The Game Changer (28 page)

“Alright, I gotta try to smooth this over. Looks like I screwed this up, huh?”

“Ya think?” I reply sarcastically.

“
Oh well
. Thanks, JJ, it was a great night! Well... Most of it,” he calls out from the doorway.

“I thought the whole night was great!” Deanna adds as she kisses JJ goodnight.

“I thought the whole night was great, too,” I add.

I whisk her over to her house and as she gets ready for bed, I make myself comfortable, slipping into a pair of sweat shorts and a t-shirt that we keep at her house for nights when I stay over. As I wait
for her to climb into bed next to me, I can’t help but think that this is the girl I want by my side, facing the future. She is the kind of girl that will stick with me in good times and bad, knowing that I will do the same for her. Even at this age, I can feel it. We’re a team. I lift the covers so she can slide in next to me and I pull her close, letting the shock waves run through my veins.

My lips brush over her neck and ear as I whisper, “Thank you for my birthday gift, I had an awesome time.”

“You’re welcome. So did I,” she says as she slides herself underneath of me. “You really liked it?” she asks, wrapping her arms around me.

Not being able to stop myself from staring into her beautiful emerald eyes, I blurt out, “I loved it...
and… I love you.”
It’s the first time I’ve said it in a serious moment. Even though it’s the truth, maybe I shouldn’t have said it. She doesn’t reciprocate and I don’t think I really expected her to, but I know she heard since her eyes fly wide open as I continue to stare deeply into them.

She distracts me when she begins to kiss me with urgency. I move my body slowly over top of
hers. Her body moves in rhythm with mine as I slide my hand slowly under her shirt, taking my time as I carefully remove it from her body. My gaze and hands roam her perfect body as I soak in all of her. She arches her body towards mine, kissing me hard as both her hands slide under my shirt pushing it up as she runs her nails along my back, pulling me towards her. I manage to pull my shirt over my head with one hand and toss it to the floor, eager to have her bare skin against mine.

I continue kissing her neck and the spot below her ear that I know drives her crazy. I run my tongue along the lobe of her ear and am pleased when I feel her body quiver beneath mine as I press into her. While passionately kissing my mouth and neck, she continues to run her nails across my back then slowly moves them across my lower stomach, causing my body to shudder as she cautiously slides her hand into the waistband of my shorts pushing them down. They join the collection of clothes now forming on the floor. My tongue traces along her neck and down to her warm, perfect breasts. Cautiously, I begin to remove her shorts, sliding my hand gently between her legs, caressing her softly.
She lets out a slight moan as she arches her body towards mine, sending chills throughout my body. I love her more than anything and want to show her how much. I pause momentarily, knowing what is about to take place.

“Please, don’t stop,” she whispers breathlessly. “I want this, too.” She begins to kiss me again as she slides her hands down my lower stomach, causing goose bumps all over my body.

“I love you,” I repeat, just in case she missed it the first time, but again, no response. It doesn’t make me mad that she doesn’t reciprocate. I know she feels it, too. It’s going to take her longer. She’s not ready to tell me she loves me. Truthfully, I don’t think she’s ready for this either.

I’ll wait for however long it takes because I know she’s afraid that if she allows herself to be totally happy, it will be taken away from her again. She needs to know that I’m not going anywhere. I can tell her all I want, but she needs to feel it. I kiss her lips gently as I lean over her to pick up our clothes from the floor.

“Luke, please... Why did you stop? Are you mad?” she asks quietly, breathless.

“Mad? Are you crazy? This is great… You’re great. It’s just that... I’m not prepared… You know what I mean?” I lie, breathing heavy myself. When the hell did I become such a nice guy? I want her to think it’s me, not because of anything that she has done. I hand her clothes to her.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” I say, pulling up my shorts, giving her a peck on the lips. She begins to pull her shirt over her head, but I stop her. I can sense that she is feeling insecure about me putting the brakes on so quickly.

“Wait. One more second, I’m not quite done; I need to feel your skin against mine for a little longer. You feel so good.” I hold her tightly and kiss her again, assuring her that I still want her and that it’s me that needed to stop, not because of anything that she’s done.

Funny thing is, before we were officially together, I felt like I had to possess her for my own. Like, if she did something with me first, then she wouldn’t feel the need to do it with anyone else. I know, it’s selfish, but, now that she
is
mine, I want to take it slow for her. I want to build our relationship until she feels one hundred percent secure with me. It’s her first real
relationship. Hell, it’s my first
real
relationship. I want to do everything right.   

After she finishes getting dressed, she snuggles up close to me and I wrap my arms tightly around her.

“Luke, can we talk?”

“Of course. What do you want to talk about?”

“Well... Normally a girl would talk to her best friend about stuff like this... but, since it’s your sister, I don’t usually talk about this kind of stuff with her... and since you’re my other best friend... How weird is it for me to ask you questions about what just happened?”

“Babe, you can ask me anything you want, you know that. Shoot.”

“Okay, first question, can you tell that I’m inexperienced when we’re together?”

“No way. Absolutely not. I mean that. I think it’s because we’re really comfortable with each other and you let yourself relax with me.”

“When I’m with you, it’s really the only time I am truly relaxed; that’s true. Okay, now for the embarrassing stuff... I was feeling really...Uh... And I felt like I couldn’t control my body... Yet, it felt really, really good... And I know enough to know that you were feeling... Um… Well, you know?”

“Was there a question in there somewhere?” I ask, amused at what she’s getting at.

“Yes… Explain everything. What was going on with my body? When you touched me, you know… My God, I never felt like that before. What does it feel like for you? I want you to feel the way I do... Explain... I want to know everything,” she says, staring at me with those innocent, bright, beautiful green eyes as she snuggles her body closer to mine.

