Home Run Baby: A Sports Romance (49 page)

Fuck. This love thing kind of sucks.

“Junior…”

“Yeah?”

“Whatever you decide — just don’t fuck it up,” he warns from the doorway. “We’re on track for the championship this year and I would very much like for that to happen.”

“Me, too.”

He disappears into the other room again, leaving me crushed and nauseous. Maybe I caught Eliza’s stomach bug last night after all. Or maybe I just can’t deal with the fact that she’s Cary Pierce’s daughter and I have no business falling in love with her. We can’t be together the way I want us to be.

But that hasn’t stopped us so far.

Chapter 22

Eliza

I feel
strange
.

Almost broken, in a way. Except there’s nothing shattered or missing. There’s something new inside, pushing the usual formation out of place like a pebble shaking around in my shoe.

A pebble. It’s probably smaller than that, actually — if it even exists at all. Just thinking about it gives me a stress headache. How can something so small mean so much so quickly?

“When is it due?”

I snap up from my book to find Junior staring across the table at me.
“What?”

He smiles and taps his pencil against my book. “The scene. When do you need to have it memorized?”

“Oh, um…” I rub the bridge of my nose. “Next Thursday, I think.”

“Are you okay? You seem strange.”

“I’m fine,” I say. “No strangeness. Just tired, I guess.” I point to his notebook. “Have you finished that proof?”

“Yup.” Junior slides it over to me and I pick up my pencil to check his work. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“I have rehearsal on Saturday…” I mutter, glancing over the page. “This looks good, Junior. Try the next one.”

He takes the notebook back but sets it off to the side. “What are you doing afterward?”

I pause, noting the intensity of his stare. “I have no plans. Why?”

“I want you to come by my place,” he says. “There’s no game this weekend and Ty is making himself scarce for a while.”

“Okay…” I sit back, taking the bait. “Scarce for what?”

He gives a little smile. “I just want you to stop by for something.”

“Stop by for
what
?” I raise an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“I want to talk to you about something.”

“But we’re talking right now…”

“Ellie…
” he chuckles. “This isn’t really library study room talk.”

“Oh.” My gut lurches. “Is everything okay?”

“It should be…”

“What does that mean?”

He sighs but that nervous flicker never quite leaves his eyes. “Come over after rehearsal and we’ll talk, okay? Please?”

I bite my lip. Junior’s invitations aren’t usually so wordy.
Coming over tonight?
That’s about all he ever needs to say to make his intentions known and I never expect
talking
to be on the agenda.

Is he breaking things off? Is he inviting me over to dump me? Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. If he didn’t want to hook up anymore, then he’d just stop talking to me altogether, right?

Maybe he feels like he has to put in the extra effort because of what happened last weekend. He woke up in my bed after holding me all night. I imagine that was quite the shock for him — it certainly was for me. Not quite as shocking as my bathroom realization directly afterward but still…

“Ellie?”

“Okay,” I finally answer. “Yeah, I’ll stop by.”

He smiles. “Good.”

“There’s, uh…” I fall silent, thinking better of it. I shouldn’t bring it up at all yet. I don’t know anything concrete. I’m still in stomach bug territory. I’m not—

“What?” he asks.

But I owe it to him to mention the possibility, right?

“There’s something I need to talk to you about, too.”

He raises his brow. “Everything okay?”

I nod. “Oh, yeah. It’s just not…”

“Library study room talk?”

“Right.”

“Then I won’t worry about it until Saturday,” he says, grabbing his notebook.

“Well, I mean… there’s nothing to
worry
about, really… Unless you think I should be worried about something…?”

“No. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Good.” I tap my pencil on the table, feeling even stranger than I did before.

Junior Morgan invited me over to
talk
. Come to think of it, he hasn’t tried to kiss or grope me since he walked in here.

Does he already know?

No, that’s impossible. There’s no way he could know before I do. But why else would he be treating me so differently?

I pick up my book to read over my lines again but the words on the page are just a faded blur.

This is fine. I can compartmentalize this. Junior seems to be able to. He’s focusing on his math homework. I can do that until Saturday, too. No problem. That’s only three days away. That’s nothing.

This is totally fine
.

***

I’ve stood on this porch several dozen times already. Each time, it’s always been a rush to get inside before someone drives by and recognizes me but now…

I hesitate.

I associate the other side of Junior Morgan’s door with two things: orgasms and more orgasms.

Tonight, I have no idea what to expect because tonight I’m going to tell Junior Morgan that I might be pregnant with his child.

I exhale hard. Even thinking it knocks the wind out of me.

I roll my fingers into a fist, preparing to knock, but the door swings open before I get the chance.

“Hey, Ellie.”

Junior smiles at me and I pause.

His hair is combed and perfect — not the usual rugged, post-shower tuft I’m used to. He shaved, too. And recently. I can smell the aftershave from two feet away. And… I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in that sweater before. Did he iron his jeans?

“Hey…” I say.

Junior steps to the side to invite me in and I have to force my feet to move into the living room. It’s usually a mess — exactly what you’d expect from two college guys — but it’s been completely straightened up and… Is that air freshener I smell?

He closes the door and takes my hand, sending a quick shiver from my palm to my shoulder. “Come with me.”

He opens the door to his room and my mouth sags. It’s even more spotless than the living room. The laundry is folded and put away. The trash can is empty. The bed is made. His desk is clear.

And candles.
Scented
ones.

“Junior, what’s going on?”

He guides me to his desk chair and sits me down. “I need to tell you something,” he says, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He grabs the chair beneath me and rolls me a little closer to him.

