the love they so freely shared.

Jason and Sean came in. I was surprised they’d held out this long. It was apparent Jason was the one leading the charge and Sean was trying to get him to stay out of whatever was going on. “Okay, someone needs to start talking. Drew’s cracking, Marcus shows up, and now he’s downstairs yelling at someone on the phone. I have
never
seen him as pissed as he looked when Bryce brought him downstairs.”

“Jason, stop,” Sean said. “If they want us to know, they’ll tell us.”

“Fuck that,” Jason argued. “Something’s going on and we have a right to know.”

They didn’t really have a right, but I could understand the desire to be kept in the loop. Today’s drama had put a damper on the party they were having so everyone could relax before the stress of the end of spring training.

“Something Nick said set Drew off,” Eric said, as if they hadn’t all been around for Drew’s meltdown. Jason impatiently motioned for Eric to get on with the story. “We’re not sure how it’s going to be handled, but Drew’s certain Mark was his attacker.”

“That fucker!” Jason shouted. “He’d better hope they keep his sorry ass locked up, because if he crosses my path, the fucker’s going to get a taste of his own medicine.”

“You’re not going to do anything,” Sean challenged. I wasn’t so sure about that. Jason was fairly mild mannered most of the time, but he was the type who was nice right up to the point he snapped. Then, he turned a bit scary.

“The fuck I’m not!” Jason countered as he started pacing around the room. “That asshole’s probably been laughing this whole time because he’d gotten away with it. He could’ve fucking killed Drew. Someone needs to show him what it fucking feels like, and I can’t think of anyone better than one of the queers he’s so fond of beating up on. Maybe he needs to see some of the creative things that can be done with a fucking bat.”

I rolled my eyes as the door was thrown open again. When Mason tried shutting the door as he slipped into the room, I stopped him. “Don’t bother. You guys are loud and nosy, so I’m sure everyone else will be rushing up soon enough. Might as well take the damn door off the hinges.”

“Damn, someone’s testy,” Mason teased. I flipped him off. “What’s going on? Marcus is down there threatening someone’s job and Jason’s up here screaming about kicking the shit out of someone. It’s like living in the Twilight Zone.”

I’d lost count of how many times the story of Mark had been told. I tuned out everything and slid off the bed. When I held out my hand to Nick, he seemed confused. “We did what we needed to do. I’m tired of hearing this shit. Every time, it just pisses me off even more.”

Nick got up and followed me out of the room. I wondered how long it’d take before they even realized we’d left.

I
felt wrung
out by the time Cody led me out of the bedroom. I had no clue where we were going and didn’t much care as long as it was quiet. The support the guys showed for Drew was pretty damn awesome, but I wasn’t one of them. While we were here, I might be Cody’s boyfriend, but at work I was still the lowly Triple-A pitcher. They didn’t owe me their loyalty.

Cody peeked around the corner to see if anyone was in the hall at the bottom of the back staircase. He nodded for me to follow, but didn’t say a word.

“What are we doing?” I whispered. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to keep my voice down, but the whole thing had a covert ops type of feel. Like we were doing something forbidden.

“I’m tired of talking,” Cody responded. He led me out the back door. There were a few people there, but no one seemed to notice us as I followed him along a path to a smaller building at the back of the property.

I followed him inside. Once he closed the door, we were plunged into darkness. I expected him to turn on the lights, or at the very least open the curtains, so I was taken by surprise when he shoved me against the door. I grunted, stifling the curses caused by my physical pain. I tried to remind him to be gentle, but my words were swallowed as Cody’s lips crashed against mine. He cupped my face in his hands as he pressed up against me. Every touch was a stark contrast of pleasure and pain. I fucking hated that the feeling of Cody’s hands and lips on my body couldn’t completely eclipse the pain.

“I need you, Nick,” Cody whispered before latching his teeth on my earlobe. I gripped his ass and pulled his hips to mine, needing him to feel how badly I wanted him. “God damn, you’re hard.”

“Been thinking about this since I stepped onto the bus and saw you sitting there,” I admitted. My hands fumbled around as I tried to yank his shirt over his head. Cody pulled back and took control. I shivered at the loss of his body heat against mine, even though the room was stifling. With much more confidence, he quickly stripped my shirt from my body and took me by the hand. We nearly fell to the floor as we tripped over furniture we couldn’t see in the dark. “Slow down.”

“Can’t. Waited too long already.” His voice was husky and filled with lust. “Don’t want to waste another minute of the time we have together.”

“We won’t,” I promised him. Cody fell back onto the couch and pulled me down on top of him. I was going to have to say something, because the pills he’d handed me might as well have been Sweet Tarts. “Babe, you gotta be gentle.”

Cody hissed. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” He reached over and flipped on a small lamp on the end table. “Are you okay?”

He traced his hands over the bruises forming on my chest. His fingers slowed and every movement betrayed his fear of hurting me. No fucking way. I’d gut through any amount of pain to be with him. Mark was not ruining this. “Hey, it’s fine. I want this. Need you. But we have to go slow.”