My body is still on fire from being with her like this. She doesn’t even realize how much her innocence turns me on. It’s pretty damn crazy to me, too.

I explain everything she wants to hear, embarrassing or not. I tell her what is going on with her body when I’m touching her and what is going on with my body. I explain the meaning of a cold shower and why I still feel the need for one. The conversation alone is keeping me worked up. I don’t leave anything out and, most of all; I’m extremely amused watching her expression as I explain it so bluntly. She has a few more follow-up questions. We talk about protection, which is why I told her we had to stop. Which isn’t entirely true, I have something in my wallet that’s been there from what feels like a lifetime ago, but I don’t want her to think I stopped because of her; it was the only excuse I could come up with.

These personal talks we have with each other mean everything to me. No other girl would ever talk like this with their boyfriend. I love that she can come to me with anything, starting with last summer, the first night we kissed. I knew from then on, that I wanted to be the one that she experienced everything with,
the only one.

“Luke, you’re the best. We’re good, right?”

“We are so good. Now, go to sleep,” I say as I kiss her goodnight and close my eyes. She softly runs her nails up and down my chest and stomach; again, sending those shocks through my veins. I begin to drift off to sleep.

“Luke, are you awake?” she speaks in a soft whisper.

Being the asshole that I am, I don’t respond; I keep my eyes closed, letting her believe I’m sleeping.

“I love you, too,” she whispers quietly as she rests her head on my chest.

I don’t move; just keep my eyes closed, hoping I don’t blow it by smiling or moving.

(Jesse)

Since I’ve met Luke, mostly everyone I know, relates him with baseball, everyone, except for me. Today is opening day and this is the first time I’m going to see him play. I have butterflies in my stomach; actually, I think it’s more like bats. By now, I have watched tons of videos of him online. I’ve read and heard all of the hype; especially, the last few weeks leading up to the season. Local papers, local TV; Luke and Mikey are everywhere. I’ve seen the change in them. They’re focused, more serious than usual, they’re always working on some pitch, some strategy. He’s always joking with me, putting me in some type of stance, teaching me how to properly throw a pitch.

But, I’ve never actually seen him play in a real game. This is such a huge part of his life and we talk about it all the time, but for some reason, I still don’t think I totally get it. It’s the one area that everyone else is more familiar with than me. I still have a hard time grasping just how big this is. I keep thinking that he’s going to put this uniform on and, all of the sudden; he’s going to be a different Luke than the one that I know. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what’s going through my mind as I sit through each of my classes, listening to all the talk in the halls about today’s game, anticipating the end of the school day and then,
game time
.

Finally, with the last bell of the day, I wait outside the locker room, our usual meeting spot, for Luke to emerge.

“Hey, babe… Wow, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” Luke asks as he approaches me from the room, looking pretty amazing in his uniform. And me, still getting that same old feeling every time I see him.

“Really? I’m fine,” I answer meekly, annoyed at myself for not being able to hide my anxiety.

He laughs, knowing me. “Okay, whatever you say. Well, I’ll see you out there. I have to get goin’. Mikey’s already out there havin’ batting practice while the scouts analyze him.” He laughs. “Finally, you get to see me play,” he adds with excitement.

“Can’t wait,” I reply, trying to sound convincing as he kisses me goodbye and runs off.

De, Lori, Cathy and I take our spots in the stands. I’m shivering; after all, it is March and it’s still cold. Or, it could be my nerves. I’m taken aback by the amount of people at the game. Football, I’m used to large crowds, but I didn’t think high school baseball drew such large crowds. The girls say it is because we’ve been state champions for the last few years and, of course, Mikey and Luke are top MLB prospects. They draw a huge following, not to mention, today they are opening against their biggest rival.

So, reality begins to set in. I grow more nervous as I see Maria and Lucca, along with my dad, arrive and take a seat a few rows away from us. In the first row, ahead of us, are three men with clip boards and, from what De told me, are holding radar guns to measure the speed of Luke’s pitches.

“They’re scouts,” De informs me. Then, points out a few others, standing along the fence. As the team takes the field, Luke and Mikey--who I must admit, looks pretty damn cute in his uniform, too--walks out together; talking as they stand on the pitcher’s mound. Both look confident as they end their conversation with a little laugh before Mikey gives him a pat on the back and heads to his position behind home plate. They warm up as if they are the only two people on the field. They seem to be at total ease. I, on the other hand, am more nervous than ever. First batter up, I watch as Mikey gives Luke a signal, Luke winds up, throws the ball, the three men fire the guns in his direction, the ump calls a strike. This scenario repeats itself throughout the next two batters as Luke strikes out all three. The three men seated in front of me shoot their guns simultaneously as they jot down notes on their clip boards. As the team hustles off the field, Luke gives me a wink when he catches my eye. The team now gets ready for their turn at bat.

With two outs and a man on second, Mikey is the fourth batter up. From what Luke tells me--and, come to think of it, Mikey, when he’s bragging--is that Mikey is not just an awesome catcher, but he’s just as good at bat, as well. With a bit of arrogance, in my opinion, he gets up, swings on the first pitch and knocks it out over the fence. Once again, I watch as the three men in front talk amongst each other and jot down notes on their clipboards. The team stands by with high fives as Mikey enters the dugout. The inning ends with us leading, 2-0.

After the first few innings, I finally begin to relax and actually enjoy the game. De gives me play-by-play details to explain what is going on. Not that I haven’t watched baseball before, but this is the first time I’m watching with a certain interest and I’m excited to learn everything about it. The game comes to an end with us on top 6-2. As the crowd begins to filter out, the three men in front share their notes and discuss Luke and Mikey. From what I can gather, they seem positive and impressed.