“Okay…”

“But I know you had something you had to say, too, so you can go first.”

“Oh, no… you go on ahead. I feel like you’re a little more…” I glance around the room,
“prepared.”

“I am,” he smiles.

“Then you should go first.”

“Okay…” He inhales a deep breath and makes total eye contact with me. “Eliza…”

Eliza?

“Wait…” I hold up a hand. “I—”

He grabs my hand and holds it on my lap. “Let me finish… please.”

I fall silent, locked in place beneath his firm grip and handsome eyes. “Okay.”

Junior smiles at me again. “Ellie, I like you.” He shakes his head. “I feel like a damn second grader saying it like that, but… it’s true. I’m… absolutely crazy about you.”

Oh, my god…

“Why?”

“Why?” he laughs. “What do you mean, why? You’re
perfect
.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Ellie, I could have anybody. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. We both know that. I have a reputation, as you mentioned the
second time
we spoke to each other, but I only want you now. Since the moment I saw you, you’ve completely wrecked me.”

“I’ve
wrecked
you?”

“I want you in my life,” he continues. “Not just in my bed anymore.”

“Junior…” I whisper, but only because my throat is clenched closed so tightly, I can barely speak louder than that. “We
can’t
.”

“We keep saying that, but…” He leans over and squeezes my hands a little harder. “We
are
. We have been and we can.”

“No, we can’t…” I pull my hands out from under his.

“Ellie…”

“Junior, this doesn’t change anything,” I argue. “You’re still you and I’m still me and my father—”

“Forget about him. Just for a minute. Forget about your dad and his rules and just think about
this
.” He pulls my chair closer to him. “Look at me and tell me that you don’t want this as much as I do.”

“Junior, come on. Don’t…”

“You do.” He stares me down. “I can tell.”

I sigh a soft laugh. “You can
tell
?”

He smiles. “Yeah. I’ve always been able to tell, Ellie. Just by looking at you.”

“What do you see now?”

“I can see you’re scared,” he says. “I know because so am I. I’m terrified of getting hurt — or hurting
you
. I’m scared that just by admitting this to you that I’ve completely destroyed any chance of you ever talking to me again but I decided the possible reward was worth the risk.” He lays his hands on mine again. “I want you, Eliza Pierce. If that means breaking all the rules, then I’m in. If that risk is too great for you, then I understand, but I won’t give up. I’ll wait for you. I’ll be here when you’re ready. I don’t care how long it takes.”

Holy shit.

My lungs jerk in my chest, reminding me to breathe. I fill them to the top and stare at Junior’s expectant eyes.

This is crazy but he’s right. Everything we’ve ever said we can’t do, we’ve done since the very beginning — no matter the consequences. Every time I was sure he’d give up and forget about me, he came back to prove me wrong. I gave him the right incentive to succeed. Now, he’s giving the same to me.

It won’t be easy. It might even feel impossible at times but being with Junior Morgan is worth more risk than—

“Ellie—?”

“Can you just kiss me already?”

He pulls me onto his lap. I straddle him and he wraps his big arms around me, holding me against him as we kiss.

It’s soft and true, different than any other kiss we’ve had before. Happy quivers shake my body as I settle even closer to him and I can’t stop the laughter from invading my gut.

He cups my face to kiss me again and I sense the desire on his lips. My hands roam his body, reaching down to grip his sweater and pull it over his head. Doing so messes up his hair and I grin at the familiar, disheveled look before tugging at his belt.

His hands push beneath my skirt and he grips my ass, squeezing tight as passion fills him. I taste his tongue on mine and I nearly moan just thinking about what he can do with it.

“Ellie…” he whispers. “Are you sure?”

I pause, trembling softly against his body.

Am I sure? Am I sure how he makes me feel every day? Am I sure I want to spend the night with him over and over again until I die? Am I sure I want to listen to him talk dirty to me every night for the rest of our lives?

I answer him with a kiss and he reaches for a condom.

Junior rolls it on and I wrap my legs around his waist as he slides inside of me. I hold onto him, throwing my arms around his neck as I bounce softly on him, grinding his cock deep into me until I start moaning his name.

“Junior…”

He holds me tighter, clinging to me with bucking hips. I throw my head back and his lips find my neck, sucking and tasting me as he groans for more.

“I’m going to make you come like this every night,” he grunts in my ear. I bite my lip, shaking hard as his cock tears me apart inside. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” I moan.

“You want to give me this body?”

“Yes.”

Junior lifts me up and lays me down on the bed. “Strip,” he says. “I want to see every inch of you.”

I unbutton my blouse and toss it at him. He catches it with a wide grin on his face and lets it fall to the floor, along with his pants and my skirt. I stare hungrily at his stiff cock and he shakes his head at me.

“That’s not for this…” he says, tracing his thumb over my lips. “Not tonight.” He leans down to kiss me, drawing my bottom lip between his sharp teeth. “Turn around.”

I do as he says and he unhooks my bra as I move onto my hands and knees for him. He leans over to kiss the back of my neck and I squirm as his lips tickle my spine as he moves down.

His fingers hook into my panties and I crane my neck to look at him.

“Turn around,”
he says again with teasing eyes.

I look forward at the headboard and he gives my rear a soft spank to keep me there. His hand stays in place and I stiffen as he slides a finger between my crack. I sigh with devious pleasure as he rubs that tight entrance and leans down to kiss my cheeks.

“Ellie…” he says, his hot breath tingling my skin. “I want this ass.”