Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (65 page)

Lost in our kiss, Laurel tightens around my erection and it’s too late to hold back. I let myself go, groaning as I do but above my own voice, Laurel cries out, “Jacen!” and I kiss her shoulder, feeling consumed with love as she uses my full name. Coming down from our spasms, I let go of her legs and wrap my arms around her body, hugging her tightly and moving my lips over her shoulder blades.

Sweat rolls into my eyes, stinging them slightly and I lay back on the bed, bringing Laurel with me. Her own hair is matted down from our workout and I push it off her forehead. My hand leisurely moves over her stomach and I keep my eyes on my movement, not looking directly at her.

Trying my best to sound casual, I say, “You know, you only call me Jacen when you come…”

Her eyelids flick open slowly, making it seem like it took every ounce of energy she had to open them. A lazy smile graces her lips and she shrugs. “You force me over the edge, making me need that extra N to show you my full appreciation.”

I laugh and lean down, covering her nipple with my mouth. Laurel’s fingers rub my scalp as she moans softly while my tongue teases her even more. I’m getting hard again, ready for one more round when Laurel sits up.

“As good as this feels and as much as I hate to say this, we need to get ready for the game.”

I sigh because she’s right. Before I pull away, I take her piercing in my mouth and pull before letting go. Laurel moans again and I roll to my back, letting go of her because if I don’t right now, I never will. She leans over and kisses my forehead before getting to her feet.

“Shower?” she asks. One eyebrow is raised and I have to move my hands behind my head before I pull her back on top of me.

“You can go first.”

Her hands move to her hips and her bottom lip protrudes in a pout. “You’re not going to join me?”

Sitting up, I kiss her tummy again while my hands squeeze her tight ass. “You know we’ll never make the game on time if we do that.”

Laurel lets out an exasperated sigh but doesn’t make a move toward the shower as my lips move to her hip bones. God, I love every single fuckin’ thing about this woman—her smooth skin, her sweet scent, her kind soul, her loving heart, and I could just keep going. Instead, I swat her ass, taking her by surprise and she jumps in my arms.

“Shower. Now. Before we skip that game all together.”

“Fiiiine.” She sways her ass on purpose and I groan as she does because my cock already aches to be inside her again. The water turns on and I glance at the clock on the bed-stand.
Fuck!
We’ve only got forty-five minutes to get to the ball field. I jump up and run down the hallway to the other bathroom, taking the quickest, and coldest, shower so that we’re not late. Five minutes later, I’m walking back in my bedroom with a towel slung low around my waist. I’m not even through the doorway when I freeze in my tracks.

“Laurel fuckin’ Darbis, what the hell are you wearing?”

Turning around slowly, she pulls her hair through the back my baseball cap that’s perched on her head as she grins at me. Sauntering across the room in a pair of jean shorts and one of my old Diplomats t-shirts that’s tied behind her back, showing just enough of her midriff to have me standing at attention again, she stops in front of me and pats my chest. Pushing on her tippy toes, she kisses me softly and when she pulls away, she tugs the towel from around my waist, letting it drop to the floor.

“Oops, sorry.” Her face is anything but sorry and I love it. When I reach out to her, she sidesteps me and moves into the hallway. “See ‘ya at the game.”

Shaking my head, I laugh as I watch the woman I love walk down the stairs. I get dressed as quickly as possible, replaying our actions on repeat until one thought jumps in my mind from out of nowhere:
I’m going to marry that woman.

Laurel

“Get enough sex in to tide you over?” Ashley asks, lifting her eyebrows behind her sunglasses.

Giggling, I shake my head and look around the bleachers where we’re sitting. “Ssh! Someone will hear you.”

“It’s not like it’s a secret, Laurel. Ever since you two starting doing it, you’ve been on cloud nine.” She rolls her eyes as she pushes her sunglasses on top of her head.

