Page 107 of Force Play

Chills crawl up my spine at the mocking tone he uses as he steps closer. I should walk away. I should shout for one of the girls, but I freeze up.

“No, it’s not me you’re after. It seems you want a Bandit.” He reaches out, his fingers pinching the badge hanging from my neck. I yank it back.

“Don’t touch me, Jensen,” I seethe quietly.

“Oh come on, which one is it?”

“None of your business.” I look down the hallway, not sure what I’m hoping to find, but it’s empty. The girls are probably right around the corner and none of the guys appear to have left the locker room yet. There’s no one coming to rescue me.

He moves quickly flipping the badge over so Dom’s name and number are visible on the pass.

“Dom Duran. Interesting.” He laughs and a cold sweat covers my skin. “I bet he wouldn’t mind at all if you came back to the hotel with me instead. I’m meeting up with a pretty little thing I met at the hotel bar last night. I bet she’s just your type. We could have some fun, for old times sake.”

Bile climbs up my throat. How did I ever think I loved this horrid man?

“Fuck you,” I spit back. Turning towards my waiting friends I don’t look back. My fists are balled at my side and I’m shaking when I get to the end of the hallway.

Mia spots me first, her brows pulling together in concern, so I plaster a smile on my face and join her. Followed quickly by Dom’s family and my cheeks heat at how eagerly they wave me over.

“You must be Kelly. Hi, I’m Indie,” I say to the woman tucked under the arm of a man that looks like an older, albeit still handsome version of Dom.

“I am. This is my husband Nick. And I think you might be my favorite person ever,” she says, with the same easy smile her son so often wears. “Just as beautiful as the picture Dom sent us too.

“Of course he did. And thank you so much, but I can’t imagine what I’ve done to deserve the title.” The tension from my encounter with Jensen still lingers in my voice.

“Outside of baseball, I’m not sure my son has ever had to work quite as hard at anything as he has with you.”

“Someone has got to keep him on his toes,” his dad adds.

“So you’re happy that I made your son’s life more difficult?” Nervous laughter spills out of me.

“God, yes. Ever since he was little, things have come easy for him. When he met you, he had to work to keep your attention. If you have kids someday you’ll see it’s a balancing act. You want them to thrive, but not skate by. Earning the things we want only makes it that much sweeter.”

“This way. You never take for granted what you’ve had to fight for,” Nick adds, looking down at his wife.

I feel him behind me before I see him, and my body recoils against my will, still on edge from seeing Jensen. “You guys aren’t scaring her away, are you?” One hand gripping my hip, he leans around me, kissing his mom on the cheek. When Dom’s warm scent surrounds me I relax a fraction.

“No, we want to keep her,” Kelly says.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I lean back, and strong arms wrap around me. It’s comforting, calming, exactly what I needed.

“Where are the girls?” Dom asks, looking around the small room.

“Daelyn took Dottie to get ice cream across the street. I told them we’d meet them there,” his dad says.

“I could fuck around with some cookie dough ice cream. What about you, Firecracker?”

“Dessert before dinner. Why am I not surprised?”

“I am who I am,” he says, making everyone laugh. Yes, he is, and it’s one of my favorite things about him. “You guys go ahead. We’ll be right behind you,” Dom says to his parents. The rest of the guys have slowly joined us in the waiting area, but only Mia and Dean remain. Everyone else has already left.

“You ready for this?” he asks when his parents disappear. If Mia and Dean think he’s talking about anything other than dinner with his family, they don’t let on.

“Have a good night,” Mia says, leaning in to give me a hug while Dom and Dean bro hug at Dom’s insistence.

“Yeah, let’s get it over with,” I groan as he pulls a small cooler bag out of his backpack and leads me to a small privacy room opposite the locker room, closing the door behind us. Kneeling at my feet he grabs a little ice pack. “Hold this on your stomach for me.”

He’s so serious as he applies the sanitizer to his hands, then pulls out the powder and liquid he needs to mix together for the first shot and gets to work. With everything ready, his warm hand covers my cold one removing the ice pack. “I’m sorry,” he says, looking up at me before swiping the antiseptic pad over the injection site.

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