Homerun (Pro-U Book 4) (9 page)

Chapter 15

Jayce

We drove out to my mother's house in Layla's jeep and she chattered the entire time about her day. It was so unlike her, and if I didn't know any better... she was nervous. But why? Had I done something to make her uncomfortable?

My erection while she wrapped me back up?

I needed to apologize for it, but I couldn't bring it up again. It was embarrassing as hell, and happened all the damn time around her, but that was the first time it was that obvious, or so I guessed.

"You okay?" I got out of the jeep at my parents’ place and waited for her at the front.

"Yeah. Just talkative today." She gave me a sheepish look. "How are your ribs?"

"Good. Layla." I reached out and took her hand. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"What are you talking about?" Her cheeks turned pink as she smiled. "Oh. That?"

"Yeah." I reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"It's all good." She turned and walked toward the front door. "You're a guy. God only knows what or who you were thinking about."

I left it there, but she knew good and damn well what I was thinking about. How could she not? She was pressed to my back and then kneeling beneath me. I'd never wanted a woman more in my life than I did when she was around. The pressure to break open and spill my sappy ass all over the place was getting worse and worse. I'd never last until the end of May when we split ways.

"There you guys are." My father opened the door and pulled Layla into a tight hug. "How's softball going, Lay?"

"Good, Mr. Moore." She smiled at my father and walked into the house. "Mrs. Moore in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, go find her." My dad turned back to me, offering me a hand and pulling me into a hug. "You tell her yet."

"Really, right now?" I gave him a look and moved past him into the foyer.

"I used to think she was one of the smartest girls Aubrey knew, but I'm not so sure anymore." He patted my back as I growled softly at him. "What are you kids up to tonight?"

Layla turned around from talking to my mom and smiled as my father and I walked into the kitchen. It seemed so damn right to have her there.

"We're going to go skating for a little while, grab something to eat and head back to the apartment." I kept my eyes on Layla and lifted my eyebrows as if questioning her on our plans.

"Is Jayce keeping the place clean with you being there?" My mom put her hand on her hip and gave me a look. "He loves to leave his clothes wherever he took them off."

"He's doing great." Layla laughed and turned to walk toward me. "You wanna skate now or later?"

"Now. It's going to get dark soon." I moved past her and walked down the hall, calling over my shoulder, "Did Aubrey take her skates or leave them here?"

"She left them." My mom followed me down the hall. "There should be several pairs and some pads in the closet by the back door. You guys be safe. I'm making lasagna for dinner, so plan on staying. We need to talk about the wedding anyway."

"All right Mom." I opened the closet door and knelt down to search through the skates as Layla walked up beside me.

"I like the pink ones if Aubrey left those." She squatted beside me, sending the scent of her shampoo my way. My body hardened immediately and left me a little woozy.

"Here you go." I handed her the skates and pulled out my black ones. "Let's take the four-wheeler out there. That all right?"

"Hell yes." She stood up, grabbed a big coat from beside the back door and walked out. We got our coats on and walked to the garage while she continued to chatter. I let her go. She wasn't acting like herself, but it was all right. I'd figure out whatever was bothering her sometime during the night. I just hoped like hell it wasn't me.

I got on the four-wheeler after tucking the skates in a carry box near the back of it. I offered her a hand to get on, but she swatted it away, gave me a look and climbed on behind me.

She wrapped her arms around my stomach and jerked them up quickly as she brushed the head of my dick.

"I am so sorry." She dropped her head and pressed her forehead against my back.

"Don't be. I'm just turned on by just about everything you're doing tonight. Forgive me, or rather, forgive my hormones. No clue what the fuck is up with me." I started the four-wheeler and swallowed my embarrassment. I wasn't going to come down from the high she provided until we had a few hours apart. It's just how it was with her. I'd grown quite used to it over the years.

*

After skating for an hour, we finally made our way back, enjoyed a short dinner with my folks and made some decisions for Aubrey's wedding with my mom. I'd had my fill of looking at colors and wanted to get back to the house so I could stretch out on the couch, but Layla wanted to take some blankets back with us.

"Oh yeah. There are tons of them in the crate in front of Jayce's bed. Take whatever you want." My mom turned from Layla to me. "Are you all right? You keep breathing shallow. Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "I got hit in the stomach at practice today."

"What? Oh no." She reached for my t-shirt. "Let me see, baby."

"Mom, I'm good." I took a step back and gave her a look. "Seriously."

