Third Base (The Boys of Summer Book 1) (9 page)

“Hi.” You would think that I’m out of breath from zigzagging my way over here, but I’m simply out of breath from looking at her. Today, there’s no BoRe fan staring back at me, but a sexy co-ed who I want to get to know better. Her blonde hair is flowing in long curls that I want to twist around my fingers or pull on them to see if they bounce back. She’s wearing a light coating of make-up, nothing too heavy, but enough to make her eyes stand out even more. She’s wearing a black sweater and jeans with boots, and as much as she looks like every other college girl in town, her sheer beauty makes her stand out. When she smiles, I am done for. If I weren’t holding the door, I’d be on my knees in front of her.

“Hi,” she says back sending my nerves into a tizzy. One freaking word and I’m a borderline pansy boy. At least, that’s what Kidd would say. I need to rein it in because if I’m not careful I could be making a fool out of myself where she’s concerned.

“Hi,” I say, stupidly and end up blushing, which, in turn, causes her to laugh. I give in to temptation and pick up one of her curls and pull it between my thumb and finger before letting it go. It bounces back into place like a spring. She laughs and all I can think about is giving her a hug. It’ll have to wait until after lunch.

“I already got us a table.” She motions behind her, the grin never leaving her face. Maybe we needed that hiccup to get past the awkward stage to where we are now.

I take her hand in mine and let her lead the way. As we walk down the aisle, my name is mentioned in loud whispers. I nod and smile at each person who’s looking, hoping that they give Daisy and me some time alone before they start bombarding me with autograph and photo requests.

I sit down across from her and place my hands on the table. “I have questions.” She blushes, but nods.

“I figured. Go ahead, but I’m warning you now that I reserve the right to not answer.” Her hands are folded on the table like mine. I use this to my advantage and move my arms a bit closer toward hers. My index finger lightly strokes her knuckles and when she doesn’t pull away, I take it as a good sign.

“Are you in between classes, or skipping again?” I cock my eyebrow at her.

She smirks, beating me at my own game. “What if I were skipping?”

“Well, I’d feel bad. I know my schedule isn’t that flexible, but I don’t want you skipping to spend time with me…” I trail off, realizing that didn’t come out as planned, so I try again. “What I mean is that your education is important.”

“Well, thanks for that, Professor Davenport! No, I’m not skipping.” Her lips curl into a small grin before she continues. “Is it okay if I ask questions too?”

“Of course,” I tell her.

“Okay, do you regret tweeting out your address?”

I hang my head in shame and nod. When I look up, she’s laughing at me. I don’t blame her. I’d laugh at my stupid ass too if I were her. “Worst mistake ever.”

“Why’d you do it?”

“I was new in town and wanted to meet my neighbors so I thought I’d have a little get together at my place, but no one showed up, so I sent out the tweet. I deleted it a few seconds later, but the damage was already done.”

“Do you have random people showing up at your house?”

“No, not anymore, but I used to.”

Daisy leans closer and whispers the next question. “What do you do in the off-season?”

“I go home and visit, but spent most of my winter in Boston. I love the winter festival downtown and I had my family out here for Christmas last year. With my brother-in-law being deployed, I tried to make Christmas as fun as possible for my sister and niece. What type of pizza do you like?” I spot the waitress out of the corner of my eye. I want to be able to order and send her on her way.

“Most anything, really. Sausage and mushroom is my favorite from here.”

“I’ve never had the pie here. I’m looking forward to it.”

“It’s really good.” The movement is subtle, but I notice it when she pushes her hand into my touch. To me, this is a sign, and I roll with it by taking her hand in mine. It’s a bit awkward to hold hands on top of the table, but I’m being a gentleman. Next time I’ll share a booth with her.

I quickly place our order and turn my attention back to the beauty across the table from me.

“So, Daisy, do you live in the dorms?”

She takes a drink of water and dabs her mouth with her napkin. “My freshman year I did. Since then, I moved home to save money.”

“So no wild sorority parties?”

Daisy laughs, but doesn’t exactly answer me. She stares at her lap, like she’s thinking of something, so I tell her about my wild days.

“At Oregon State, I was in a fraternity. I wasn’t going to pledge because of baseball, but my buddy thought it would be a great way to meet chicks.”

“Was it?”

I nod. “Yes, and no. I had a girlfriend when I went to college so I never really did the party thing, plus I was busy with baseball. But my junior year – that’s when the parties were off the hook. For every party we had, though, we were also doing community service and fundraisers. Some of them were a bit scandalous.”

Her eyes pop when I mention the word scandalous. “Like what?” she asks, leaning forward.

“Well, this one year, the baseball team did a carwash… in our underwear... in November.”

Daisy covers her mouth to stifle a laugh. “You can laugh all you want. It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever participated in, but it gave some orphans a chance at a decent Christmas.”

“That was very nice of you.”

I shrug and reluctantly let go of her hand when our pizza arrives. Our water glasses are refilled and we’re asked if we need anything else. Daisy is the one who tells her we’re fine and digs right into the pie. I like a girl with an appetite and who doesn’t want to eat rabbit food all the time. Sometimes you need to indulge in some carbs to survive.

