Full Count (23 page)

“Good, good son. I’m excited to see
you play. I’ve been keeping up on your stats and you’re shaping up to have a
pretty good season. Keep it up and you’ll be playing in the big leagues in no
time.”

“Thank you, sir.” It felt good to
hear that from someone, especially someone as important as Paige’s dad. Plus,
he was a huge baseball fan, so he had a pretty good eye for talent. I leaned
down to kiss Paige on the cheek, who had been beaming since she got there. I
knew how much she loved to watch a game with her dad and since I was playing,
it made it even better.

I ended up making three stellar
plays and going three for four to end the game with a walk off homer. One of
the best games I had in awhile and I was glad Max was there to see it.
Afterwards, the four of us went for dinner at a nice restaurant downtown and
stayed up playing cards around the kitchen table until early in the morning. By
the time Max and MaryAnn left, Paige was worn out but happy that she got to
spend some much needed time with her dad.

“Baby it’ll be alright, you’ll see
him soon. The minute I have some free time we’ll make a trip down to Florida.”
I brushed away a single tear that was rolling down her cheek with my thumb.
Damn if she didn’t look sexy as hell even when she cried.

“I know, I know,” she replied in
between sniffles. “These aren’t sad tears, they’re happy. I’m just so glad he’s
finally found someone to love again after my mom. I just wish they had more
time together.” I wrapped her in a tight hug on the front porch where we had
been standing, watching Max and MaryAnn leave. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”

She followed me inside but instead
of heading towards our room she tugged on my hand and pulled me towards the
kitchen. “You hungry Sparky?” I figured she had filled up on the huge breakfast
I had made for everyone.

“Nope, not for food anyway.” Her
eyes didn’t leave mine as she leaned me against the counter and pushed her body
against mine. Her hand brushed across my jaw and she traced her fingers across
my lips, before crushing her mouth against mine. This kiss was anything but
gentle as she pulled and sucked on my tongue, like she was trying to literally
climb into my mouth, but I didn’t mind.

She finally pulled away breathless
and looked at me with those blue eyes glossy and filled with a hunger. “Chris
and Claire won’t be home till later tonight. I figured we needed to christen
the kitchen.” I didn’t need to be told twice. I gripped her hips and lifted her
ass to the edge of the island behind her.

 My hands were on her body in a
second, ripping her shirt off her head and she brought her hands up to unclasp
her bra, leaving her erect nipples bare. She threw her head back with a low
moan the minute I cupped her breast and my mouth found her nipple, always so
ready for me. I instantly grew hard at the noises that she was making but I had
to ignore it, this time was about her.

 I moved my mouth up to graze her
collarbone, biting lightly onto her shoulder, before I found that sensitive
spot behind her ear that I knew drove her wild. Just like I thought, she went
crazy arching her hips and grinding herself into me through our clothes.

I worked her pants down until they
were around her ankles and hooked a thumb into her underwear to slide those down
too. And then the most beautiful sight was right in front of me. Her cheeks had
a reddish tint to them from getting so excited, her curls were hanging loosely
down her bare back.

And that look. That look that she
was giving me was so filled with love and wanting, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
Our eyes remained locked on each other as I slipped in one finger and then two.
Her hips were rising off the counter as she rode my hand and I could tell how
close she was, but she was trying to fight it. “Dylan,” she moaned out deeply.
“Please.”

“Shh baby, let go. I want to see
you come on my hand. It’s so fuckin’ sexy when you do that.” That right there
set her off and I thrust my fingers in harder and harder, just waiting for her
release. I crushed my mouth against hers, pushing in my tongue in the same
rhythm my fingers were working into her.

Her body clenched up around my
fingers and she rode out her orgasm, moaning into my mouth before collapsing
against the island. I leaned forward until our foreheads were pushed against
each other. “I love you, baby.” I stood up straight adjusting the strain in my
pants until I felt a tug on my hand and my beautiful girl was pulling me back,
her hands finding the zipper on my jeans. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Paige

“Hey Paige, wait up.” My feet
stopped their journey over the concrete walkway when I heard the familiar voice
of Kitty’s older brother, Jared, call out from behind me. “Hey Jared, what’s
going on?”

