Page 17 of Sometimes You Fall

“Ride me, Scottie.” I smack her ass again, urging her to move faster and fuck me until she comes. “Make yourself come. Make me break with you.”

“Grady!” she cries, rubbing her pelvis over me, working herself closer to her climax. “I’m there!” And then I feel her tighten before she screams and takes me over the edge with her.

When we come down from the high, she turns to her side to face me. “So good.”

I huff out a laugh. “Fucking amazing.”

“I definitely didn’t anticipate my night ending like this when my mom told me to go out with her.”

It’s three in the morning. Scottie and I drifted off for about an hour before I woke her up with my head between her legs again. And then she climbed on top of me and rode me until we both saw stars.

“It’s not over yet.”

“No, but at least it was memorable. I mean, you ate me out on the hood of a car for crying out loud.”

My lips tip up like they have a mind of their own. And the memory of Scottie splayed out on my Nova like that will live on in my brain for all eternity. “I can do it again if you want.”

She shakes her head at me. “Are you ever going to rebuild that car? Does it even run?”

I blow out a breath and turn to face the ceiling as she rests her head on my chest again. “I want to. I just…”

“I get it. But maybe it would help to have something to focus on, Grady.” She draws circles through my chest hair. “I know I said I wouldn’t bring up baseball again, but…”

“You’re going to anyway.”

She nods against my chest. “Have you ever thought about coaching?”

Just the mention of the word has my entire upper body tightening. “Why do you ask?”

She’s silent for a moment before she speaks again. “Well, after I found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t ready to give up the game entirely. I asked my coach if I could still practice with the girls, but as an observer. It sucked not being able to play, I’m not going to lie. But watching and being able to help the girls improve, especially the girl that replaced me, made it a little bit easier to let go.” I trail my fingers up and down her spine. “I still loved the game, I just got to appreciate it on a different level.”

My jaw is tight, but I manage to say, “I’ll think about it.” And that’s not a lie. I have been thinking about it, especially after Dallas called me out at lunch last week and the new coach at the high school is still pursuing me. He even showed up at the garage a few days ago. I just don’t know if it will make things better or worse for me.

But it might help you feel unstuck.

Scottie glances at the clock on my nightstand. “I need to get home soon. It’s late, or early, however you want to look at it.”

Reaching for her hand between us, I intertwine our fingers. “It’s still dark. Get some more sleep first.”

She lets out another yawn, and then snuggles in deeper to my body. “Just a little bit of sleep and then I’ll go.”

I don’t argue with her. I just savor the feeling of her in my arms. But I do know one thing for certain—before she leaves, I’m going to get her number. This isn’t going to be the last time I see Scottie or feel her wrapped around me. It can’t be, not when my soul feels like a piece of my past and present just snapped into place.

Unfortunately, Scottie didn’t feel the same way, as evidenced by her stealth departure after I fell asleep.

She didn’t leave a note. Hell, not even a scrap of paper with her number scribbled on it.

And when I drive to her mom’s house the next afternoon, eager to confront her on the matter, her mother can’t look me in the eye when she says, “She’s gone, Grady.”

“What?”

“She went back home. Something about an emergency.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she eyes me up and down, but there’s a hint of something behind her eyes I can’t read.

“What kind of emergency?”

She arches a brow at me. “The kind that doesn’t exist.”

“Lisa,” I start, but she cuts me off.

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