We eat the first couple of pieces in silence until I open my mouth and, in true Ethan Davenport form, ask the dumbest question yet.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” I catch her mid chew and she shoots me what can only be described as an “are you kidding me right now?” look. She puts her fork down and covers her mouth with her napkin while she finishes chewing.

“If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Fair enough,” I say, knowing that’s not even remotely enough to satisfy my mind. “I’m sorry it was rude of me to ask or to make the assumption.” I don’t want to say that I made the assumption that she would, in fact, cheat because I really do feel like she’s different from the others out there.

“Are you going to game tonight?” This is my roundabout way of trying to find out if I’ll see her in the stands, even though I know she’ll be there. More importantly, it gives me a chance to ask her out for later.

“I haven’t missed a game in years, even when I had the flu.”

“Wow, now that’s dedication. I don’t know if I’d get out of bed if I had the flu.”

Daisy laughs and sets her hand back down on the table. Is this a sign that she wants me to touch her or is she simply resting her hand there?

“Not to be rude, but most men think they’re dying when they’re sick.”

I pretend to be insulted, but she’s telling the truth. “Being sick hurts every single bone in my body.”

“Yeah, but you can dive head first into a base and get up just fine.”

I lean forward so the gap between us isn’t so big. “But our bodies are trained for that. We aren’t trained to expel the contents of our stomach. If we were, being sick would be called something else.”

“Good point.” I love that she concedes, but the glint in her eye tells me that even though I may have won this round, the next won’t be so easy. Sadistically, I look forward to an all-out heated battle with her. I have a feeling she’s a fiery little devil when she wants to be.

When the check arrives, I quickly pay and balk at her offering me her half. I give her a stern look, telling her that I don’t want her money, before I crack a smile. The eye roll is epic and so worth it. I’m comfortable with Daisy and am sensing that she feels the same way.

As I leave the booth, I take her hand and pull her behind me. My palm is on fire from her touch, sending my mind into overdrive. I don’t give her any option but to follow me to my car across the street. Her short legs have to work double time to keep up with my long strides. That is something I’m going to have to make an effort to change when I’m with her.

When we get to the side of my car, away from traffic, I pull her into my arms. She gasps, caught off guard, but I can’t wait any longer. It sucks that I have to bend to hug her, but it’s worth it to be able to have her pressed against my body. Her arms slide under my jacket and around my waist, as I take a deep inhale of her neck and hair. It’s not flowers that I smell, but the sun and beach. Her hair smells like coconut, causing me to linger longer than what is deemed acceptable for a friendly hug.

Touching her in the most innocent way – a hug – is killing me. My nerve endings are on fire, like they’re exposed and I’m finding that I have to grit my teeth to keep some semblance of composure. I let my lips graze her cheek, hoping to convey my intentions.

When I pull back to see if Daisy is feeling what I am, she doesn’t meet my eyes, effectively killing my mojo. I know for a fact that if she had looked at me, I would’ve kissed her. And I would’ve loved it. Instead, I’m forced to find any excuse to touch her. I push her hair behind her shoulder, tempted to pull it forward again. She looks at me, but the moment isn’t right.

“What time is your class?”

“I have class at two.”

“May I drive you?”

She nods and my inner self is fist pumping like there’s no tomorrow. I open the door and help her slide in before running around to the other side. At least for today, the inside of my car will smell like Daisy and that makes me very happy.

A
fter dropping Daisy off on campus, and watching her walk away, I drove around town trying to stay enveloped in everything of her that’s been left in my car. I need to find a subtle way to find out what fragrance she wears so I can make sure she’s always fully stocked. It’s hard to describe and seems ridiculous for me to say she smells like warmth and home, but that’s what it is for me. She makes me feel comfortable.

I stop at my Brownstone before heading to the stadium. I plan to ask Daisy if she wants to do something for her birthday, preferably at my place, so we can have some privacy. When I open the door I can tell my maid service has already come and gone. It doesn’t take them long to clean during the season since I’m hardly home. The winter is a different story. There are days when I refuse to leave because it’s so cold, and I dread the winter workouts.

As I look around, I wonder if Daisy will like my place. All my walls are gray, but with white woodwork and cabinets. I went with black, red and white furniture to blend with the gray. My guest bedroom has a white comforter while mine is dark blue. My leather couch and comforter are the only things I picked out. My mom and sister did the rest.

I look at my king size bed and imagine Daisy lying there with her blonde hair, contrasting with my blue sheets. She’s going to look pale, gorgeous, and sexy as fuck, and I can’t wait until I’m lying next to her. I want to see her in my home, to see if these things I’m feeling are the real deal or just from the excitement from knowing someone new. What I
do
know is that my senses are heightened when I touch her and my nerves are zinging with electricity when she’s near. I never felt like this with Sarah. That has to mean something although I’m not sure what. What I
am
sure of is that my gut is telling me I can’t push her no matter how much I want to get to know every inch of her body as soon as humanly possible.