"All right." She put her hand on her hip and turned her hard stare toward Layla. "Make sure he's not in pain. Understand?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, Mrs. Moore. I'll call you if anything goes wrong."

"Good." She nodded toward the stairs. "There is some pain medication up there in your old bathroom. Take it with you."

"Thanks Mom." I moved up behind Layla, letting her get a few steps in front of me so I could get a good view of her cute little rear as she climbed the stairs. Her hips swayed back and forth as her long hair played along the top of her jeans. My heart was beating so hard it felt like the fucker was trying to escape my chest.

I wanted her on top of me, pressing her strong hands into my chest as her hair tickled my skin.

"You want me to get the medicine or the blankets?" She turned to face me as her expression changed to worry. "Hey. You okay? You're so pale all of a sudden."

"I'm good. Just a little winded." I walked toward my room. "Come pick out the blankets you want and then we'll grab the meds."

She walked in behind me and laughed. "God I remember this room so well."

I opened the crate and glanced back at her. "Oh yeah? Bring back a few memories."

"Yeah, of how pathetic I was in my attempts to try and get you to notice me." She rolled her eyes and walked past me, kneeling down and sorting through blankets.

"You did not." I reached over and grabbed my favorite one from the bunch.

"Yes I did. Remember that small couch in the game room where we would watch movies? I'd make you and Aubrey let me get in the middle?"

"Those are horrible memories. I used to ride the rail on that couch bed. My butt bone is still bruised from it." I gave her a cheeky grin as she glanced up at me.

"We used that small couch bed so I could accidentally rub my arm past yours or snuggle up to you because I was scared." She laughed, surprising me.

"Seriously?" I grabbed another blanket she handed to me.

"Why are you surprised by this, Jayce?" She turned and took a step closer to me, closing the distance between us.

A thick blanket of lust wrapped around me, promising to suffocate me if I wasn't careful.

"I guess I figured you were far too hot to want a guy like me." I reached out and touched the side of her face. "You were the center of everyone’s fantasies, Lay. You know that."

"You're an idiot. You know that?" She laughed and cupped my hand, turning her face a little and kissing my palm. "I tried everything, but you never noticed."

"I'm an idiot?" I gripped the side of her face and let the blankets slide out of my grasp as I pulled her closer and leaned down to kiss her. The softness of her lips combined with the sensual groan that left her almost did me in.

"Did you guys find the medicine?" My mom's voice forced us apart, but fuck if I didn't want more. Needed it. Needed her.

"No, but we're getting it." I bent over and picked up the blankets. "Come on. Let's grab the meds and get out of here."

"Okay." She moved in behind me, breathless and looking like the kind of woman who could wreck my world completely.

"There you are." My mom laughed and gave me a look. "Why is your face so splotchy? Are you okay?" She reached out and touched my forehead as Layla moved around us to walk to the bathroom. "Jayce, you're running a fever."

"I'm good, Mom." I moved up and hugged my mom quickly. "We'll see you guys later."

Layla lifted the pill bottle and shook it as she gave me a knowing smile. "Got the meds. Thanks Mrs. Moore."

"All right, well, you guys be careful," she called after us as we jogged down the stairs toward the front door.

My father stepped out of his den and opened the door. "What are your plans for the rest of the evening? Studying for Chemistry and..."

I smiled and shook my head. "Probably popcorn and movies."

"And studying for Chemistry, Mr. Moore." Layla gave my father a quick hug.

"I like this girl. Can we keep her?" My dad smiled and patted my back as we all walked out onto the patio.

"She's been with us forever, Dad. I'm not sure she's going anywhere." We walked toward the truck, and I glanced over at her. "At least I hope you're not."

"Not until you tell me to." She glanced up at me, and I had no doubt that the night wasn't over. I wasn't sure where things might go, but I sure as hell wanted to find out.

We rode in a tense silence back to the apartment, and I imagined her crawling into my seat and doing every naughty thing I wanted done to me before we finally parked. I was panting softly by the time I turned the truck off.

She laughed nervously and glanced over at me. "You all right?"

"Not really." I swallowed hard and got out of the truck. If it wasn't for the blankets in my arms, I'd have taken her hand and half dragged her up the stairs. We walked in silence toward the apartment, and I caught the glimpse of someone standing outside the door with their back against the brick wall.

Seth Mills.

Fuck.

"Hey guys." He smiled and walked toward us. "Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to talk to Layla for a second."

"That's between you and her." I shrugged and pulled out my keys before glancing back at her. "You good?"

