Brad had said this was about making friends in a friendly competition, so I thought I’d take the initiative, if only to make my owner proud. The man in question winked at me, and my cheeks flushed and I laughed. He was attractive, with glossy honey-blond spiral curls that flopped around when he moved, and interesting aqua eyes that were bright enough that I got trapped looking at them for a moment.
“Hey. I’m Boyd. Haven’t played you before. You new on the Unicorns ?” His smile warmed.
I glanced toward the batsman base—what did they call that in kickball?—and noticed the next kicker stretching, which gave us time for a small chitchat. “Yeah, this is my first game that’s not practice.” Laughing, I nodded at Brad. “He convinced me to play, though I’m not great at sports.”
Boyd’s gaze slid down my body, and I quickly became aware that this was more than just talking. He was checking me out. My eyes widened, and I glanced at Nicky, who stood on third. Nicky cocked his head at me, obviously not aware of my sudden discomfort. I’d never had to turn someone down politely before, but the usual way I told people to leave me alone wouldn’t be good here. Not if I wanted to stay on Brad’s good side.
“You have the perfect body type for it.” He quirked a smile at me, and I took a moment to really focus on him, more than I had when he’d run his way to my base. Boyd was handsome, I supposed, if you liked the lumberjack type. Along with his stunning eyes, he had scruff and a dimple in the middle of his chin that a lot of people would fawn over, so it was no wonder he flirted easily. I imagined he had all the boys swooning.
“I’m taken,” I blurted out with a flush. “My owner’s taken me. He’s claimed me. How do I even say this?”
Brad had done this to me, made me a bumbling mess. Once upon a time, it was so easy for me to reject guys with a glare, but now that I had to be nice , I realized I didn’t know how to do this socializing thing. I had Kwan, Nicky, and Brad, that’s all I wanted, but Brad insisted I make friends with the other people, too. He’d said something about the more friends the better, while he ate out my ass, and between me being a lover of numbers and the addicting ecstasy of his tongue in my hole, I’d agreed embarrassingly quickly.
“Owner?” Boyd cocked his head at me.
I laughed. “I’m a kitten.”
“A what?” He straightened, his muscles straining in that white baseball shirt of his with a big brown grizzly on the front.
“Kitten? Pet play. All that jazz. Let’s just say I have a boyfriend.” I waved my fingers at him, but before he could respond there were shouts. I turned my attention back on the game just as I heard Brad call my name. A ball came straight at me and I screamed, ducking and hoping Boyd would block it with his chest, but he was already running toward the next base. At least the soccer-shaped ball went straight over my head.
“Harley kitty, you’re supposed to catch,” Brad yelled, but when I glanced at him, he smiled and shook his head. Evan, Madden’s boyfriend, who had helped move Kwan in, had already picked up the ball that nearly killed me and threw it back toward the home base, obviously trying to get one of the Grizzlies out. It didn’t work. I’d fucked that up for them.
I pouted in Brad’s direction. This was all his fault. I’d told him I wasn’t great at sports, but no one seemed angry with me. There was some laughter to my right, and Nicky winked at me. I blushed in mortification. Even with the embarrassing moment, though, my family was still shouting my name and something swelled in my gut. Love. Elation. It was the first time that I could remember them ever being somewhere to support me.
Mom stood from her seat and pointed at her shirt. It had a picture of my face on it with the word Harley curved on top of my head and Rocks on the bottom. “Go, Harley! You can do it!”
I frowned in her direction, but I couldn’t keep it on my face long because a stupid grin replaced it. Damn, I loved having them here.
Someone touched my shoulder and I jumped in surprise, but Brad shushed me and kissed my cheek. “Sorry, kitty, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay.” I leaned up to slant my lips over his and we kissed for a moment, enjoying each other’s taste. “I’m sorry I missed the catch.”
He laughed, and the pleasant sound made me sigh in contentment. This man had me twisted up in all sorts of ways I really wasn’t used to. No one else could get me on a sports field until he came along. “That’s fine, Harley cat. It happens. Don’t be scared of the ball.” He leaned close to whisper in my ear, his hand heavy on my shoulder. “I know how much you like playing with balls.”
I nearly whimpered. “I do, Master.”
Brad swiped his tongue around the shell of my ear and I shivered. “Be a good kitty for me and try to catch it, okay? If you catch one ball today, I’ll take really good care of you tonight.”
I nodded quickly, even though I knew he’d take care of me even if I didn’t catch one, because the thought of making my owner happy made my cock twitch. The only thing that stopped me from getting a hard-on was my family sitting in the crowd.
Brad kissed me one more time as the next kicker came to stand on the home base. With a final caress of my cheek, he ran back toward his position, and I couldn’t help but watch his nice ass as it bounced in his pants. Yummy.
More laughter distracted me, and Nicky raised his eyebrows when I looked at him. He had his dreads tied up at the top of his head today, a stripe of glitter glue on either side of his cheeks. He’d been the one who’d nearly forced me down to slap some on my own cheeks, and while I’d grumbled, it had made me feel like one of them—included.
“See something you like?” Nicky teased.
I merely grinned at him.
Brad rolled the ball toward the next kicker, and the Grizzly managed to kick it… straight in my direction. I resisted the urge to close my eyes and focused on the ball as it curved in the air and headed for my face. I imagined this was like a movie and I’d catch it, and Brad would cheer and kiss me, and we’d all live happily ever after—but that didn’t happen. The ball flew past my outstretched hands and landed hard against my cheek, making me fly backward onto my ass. It hurt, a fucking lot, and my cheekbone throbbed.
To my credit, I didn’t scream and cry like I wanted, just curled up in a fetal position on the grass I’d landed on and groaned in pain. There was yelling all around me, and then hands touched my shoulder and legs.
“Harley, are you all right?” That was Nicky.
“Harley cat, sweetie, can you sit up?” Brad leaned closer, I could smell his favorite cologne lingering around me, and with his help, I sat up with another moan of agony. My cheek throbbed, a pounding that made both my teeth and head hurt.
When I blinked open my eyes, I realized more than just Nicky and Brad were there—so were Enrique, Evan, Madden, and other teammates whose names I didn’t know. Enrique had an ice pack in his hand, and it made sense that he’d have it because he’d been sitting on the bench. He slapped it on my face and I winced.