My cheeks burn a bright red and I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to hide the post-sex smile that’s always present after a few hours in the bedroom with Jace. Maybe it’s because we hadn’t been intimate in a month, maybe it was because I finally got to feel him bare inside me, or maybe it’s simply because Jace knows how to rock my world in the bedroom, but whatever it is, I can’t take my eyes off the former pitcher as my mind reminds me of the sexy things we did together this morning.

“Whatever.” I shrug, trying to play it off before I lower my voice. “Thanks for watching the boys.”

Now it’s Ashley’s turn to be nonchalant. “Yeah, whatever, you needed to get laid.”

My cheeks are now on fire and I swat at her, hissing her name. “Ashley!”

She throws back her head, her own glow from pregnancy making her cheeks a rosy red. “I remember just a few months ago when you were trying to bean Jace Richards with a baseball and now you’re boning him.”

I giggle and pinch her thigh. “What can I say? I judged him too quickly.”

“Ow, that hurt,” she mutters, pushing my hand away and rubbing her leg. “So, what about now? How do you feel about him?”

Jace stands outside the dugout as the teams switch positions. All the kids high-five him as they run to the bench, anxious to bat and try to score some runs. I let out a dreamy sigh and in a lovey dovey voice that even makes me queasy, I answer her question. “Now, I don’t know what I’d do without him. Grey adores him and he’s the only person that’s been able to help Sam through Jen’s death.”

Ashley leans toward me, nudging my elbow. “And you?”

I force myself to look away from the hot coach on the field to face my best friend. “I love him, Ash. I never thought I’d fall in love but of all people, Jace Richards has stolen my fuckin’ heart.”

Ashley moves her arm around my shoulders, pulling me to her for a hug. “I’m happy for you, Laur, but don’t make me lecture you on cussing.”

We both laugh and I realize Jace is wearing off on me as much as he is the boys. If cussing is the worse habit we learn from him then it’s far better than if Grey grew up to be like his father. The game ends a few innings later and the boys aren’t even done high-fiving the other team when I stand up to make my way to my boys.

“Hurry, hurry, get your man!” Ashley teases me and she starts to gather all the toys and games she brought to entertain her younger kids.

I keep walking, turning my head to stick my tongue out at her like I used to do in middle school. When I look forward, I run straight into Adam who grabs my biceps to keep me from falling over.

“Whoa there, Teddy. Where’s the fire?” His eyes gleam with a familiar look, the one that lets me know he’s about to drop a bomb on me.

I push his arms away, trying to hide my disgust of him showing up at the very end of the game wearing khaki pants and a dress shirt. He’s only here to make his weekly appearance and try to fool Grey into thinking he was here the entire time. I try to step around him, but he moves with me, blocking the way.

He reaches in his pocket, pulling out an envelope and handing it to me. “I was going to give this to you when I pick him up tomorrow but hell, why not now?”

I stare at the white paper as though it’s on fire, too scared to take it from him and read what’s inside. “What is it?” I manage to ask.

“Well, you know Bianca and I are moving to New York after the wedding so this is a motion my lawyer filed.”

I roll my eyes and snatch the envelope out of his hands. “Come on, Adam. I thought we were going to try to work it out on own own. Why did you have to go and get lawyers involved?”
Because he has a shit ton of money and wants to make everything harder for me.

“Read it, Laurel. I want full custody.”

I swear my jaw drops completely to the ground and my heart stops beating. “Wh-why?”

“He’s my son, too, Laurel, and I know this will be the only way that I’ll get to see him. Besides, you’ve got a kid to take his place now so what do you mind?”

I swear to everything holy that I’m going to smack the smirk right off his face. Anger explodes in my chest and I take a step toward him, doing my best not to draw attention to ourselves. Lowering my voice, I say, “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? You’re going to hold it against me that I’m taking care of one of my best friend’s son after her death? Sam is in
no
way replacing Grey and you know it.”