I never really saw Jared much
outside of some of Kitty’s family’s events and hanging out with Maddie
occasionally. He wasn’t in to sports much like Chris and for some reason lived
in an off campus apartment.

 All three of the brothers seemed
to get along well, so it kind of surprised me that Jared was the only one that
didn’t live at the house, even though Bryce was hardly ever there anyway. I
think I had seen him a total of two times since I had moved in and he had been
grabbing more clothes to haul over to his girlfriend Marcy’s place.

“Not much, are you on your way to
class? I don’t want to keep you long.”

“No, it’s fine. I have a little bit
of a break before my next class and its Calc so I really won’t be too sad if I
miss a little bit of that. I swear that class is going to be the death of me.”

“Oh, yeah? You probably wouldn’t
like to hear that I’m going to be an accountant then, huh?”

“Ew, Jared that is gross. How
anyone could love the idea of having to work with numbers is beyond me. I still
have no clue what I’m going to be majoring in but it most definitely won’t have
anything to do with math.”

He smirked back at me and shoved
his hands into his pockets. “You’ll figure it out soon enough. I still can’t
believe Kitty has it all figured out but she’s known she’s wanted to teach
kindergarten since junior high, she definitely has some patience, I’ll give her
that.”

“That she does.” When Kitty had
first told me she was majoring in early education, I had been sort of baffled,
but after seeing how nurturing she really was I totally saw it. She really got
along with almost everyone, well except for Kylie. Kitty had agreed with me
that Kylie had probably schemed that whole situation along with Zoe to make
Dylan look guilty and she was keeping an even tighter hold on Grant whenever
she was around.

“Well anyway, the reason I wanted
to catch up with you was that I’m planning kind of a night out for Maddie’s
birthday Friday night. I know your one of her closest friends so I wanted to
make sure you could come. I already invited Kylie, Kitty, and a few other
girls. We’re gonna meet up at this bar downtown. You think you can make it?”

Oh Jared. He was completely
oblivious to the strong dislike Maddie held for her roommate. But of course, he
invited Kylie, he probably had no idea she was constantly hitting on him and how
much it pissed Maddie off. I wasn’t sure if would be a fun night, but I
wouldn’t skip out just because of one girl.

“Of course I’ll be there, I think
Dylan has a night off too so he should be there. Is it a surprise type of
thing?”

“Nah, I can’t ever keep things from
Maddie but I put the whole thing together. I’ll see you Friday night then.”

“Bye.”

I continued on to my math class and
sat through probably the most boring two hours of my life, and I had this class
twice a week. I would truly be happy when this semester was over.

 I made it home with about an hour
to spare before an earlier shift at the library, so I took a quick shower and
smiled as soon as I stepped out. Dylan wasn’t there but it was at least a
little reminder of him. That boy was always leaving me little post it notes all
around the house that always made me smile and making my freaking heart flutter.
Just a simple:
I love you, Sparky
, but the words instantly made me melt
at how thoughtful he was.

My shift at the library went
surprisingly quick, I think it had to do with the fact that I knew Dylan would
be home soon after me. Our time together lately was limited but always the
highlight of my day. Nikki, the girl that I had worked with tonight, was chatty
the whole time and made the otherwise boring night, a little more interesting.

I was just exiting the library,
hoping to catch a bus back to the house when someone came up from behind me and
grabbed me in a hug.

“Mmm baby girl, I missed you so
much.” My stomach stirred at the familiar nickname that only one person used
for me and I spun around so quick I knocked myself off balance. Luckily, those
strong arms were right there to catch me.
“Jake! What are you doing here? I can’t believe you just showed up without
telling me, asshole.” I looked into his piercing blue eyes and reached up a
hand to sweep back the blonde hair that always managed to hide one of those
eyes. “Hey, I just wanted to surprise you and I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. I just wish you had told
me that you were coming to town, I would have called off work the minute you
got here. How long are you here for?”