"Yeah. I'll be right in." She put her blanket in my pile and I walked into the house, closed the door and let out a long sigh.

Of course the night wasn't going to go as planned. My luck had never allowed anything to work out right.

Why would tonight be any different?

Chapter 16

Layla

Of all people to be standing outside of the apartment. Jayce walked in and closed the door behind him, leaving me in the hall with Seth.

"Hey. Sorry about just showing up. I just thought it would be better than trying to talk over text." He gave me a shy smile. The man didn't have a shy bone in his body.

"We really don't have anything to talk about, Seth. You and I haven't been together for almost a year. You moved on, while we were still dating, might I add, and I'm finally trying to."

"With Jayce?" He snorted and put his hands on his hips. "I know you think you know this guy because you grew up together, but I'm telling you... he's not your type, Lay. You've made him into something in your head that he's not."

"And what have I made him into? The great guy that he is?"

"Is that what you want?" He took a step toward me and shook his head. "A nice guy to take home to mom and dad? The kind that will hold you all night instead of making you scream in pleasure?"

"Sex isn't everything," I barked back, knowing that the bastard was simply pushing my buttons just for the sake of pushing them. Sex wasn't everything, but it quickly could become that with me if I wasn't careful. Seth knew it and yet I still wasn't enough.

"I agree." He reached out and brushed his fingers down the side of my face. "Love and passion and sex are everything. We had all three."

"I'm not talking about this with you. You wanted more than one woman in your life, and now you're free to have as many as you want."

"I was wrong."

"Right, well, that ship has sailed. Find someone just as wild as yourself who doesn't mind sleeping with multiple people at a time. That's not me." I brushed by him and reached for the door. "Stay out of my life. There's nothing left between us, nor will there ever be again."

"Layla." He reached for me as I pushed the door open and slammed it in his face.

There was a part of me that wanted the wild, fucked-up party he offered every night of the week, but it wasn't the real me. It was a way to disappear and dive so deeply into the world of drunken parties and drug-induced highs that I didn't have to feel anything.

The one year we'd dated had been wild. Disturbing and wild.

"Jayce?" I called out and dropped my purse on the kitchen table. The blankets were sitting on top of the table with Jayce's key, but he was nowhere in sight. "Sorry about that. He's still hopeful that we'll get back together."

I snorted and walked down the hall. The shower was running.

"Of course." I turned back and walked to my room, kicking off my shoes and rubbing my shoulders as I dropped down on the side of my bed. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and texted Aubrey. She was probably wrapped up tight with sexy Lucas White, but maybe I'd get lucky and score a response.

Me: I miss you.

Aubrey: Me too. Where are you? Mom and Dad said you and Jayce came by the house tonight and you guys were 'cute'? WTF is that?

Me: LOL. We went skating on the pond out back and had dinner with your parents. I guess it could look cute if you were parents.

Aubrey: Where is he now?

Me: In the shower. We got back to the apartment and Seth was waiting out front. Total buzz kill.

Aubrey: Seth Mills?

Me: Yeah.

My phone rang, scaring the hell outta me.

"Don't you know texting etiquette? You don't call when you're texting." I laughed and flopped back on my bed.

"Well, excuse me, but Seth Mills waiting outside the apartment for you is a little creepy. What happened?"

"It was creepy. He just wanted to talk. He seems to think we still have a chance of getting back together. Guess he's not figured out that I'm completely lost to your brother."

"Speaking of that..."

"I don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to reach out and see if you were awake?"

"Why?"

"Because I miss you."

"Nope."

"I love you?" I smiled, knowing she wasn't going to let me off the hook.

"Yep, but nope."

"I really wanna tell him, Aubrey, but it could ruin everything." I sat up as my stomach sickened. "I know he likes me to some degree, but telling him that I'm madly in love with him is like Stalker 101 type stuff."

She laughed. "No it isn't, but you know what?"

"What?" I pulled my legs up on the bed and pressed my cheek to my knee.

"Don't tell him."

"Good. I'm not."

"Show him. You like seeing things more than hearing them. Show Jayce how you feel and let him figure it out on his own."

"Why is this so damn hard?" I got off the bed and walked toward the bathroom, realizing that the shower was off.

"Because he's not just anyone, Lay. He's your childhood sweetheart and your best friend's brother. There's a lot going on in your relationship without adding your infatuation over him to the mix."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes and walked back toward my room. "I gotta go."

"Fine, but show him."

"Later." I hung up and chucked the phone into my room, praying like hell that it would hit the bed and not the wall.