I’d never been a fan of slow. I was much more the type of guy who fucked as hard and fast as possible. But that was the past. Those guys never meant anything more to me than someone to get off with. This was Cody. My everything. The guy I’d dreamed of at night but convinced myself I’d never have again. I didn’t want to fuck him. I wanted to use my body to express everything I wasn’t ready to put into words just yet. Slow was good.

I slid off the couch so I was kneeling on the floor beside Cody. I quickly worked his shorts past his hips, purposely leaving his briefs in place. My tongue ran across the seam of my lips as I caught the musky scent of him. We’d fooled around plenty over the past few weeks, but this was the first time I’d had the chance to see him laid out before me. To strip him so I could really see him. Smell him. Taste him. I reached down and squeezed my cock, willing it to slow down before I fully embarrassed myself.

Cody’s back arched off the couch when I took a nipple between my teeth at the same time my other hand slid up his smooth torso and pinched the other. He was still so damn responsive when I played with his body. Every inch of his body seemed to be an erogenous zone. He was one of the most tactile people I’d ever met, and I fucking loved it.

I worked my way lower, smiling against his stomach as he writhed in pleasure and anticipation. My fingers traced over the outline of his dick, but I denied us both the pleasure of feeling him in my hand and worked my way lower. When I finally stripped off the last piece of his clothing, I wanted him out of his mind, begging for more.

Cody’s fingers tangled in my hair and he pulled hard to get my attention. “Get up here and kiss me,” he demanded when I looked up at him.

“How can I deny such a polite request?” I teased. I stood and slid out of my own shorts before lying down on top of him again. I rutted against him as I buried my hands beneath his body. “You’re still so fucking beautiful. Can’t wait to slide into you and see if you’re as tight as you used to be.”

Cody whimpered as he clawed at my back, so filled with need that he’d lost his ability to string words into sentences. I loved drawing that reaction out of him.

“You want to feel my cock?” I goaded, knowing how he got off on hearing me talk dirty. “Before I fuck you, I’m going to bury my face in your ass. Fuck you with my tongue to make sure you’re good and ready for me.”

“God yes! Please… Nick, you gotta do something… need you…” he rambled between kisses. I considered teasing him some more, trying to see how incoherent I could make him, but I was selfish. Every second I taunted him, I was also delaying my own gratification.

I spread Cody’s legs as I shifted so I was half on the couch, half off and ran my tongue through his slit. He used to be self-conscious about his size, but none of his prior reluctance showed tonight. Cody propped his head on his hand so he could watch what I was doing to him. He canted his hips, silently begging me to take more of his long, slender dick into my mouth. Salty drops of precum coated my tongue, leaving me craving his release. But I wanted something else more. Tonight, I wanted to watch him come all over his stomach while I was buried deep inside his body.

He moaned as I cupped his balls, allowing the tips of my fingers to play with the sensitive skin behind. He spread himself wider, an invitation for me to keep going. I would, but not yet. I tapped at his hole and pulled back as he tried to push himself onto my finger. No way in hell was I going to try shoving into him dry. He deserved better. He deserved everything.

“Don’t suppose there’s some lube stashed somewhere down here,” I asked, praying he’d say there was.

He dug into the cushions and came back with a small bottle. I wanted to ask why it was there, but thought better of it. There was a chance I didn’t want the answer. I flipped the cap open and squirted some of the slick gel onto my fingers. He clawed at my shoulders as I took his cock back into my mouth. Groaned at the intrusion of my middle finger demanding entrance to his ass. Hissed at the momentary discomfort of a second finger joining the first.

“Nick… I’m not some fragile virgin,” he protested. “I want you to fuck me.”

I hummed around his shaft and his hips bucked up again. “I forgot how impatient you are. You think you’re ready for my dick?”

“Yes! So quit fucking playing around.” This more demanding side of him was new.

I swatted his hip as I got up in search of my shorts. As much as I was dying to feel him without any barriers between us, that was a privilege I’d have to earn. “Get up for a minute.”

My fingers didn’t want to cooperate as I tried to rip open the condom wrapper. Cody laughed after I dropped it for the second time. He scooped it off the floor before I got to it. “Sit down. Let me help you.”

I quickly obeyed and spread my legs as he kneeled in front of me. He paid me back for the earlier torture by trailing the tip of his tongue from my sac all the way to the tip of my cock. He licked his way around the crown, then sucked the head into his mouth. I tried to ignore the jealousy welling up inside of me as I thought about how many tricks he’d learned over the years. I didn’t want to think about him having been with anyone else, even if he had been. “Cody, if you don’t hurry, I’m going to blow in your mouth, and I
really
want to feel your ass tonight.”

“Mmm.” He released my cock with a loud pop. “Now who’s the impatient one? I want to play.”

“There’ll be time for that later,” I reminded him. I could hear the sounds of partygoers out in the backyard and worried we were going to be interrupted at any moment. “For now, I need to fuck you.”