“Just a few days. I drove up with a
buddy who has a girlfriend up here and we split a hotel room nearby, even
though he probably won’t be there half the time. If he’s smart, he’ll be
sneaking into his girl’s room just like I did yours.”

“You should have told me, no sense
in wasting your money. We have an extra room at the house, you’re more than
welcome to stay there.”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s a very
good idea Paige.” His finger caught one of my curls and he twisted it around,
slightly tugging my head closer to his. “Because I would want to be doing this the
whole time.”

I scrunched up my nose in confusion
until his mouth crushed against mine and then I knew exactly what he was
talking about. His tongue probed my lips before nudging them apart and then he
was exploring my mouth. It all happened so quickly, I barely realized what he
was doing, but I knew one thing. He wasn’t Dylan.

“Jake.” I spoke against his lips
and when he didn’t let up, just cupped the back of my neck to keep me close, I
shoved my hands into his chest and pushed as hard as I could. “Jake. Stop.”

He finally pulled away and just
stared at me, his chest moving up and down quickly. His expression was filled
with hope, even though I had been the one to push him away. I didn’t want to
hurt out friendship but that couldn’t happen again.

“Jake, what were you thinking?” I
whispered out and he reached out to grip my hand, but I pulled it away. “I’m in
love with Dylan and I told you that. Why are you making this so difficult? I
just want my best friend but I can’t have that if you’re going to do this.”

“Can’t you see, Paige?” He spit it
out a tight voice, laced with a little of anger that I had never heard come out
of his mouth before. He had always been there to protect me and never liked to
see me hurt. Couldn’t he see that he was the one hurting me now?

 “I want to be more than just your
best friend, but you couldn’t even give me a chance. Do you know what that
feels like, to have the one girl you’re in love with to not return any of your
feelings? I thought when I was here last time, I was finally starting to
convince you that this would be a good idea and the minute I left, you ran to
another guy. I just can’t keep doing this.”

“Jake, I’m sorry, I really am. Are
you trying to say that either we need to be in a relationship or we can’t be
friends anymore? Because I really don’t think I can handle that. I’m already
losing my dad, I can’t lose you too.”

“No Paige,” he huffed out in a defeated
voice. “I wouldn’t ever be able to walk away from you like that, I just wish it
was that easy. You’re constantly in my head and I can’t get you out.”

“Jakey…” He interrupted me with a
wave of his hand. “Just forget it Paige, from now on I promise to be on my best
behavior, I won’t even touch you. Let’s just have fun the next couple of days
and completely forget this just happened, alright?”

“Ok, fine if that’s what will make
you happy then. How ‘bout we meet up tomorrow morning and I’ll show you around
campus?”

“Sure, that sounds awesome baby
girl, see you tomorrow.”

I finally made my way home, but
still wasn’t able to shake the hurt expression on Jake’s face. He looked so
broken when I had rejected him but there really wasn’t anything I could do. Hopefully
we could move on from this and still remain friends.

Dylan was home when I got there,
but all of the lights were turned off and his back was to me. I stripped out of
my clothes and tossed on an old t-shirt before climbing into bed beside him. He
never stirred once, which was unusual, he almost always waited up for me no
matter what. Today’s game must have really worn him out.

Dylan

What the fuck? I felt a white- hot
anger blaze through my chest and it took everything in me not to beat the shit
out of the guy that I recognized as Paige’s best friend. Best friend my ass.

Our game finished up early and I
figured I could catch up with Paige before her shift ended, so she wouldn’t
have to take the bus home. And then I walk up behind her to see Jake devouring
her mouth with his and she just fucking stood there, doing nothing to stop it.

I had to get out of there before I
did something I regretted. I wasn’t going to jeopardize my baseball career by
putting that asshole into a coma where he belonged. When I got home, I kicked
the shit out of the wall in our room, picturing the image of some other guy’s
lips on
my girl
, over and over. What was she thinking? I had given my
whole heart to her and she had basically ripped it out and stomped all over it
without a thought.