"You all right?" Jayce's voice sent warm tingles running down my back.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." I turned to face him and tried to keep my face expressionless. The white terrycloth towel wrapped around his waist left plenty of smooth, tanned skin on display. Water rivulets dripped down his chest and stomach to disappear into his towel. His dark hair looked even darker now that it was wet, and the sexy expression on his face had me frozen in place.

"No worries. Is he gone?"

"Yeah." I pressed my teeth into my bottom lip and walked toward him, forcing myself to take one step and then another, and then another. "You really shouldn't walk around like that."

"What? Why?" He glanced down and ran his hand over his chest. "Too much?"

"In a good way." I stopped in front of him and reached up to run my nails softly along the side of his hair. "What was the kiss for back at your mom's?"

He grabbed my hand and tugged me closer before sliding his arms around me. "It was a daydream I've had about a million times. The kiss was supposed to last a little longer, but damn my mother for being right on time to ruin it."

I laughed and he did too. "Maybe we should try again."

"I'd like that." He ran his hands up my back and over the curve of my shoulders, forcing my arms up as I wrapped them around his neck. "Just don't count on anyone stopping us. You'll have to do that instead."

"And if I can't?" I whispered against his lips as he leaned down and stole my breath with his nearness.

"Then I will." He licked at my mouth and I groaned, swallowing Seth's assumptions that Jayce Moore was the good guy type. He could be, but that didn't mean he was all the time.

I pushed up and pressed my lips against his, forcing him to step back as I flattened myself against him. The warmth of his wet skin under my fingers was nothing compared to the way he made love to my mouth.

The fear that I would melt right there in the hall was too real to ignore.

I broke the kiss, panting softly, and ran my hands down his chest to his stomach. "How's your stomach?"

"I don't feel a thing." He turned us, pressing me to the wall and ground against me as he licked and sucked at my mouth with a hunger I wouldn't have imagined possible.

Was I going to sleep with him? Fuck, I wanted to, but it seemed too fast, too rushed for the first time with him. I needed it to be special - different.

"Jayce," I mumbled against his lips as he moved down and pressed hungry kisses against the side of my neck.

"What, baby?" His hands ran down my sides, his thumbs rolling over the sides of my breasts and flicking my nipples softly. I groaned again and arched my back, wanting to feel him pressed against me again.

"I can't rush this. Please. I've wanted it too long." I sucked in a quick breath as he stood back up and looked down at me.

"You have?" He gripped my hips tightly and licked at his lips. "You're not shitting me, right, Lay?"

"What? No." I ran my fingers up his sides and around to the thick muscles of his back. "I want you so bad it hurts, but I can't rush this with you. It can't just be sex. I can't deal with that again in my life."

"Seth." He glanced toward the door. "Is that what you guys had? I couldn't help but wonder what the hell someone like you was doing with a guy like that."

"Loneliness does crazy things." I pulled him back against me. "I don't wanna stop, but I need you to know that it's not just sex for me."

"I would never let it just be sex." He cupped the side of my face and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. "I thought I'd come out and find you gone."

"Hell no." I let my eyes run down the front of him. "Seth is a part of my past."

"And me? What am I, Lay?" He brushed his thumb over my lip again before sliding it into my mouth. "Can I be part of the future?"

I nodded and sucked his thumb deep into my mouth as he groaned low in his chest. Lust like I'd never experienced in my short life wrapped around me as if to suffocate me.

He pulled his thumb out of my mouth and moved forward, pressing his body against mine as he consumed me with kisses, licks and soft bites.

"Stay in my bed with me tonight. We don't have to make love, but I want you with me. Yeah?" He moved back just a little.

"I can't yet. I wouldn't be able to behave." I stepped toward him, pulling him down for another long round of kisses. The thick press of his arousal against my stomach had me ready to say to hell with taking anything slow, but I knew better.

This wasn't some one-night stand. It was Jayce Moore. I'd loved him since I could walk. He was everything to me and I wasn't going to let sex jack things up. I couldn't.

He kissed me once more and stroked my hair as he watched me lovingly.

"All right. I get it. If you change your mind, you know where to find me." He kissed the tip of my nose and turned. "Night, Lay."

"Night," I whispered and waited until his door was shut to walk to my room and face-plant on my bed. Every part of me ached for the night to go on, for him to unleash himself all over me and leave evidence that he'd been there, but I'd be much happier in the morning knowing that I didn't rush into anything with him.

I didn't just like him, or lust him.

I loved him. I loved him with all of me.