Page 20 of Off Season

“When her mother walks into her apartment and her man walks out naked stroking himself, not realizing the mom is standing there. He epically fails at trying to cover his giant body and erection, and then her cat jumps into his arms.”

I start laughing. “You know me well. Classic Dollston humor. And you know I love a good scene where a couple is walked in on while they’re in a compromising position.”

She nods. “Yep. That’s why I have at least one in all my books. They’realwaysfunny, right?”

“Every. Damn. Time.”

We’re approachingthe seventh-inning stretch of our game. It’s a tradition at all professional baseball games that there’s a pause in the game between the top and bottom halves of the seventh inning. As a song plays, the crowd stands and sings along. It’s considered a time to stretchtheir legs and have a little fun. It’s also a time for the grounds crew to clean up the field a bit. Each individual stadium has a song they play for every seventh-inning stretch in a given season. It usually doesn’t vary from game to game, only season to season, and each team has a different selection.

It’s become a bit commonplace in Philly for me to dance with a fan during the break. It started a few years ago when Chris Brown dropped the song,Cheetah. I mentioned it to then-owner Harold Greene, and he loved the idea of playing the song during the stretch and me picking a fan at each game to dance with. We’ve been doing it ever since. It’s usually a random stranger, with all the ladies clamoring for the spot, though it’s been my mother a few times and Gemma twice just to piss off Trey. I even danced with Gemma’s grandmother, Grammy Jane, one time. She’s a hoot. She lives in Florida, but she and Gemma are extremely close, and she visits once or twice a year. In fact, I think she’ll be here in a few weeks. Assuming she comes to a game, I’ll have to remind the field crew to bring her down to dance with me again.

I told the crew where Kamryn will be sitting for this game. Now that Arizona and Layton are dating, the four girls have season passes to the best four seats in the stadium, right behind our dugout. The cameras have started to find them since the Anacondas are steadily growing in popularity. I want to have her brought onto the field to dance with me tonight.

As the top half of the inning ends, I see them escorting her onto the field. She has a huge smile on her beautiful face. She knows what it means to be brought out here at this point in the game. She even shimmies her way to me on the field. Most of the women who do this are a little embarrassed and shy, but not Kamryn Hart. She’s going to own this.

She’s in cutoff jean shorts that show off her long legs and a tight, tiny Lancaster jersey. I think it’s even bedazzled. She’s so hot, though she’d be hotter in my jersey. I make a mental note to have one sent to her.

As she approaches, I wink at her. “Just so you know, my safe word isharder.”

She lets out a laugh. “You like to be a bottom, kitten? I would have taken you for an on-top kind of man.”

I take her hand and kiss it. “Kam bam, a great pancake isn’t done until it’s flipped on both sides.”

She runs her full, sexy bottom lip through her teeth. “Is that an offer?”

“It’s a promise.”

Her eyes flash with amusement. She’s got the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen. They tell a thousand stories, all of which promise fun. It’s the biggest difference between her and Bailey. Even though they’re identical, I can easily tell the difference from their eyes. Bailey’s are soft and sweet. Kam’s make all the blood in my body rush below my belt.

She reaches for my baseball hat and turns it backward. “Ooh, I like that much better, though not as much as the cowboy hat.”

“I know you like to ride cowboys. You can ride me anytime you want, Kam bam.”

Her lips curl in amusement. “Did you know that the most dangerous way to have sex, as measured by hospitalizations, is reverse cowgirl?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t.”

“If you can’t ride a cowboy properly, you shouldn’t.It’s a good thing my riding skills are top-notch.”

Fuck, I’m getting hard in a stadium in front of tens of thousands of people.

Our bodies are close, and we’re staring at each other. Shemust feel the same chemistry I’m feeling. It’s oozing from both of us.

Our intense stare-down is broken by the music beginning. I twirl her around while all the fans sing along and clap as Kam and I put on a full show. Definitely the best one in all the years I’ve done this for our hometown fans. There’s even a touch of dirty dancing involved. She can really move her hips and does so without an ounce of embarrassment.

We’re both smiling and laughing throughout the whole song, having a great time. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun with a woman…while vertical.

When it’s over, our lips are only an inch or two apart. I want to kiss her, but something tells me that Kamryn wouldn’t like being put on the spot like this in front of forty thousand fans. She likes to maintain control. This has to be on her timeline. I won’t force it.

I kiss her cheek, by her ear, taking in her peach scent while whispering, “Thanks for the dance, Kam bam.”

I feel her warm breath on me as she whispers back, “Anytime, kitten.”

CHAPTER FOUR

CHEETAH

I’m at Tanner Montgomery’s house tonight for our monthly poker game. He’s my agent and has been since I started playing ball. He’s only thirteen years older than me, but he’s always been a surrogate father to me since mine lives so far away.

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