“When are we going to do this? We both want it. Why fight it?” she purred, thrusting her large tits in my chest. “I’m not wearing anything under my dress.”
I cringed, desperate to get away from her. I gently pushed her out of my way. “I need to head downstairs.”
“Zade. Me and you will happen.” She flashed her eyes in warning and a shiver went through me. She defined the word crazy with a capitalC.
“Whatever.” I upped and left her standing with demons in her eyes.Let her try, but hell no. Never touching her.I had standards, most of the time.
I stormed down the stairs, heart pounding harder than it should have been. I darted my gaze around the game room, searching for the face I had etched into my mind. “Jeff!”
“Hey, man. I didn’t think you’d be here tonight. Good to see ya.” He gave me a bro hug and I clapped his back.
“Where’s Callie?” I asked, searching the room.
“Callie? You know her? What the hell? I called dibs.” He frowned and shook his head.
“Dibs?Come on, we don’t do that.” Anger poured through me and he flinched at my aggression. Hell, it scared me, too.
“Fuck. I met her tonight, bro. I didn’t realize you knew her.” He held up his hands and shrugged. “I think she left a bit ago.”
“Damn it. Do you know her last name?”
“Uh, no.” He gave me a weird look. “What’s going on?”
“It’s hard to explain without making me seem pathetic.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Is Greta still here?”
“Probably left with Callie. That’s her best friend she talked about all summer who’s starting here. She moved here from Chicago yesterday.” He tilted his head in confusion. “I don’t want to step on your toes here, man, but she’s a hell of a girl.”
“I met her earlier today. She didn’t give me anything but her name. She intrigued the hell out of me. Then I saw Aaron’s Snapchat. I rushed over here.” I saw no signs of Greta or Callie, but humor danced in Jeff’s eyes. “What?”
“I’m enjoying this. You struggling.” He attempted to cover his mouth with his hand, but failed.
“Fuck off.” I put no heat in the words and sighed in resignation. “I might as well have a beer or two. I guess I won’t see her tonight.”
“I think we’ll be seeing a lot of her. But I have a feeling that Greta will kill you.”
“Why are you smiling about it?” Sure, he was my catcher and he had my back both on and off the field, meaning I trusted him to no end, but I didn’t like the knowing expression on his face.
“Because if any girl could kick your ass, my money is on Callie.”
“You know for sure after hanging out with her for an hour?” I barked at him, realizing the hypocrisy of my words. It all made sense now. She didn’t know who I was. She defined my dream woman—baseball talk, naturally beautiful and had a great sense of humor. I’d never pegged myself to have a type, but I wanted her to be it.
“Pretty much. She handled Aaron like she was his babysitter. That takes someone with balls and moxie.”
“Moxie?”
“My mom sent me a word of the day calendar and that one stuck with me.” He peered down, almost embarrassed.
“Own that shit, dude. You’re sounding smart as hell. Kind of contradicting the whole ‘dark mysterious catcher’ thing you normally do.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.” He lifted his head, an odd look taking over his face. “If I can ask, what would you say to Callie if you saw her here?”
“Hadn’t thought that through yet. Probably demand her last name. Ask her out.”
“Interesting.” He ran his hand over his jaw and winked at someone in the distance. I followed his gaze and thought I’d fallen through cracked ice. Callie stood on the other side of the room, looking over at us. When her eyes met mine, they widened and she broke out into a one of the biggest, best smiles I had ever seen.
“Dude, seems like whatever happened earlier is in your favor. Good luck, bro.” Jeff clapped my back and left me on my own.
I stayed put as she walked toward me. She wore a shirt that showed off two inches of her toned stomach and I inwardly groaned. How no one else in the room was begging at her feet beat me. She owned the room with her walk. She stopped in front of me, shaking her head.
