Page 30 of Stolen Bases

“That must be weird for you.”

“Are you kidding? I’d move to Oregon to be closer to my niece and nephew too. It’s nice up there. You ever been?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve never really traveled anywhere.”

“Not even a family vacation?”

“Nope.” She pops the P. With the way she’s smiling, I know she hasn’t missed out on anything. Her life is full. “Can’t really travel when your mom and aunt own and operate an Italian restaurant.”

“Oh wow. That’s pretty cool. Think your mom and aunt would let me sit down for a meal?”

“My mom would serve you, but I don’t know about Zia Rose. She’s pretty savage.”

I bark a laugh at her honesty. It’s nice being around a woman who’s genuine. “So, I should expect spit-ghetti?”

“That’s a good one.” She laughs, her shoulders shaking, making the steaming hot water lap and lick at the tops of her breasts. “No spit-ghetti. Pinky promise. Besides, my cousin Sofia is the chef now, and she wouldn’t let anything less than perfect leave her kitchen.”

“I can respect that. It’s the same for me when I’m on the mound. If I’m off even for a second, I signal for my coach to take me off.”

Her eyes widen in shock at my admission. “Whoa, really? You do that?”

Not a lot of guys would, but I do. Baseball might be one of the most important parts of my life, but it’s not my whole life. I still have my family and a future after baseball. You can’t play the game forever.

“Of course. I could hurt myself and, worse yet, I could let my team down by being too proud to get help. Something like that could cost us the opportunity to win the World Series.”

“That’s incredibly unselfish of you, Cam.”

“Don’t act so surprised. You’re hurting my feelings.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just, I—”

“Talia, I’m fucking with you. There’s more to me than what you heard.”

“You’re right.” She giggles, and the sound shoots me in the chest and settles in deep.

What is she doing to me?

We go back and forth, asking and answering questions. Nothing serious, mostly surface stuff like our favorite foods, favorite color, and most embarrassing moment.

She gets a kick out of my story about forcing Mason to drink the hangover concoction that almost made him vomit. Mason is probably going to kill me for that, but the laugh I got out of Talia was worth it. I’d take every bit of punishment my brother can come up with to hear that sound again.

The roar of Romero’s fancy-ass sports car pulling into the driveway, effectively ends our night.

Talia looks panicked, so I help her out by climbing out of the jacuzzi. Steam billows off my body, drawing her eyes to my chest. Her panic quickly morphs into interest, but as much as I like her eyes on me, I need to get out of here. For her sake. I can handle her brother, but I’d rather know where I stand with Talia before I do.

“Will I see you tomorrow night?”

“I-I think so.” She nods, dragging her gaze from my body to my face.

“Until tomorrow. Good night, itty bitty.” I grab my towel off the table near her. Unable to stop myself from touching her one last time, I run my fingers over her exposed shoulder and watch as her skin pebbles at my touch.

The way her body reacts… Fuck.

I speed off towards my room as quickly as possible. I need a freezing-cold shower before bed.

“See you tomorrow, Cameron,” she whispers to my back.

Fuck the cold shower.

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