Cody reached for the condom he’d set on the couch next to me. He smiled up at me as he rolled the latex down my shaft, chuckled at my struggle to maintain control as he stroked a lube-coated hand over my dick. Time went into slow motion as he moved to kneel before me. He kissed me, digging his fingers into the back of my neck. I knew what he was doing. He was showing me he was in control now. That was fine by me. I wanted him to be comfortable taking what he needed from me.

My head fell back and my eyes crossed as he lowered himself onto me, one painful inch at a time, then lifted back off. Every time my cock pushed past the muscles of his ass, I felt my balls grow tighter, my body humming as it raced closer to the finish. I took his hips in my hands, steadying him as I thrust the rest of the way into his ass. He fell forward, supporting himself against the back of the couch. I turned my head and kissed his forearm. “You ready?”

For all my earlier insistence I was going to take it slow tonight, there was no fucking way that was happening. His ass was so tight he was going to wring the orgasm out of me whether I was ready or not.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Fuck me. Fuck me like you’ve been waiting for this,” he rambled.

“Roll over,” I told him. If he wanted me to fuck him hard, this wasn’t the position for it. I kneaded the globes of his ass as he flipped over on the couch, spreading him wide. I couldn’t help myself and I bent down, swiping my tongue through his crease. The lube tasted nasty, but I didn’t care about that once he started moaning for me to keep going. Begging me to give him more. I positioned myself at his entrance and covered his body with mine. “You sure about this?”

“Yes! Quit fucking asking me or I just might change my damn mind,” he growled. He turned his head to kiss me as I pushed into him. “I want you, Nick. Always have. So quit worrying I’m going to walk away.”

“I want you too,” I responded, biting my tongue before I could tell him I was pretty sure I was in love with him.

The room was filled with the sounds of heavy panting and skin slapping as I quickened my pace. I fucked him with everything I had, fucked him for the four years we’d missed out on. I reached around his body and grabbed his shaft. Cody threw his head back, warning me he wasn’t going to last much longer. That was fine, because I was about to lose the fight to hold off my own release.

“Do it, baby,” I coaxed him. “Come all over my hand. Show me how good it feels.” I pounded into him harder, felt my balls draw up to my body. “Fuck, Cody, so damn good. Gonna come inside you. Come with me, baby.”

I sounded like a cheesy porn soundtrack, but I couldn’t help it. Every thought I had about how good it felt to be back inside Cody fell from my lips. I felt him tense just before hot cum spilled over my fist. That was all I needed. Cody reached down and laced his fingers through mine. He pulled our joined hands up to his chest, where I could feel his heart racing just as fast as mine. I kept pounding into him, screaming out his name as I exploded.

After the last of the orgasm was wrung from my body, I collapsed on top of Cody, wincing as pain shot through my side. I eased away, hoping Cody wouldn’t sense my discomfort.

“Fuck, are you okay?” He rolled under me and ran his hands along the sides of my torso. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it.”

No way in hell was this happening. Cody did not get to feel bad for doing something that felt amazing. I traced the back of my fingers along his jaw. “It’s okay. Really. It didn’t hurt a bit until I flopped down on you.”

“Still, are you sure you’re okay?” he continued. “I don’t want to make things worse. You can’t afford to be out any longer than you have to. They’re going to be making cuts soon, and I don’t want anything we do to mess with your chances.”

The air in the room instantly chilled. I was sitting there trying to bask in the afterglow of the best sex I’d had since the last time he and I had been together, and he was busy worrying about my fucking career. I quickly reached for my shorts and slid them on while I tried to calm myself down. It wasn’t him I was pissed off at, it was me. I’d done that to him. I was the one who’d put my career above us, and he was thinking about what happened four years ago instead of what we’d just done. I tossed him his shorts and shirt. I didn’t want to have this deep, meaningful conversation while we were both naked on a couch with lube stashed in the cushions.

I sat down at the end of the couch and pulled him into my lap once he finished dressing. “I get what you’re saying, but that’s not going to happen,” I assured him. “And even if it did, I have to think about what’s important in my life. If I get cut down to Double-A, there’s a reason for it. I know it’d be temporary and I’d deal with it.”

“But you shouldn’t have to,” Cody countered. “You’ve been busting your ass and you deserve to be with the Miners. Hell, you should be coming to Milwaukee, but that’s just my opinion.”

“I’ll get there,” I promised. And knowing Milwaukee was where Cody was, I had an added incentive to prove my worth to the organization. “Right now, the only question is how many steps it’ll take for me to get called up. But it will happen. I don’t want you thinking I’m going to make the same mistakes I made in my past.”

“I trust you,” he responded.

A knock on the door interrupted our post-coital cuddling. I wanted to yell out for whoever it was to leave us the hell alone. “Jesus, you two! It fucking reeks in here.” Mason glared at me for about two seconds before he busted up laughing. “Now I’m glad I told your dad I’d come and see if you were out here. Not sure you want him knowing what you’ve been up to.”