Page 11 of Rounding Third

“Fine! You don’t have man boobs!”

As soon as the words leave her lips, I stop my attack and lift her into my arms. I take a seat again and position her so she’s straddling my waist. Whipping my shirt off, I grab her hands and place them on my pecs.

“These aren’t man boobs, Sweets. Boobs are squishy and amazing. Pecs are manly and strong.” I tuck my hands behind my head and grin as she runs her fingers over my bare chest.

“You have very nice pecs,” Liliana whispers.

“And abs. According to Macy, I have the nicest abs on the Pit Bulls.” My grin widens when her gaze drops to my stomach and her fingers follow.

“Can you really trust her opinion?” Liliana murmurs, never meeting my gaze.

“Well, do you have a different opinion?”

“I think you have nicer pecs than Cord.”

“Really? His are huge.”

“Huge, but not nicer. I like the light dusting of hair you have. And your pecs are defined, without being too big. You have a nice body and you work hard for it. You should be proud and stop letting anyone’s comments make you think differently.”

I stare at her, unsure of how to respond. Before I can say anything, Liliana’s alarm goes off again.

“Ok, I need to get dressed or I'm going to be late for work.” She leans in and presses a firm kiss to my cheek before climbing off my lap and disappearing down the hallway.

For someone who keeps stressing we’re just friends, she sure does seem like she feels something more towards me.

While she rushes around and gets ready, I busy myself in the kitchen. I always buy us food when I'm with Liliana, never making her anything. I'm a good cook, I just don’t have a ton of time to make anything. By the time I'm done at work, I'm exhausted and don’t really want to cook for myself.

This morning, I want to impress my girl. Anything to get her thinking of me less and less like a friend, and more and more like a possible boyfriend.

“Hey, can you help me?” Liliana enters the kitchen and spins around to give me her back. Her soft skin is on full display all the way down to the curve right above her ass.

It’s going to take so much self-control to keep from touching her. I want to skim my fingers over her curves and push her dress off her shoulders, watching it pool into a puddle of fabric at her feet.

“Dang, Sweets. You sure know how to test a man’s restraint, huh?” I murmur as I reach for the zipper and slowly drag it up her back.

“Oh, please. I'm sure I'm super tempting,” she scoffs like I'm making fun of her.

I zipper her dress all the way to the top, then I snake my arm around her waist and tug her back against my chest. I leanin until my lips are barely brushing the shell of her ear and whisper, “You’re extremely tempting, Sweets. Don’t ever doubt that.”

I release her and take a step away. I need to put distance between us or I’ll do something she might not like. I grab the plate of breakfast I made and hold it between us.

“Here’s some breakfast. I have to get to the stadium within the next ten minutes or Owen’s going to have my head on a platter. Call me later, beautiful.” I press a soft kiss to her temple and leave her apartment before my words can really sink in for her. We both need to process how our relationship is slowly changing. If I have it my way, it will be rapidly changing soon.

Chapter 5

Liliana

As soon as the door shuts behind Smity, I'm racing to the coffee table to grab my phone. I need to call Winnie and talk to her about all of this.

“Liliana, it’s too early for a phone call. This is unacceptable,” she groans.

“It’s important, Winnie! I need someone to talk to.”

“Can't you call Smithy? He’s a total morning person.”

“I could, if I didn’t need to talk to someone abouthim.”

“Well, now I'm more interested. What are we talking about? I need to know if I'm interested enough to wake up fully, or should I hang up and go back to sleep?”

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