His grin gets bigger and he tucks one hand in his pocket. “I’m sure I can convince a judge that it’s not fair to Grey for you to split your time between the boys. Plus, you know I have some other dirt on you…Teddy.”

My hands tremble and I ball them up to try to hide it. “You’re going to bring that up in court? That’s low, Adam, even for you.”

“And don’t forget that new boyfriend of yours, Laurel. Jace Richards, really?” He shakes his head, making a tsking sound. “It won’t take a genius for a judge to grant me custody on that fact alone. A criminal sleeping under the same roof as our son? What kind of mother are you?”

In an instant, my body experiences every emotion from rage to despair and I bump Adam’s shoulder as I walk by him, trying to escape this hell so I can collect my thoughts. I don’t get far when he grabs my forearm, squeezing it as hard as he can. He leans his mouth to my ear and whispers, “Don’t waste your time or money, Laurel. Just sign the papers and you can see him any time you’re in New York.”

Tears burn my eyes when Adam is shoved from behind. Jace towers over him, anger taking over his features as he clenches his jaw. “Let go of her.”

Adam releases my arm with a sneer. “Not only is your boyfriend a criminal, but he’s violent, too. Never mind, Laurel, don’t sign the papers. I’m going to enjoy putting this felon in his place and watching you fall apart as I ruin your life.”

He doesn’t even acknowledge Grey, who’s standing a few feet behind Jace, watching the entire scene unfold. Jace opens his arms, waiting for me to step into them, but I move quickly, corralling Grey and Sam toward the car. I hear Jace’s footsteps as he chases after us.

“Laurel, wait! Laurel!”

I open the car door, almost shoving the boys inside. When I turn around, Jace is right there, trapping me between his body and the car. His hands move to my cheeks, forcing me to look at him.

“What the fuck is going on? Why are you running from me?”

His eyes search mine and I want nothing more than to be in his arms right now, holding my hand until this nightmare is over. Instead, I move his hands off my face and shove him as hard as I can, putting just enough space between us that I can open my car door.

“We can’t be together. We’re done.” I gasp at the end of the sentence, pain rippling through my chest as I hear the words out loud myself.

“What? Why? Because of that fuckin’ douc—”

Jace reaches for me again, but I slide into the driver’s seat. “You’re not a father, you wouldn’t understand.”

I slam the door closed and start the engine. Jace calls after us as I drive away and I watch him in the rearview mirror until he’s out of sight. My hurtful words echo in my mind because Jace has been more of a father than either of these boys have ever had.

CHAPTER 25

Jace

My fingers drum against the steering wheel while I sit in my car a few houses down from Laurel’s place. I can’t shake the image of that asshole’s hand wrapped around her arm. Rage like I’d never felt before coursed through my body and I seriously wanted to rip his arm out of socket and beat him with the fuckin’ thing. Just thinking about it brings back the raw emotion and I slam my hand against the steering wheel. I don’t have a fuckin’ clue what he said to her but if I can’t talk some sense into her, I might lose her and then I’d be right back to where I started before I arrived in Florida.

I’m trying to give her time to cool down so we can rationally discuss what the fuck happened. Her reminder that I’m not a father to either Grey or Sam fuckin’ ripped my heart in two but I know that’s not her, that’s not the real Laurel and she doesn’t feel that way. Fuck, at least I hope she doesn’t feel that way. I pull the key out of the ignition and walk down the sidewalk, counting to ten repeatedly in my head, forcing myself to focus on the numbers and not the situation at hand.

When I get to the front door, I reach for the doorknob, about to let myself in like I have every day for the past month, but I catch myself. This isn’t my house…yet. I count one more time then knock on the door, not even sure if Laurel will answer it or just sit inside quietly until I give up and leave. Lifting my hand to knock again, the door opens and Laurel stands before me. Her outfit from earlier, my shirt and hat, are now replaced with a long maxi dress. Her eyes are bloodshot from crying and for the first time since I’ve met her, she looks defeated.