Page 55 of Nailed at Home Plate

“Tiffiny figured out that we didn’thateeach other.” It took Jamie a moment to realize what I implied. When it dawned on him, he couldn’t keep a straight face. His shoulders relaxed with a laugh.

“Right.” With a nod, he cleared his throat before adjusting his workout gear and the budding erection I felt just moments earlier. “Cady and I were just–”

“Cady, huh?” Tiffiny quirked her brow in my direction, and I crumbled under her scrutiny. Oh, I was going to hear all about that later. I gave her a drunken little smile of pure happiness. “You two are at the pet names stage? It's even more disgusting than I imagined.”

Jamie and I both glanced at each other, looking guilty as fuck. He was “Slugger”, and I was “Cady”.

Holy shit, this was bad, wasn’t it?

With a smirk, Tiffiny walked past me on her merry way to bring her unhinged chaos elsewhere. She gave my shoulder a nudge on her way past before flashing Jamie a “thumbs up”. It wasn’t until she turned the corner that Jamie relaxed.

“The weirdness here even extends to the mascot.”

“Honestly she’s the weirdest one here.” His head snapped to me with a question in his steely blue gaze. I laughed. “The fact that you haven’t realized that means she hides it as well as she thinks. Tiffiny grows on you though.”

Jamie glanced at me with a tinge of worry to his gaze. “She won’t say anything, right?”

“Of course not.” I dismissed him quickly. I knew she wouldn’t. Not only because she was my best friend but her speaking to just about anyone was her least favorite thing to do. She wouldn’t go out of her way to make herself miserable.

Looking at Jamie, I felt my heart swell. As much as I was living the fangirl dream, I was doing my best not to fall in love with the man. There were too many things that could go wrong with dating an athlete and a revered athlete at that. But hell, he was making itmore and more difficult to keep to keep my apprehension at bay.

“Good.” Jamie’s hand slipped down to grasp mine. “Because…” Lifting my hand to his mouth, he brushed a tender kiss across my knuckles. I was ready to melt into a puddle at his adoring feet. “I think we have a good thing going on here.”

Number One Girl

ROSÉ

It was working. This stupid stunt was working. Well, not exactly in the way the franchise imagined. I didn’t think “getting railed by the coach” was on their bingo card when they dropped me in the Sillys’ lap.

Maybe it was a bonus?

Or maybe it was something that was going to change my life.

Sillys ticket sales had soared. Sell-out crowds showed up daily. Apparently seeing me dancing was doing just what they wanted, filling seats and making this crazy investment worthwhile. Not only were my dancing skills getting better, but my batting skills had greatly improved.

When I arrived here, I thought it was a death sentence for my career. But with each day that went by, I found myself more and more at home with the Sillys. The more I thought about going back to the majors, the more I dreaded it. The pit of despair in the bottom of my stomach opened wider and wider.

Maybe this was where I belonged now? My batting average took a complete 180. Cady insisted it was due to the new coaching staff, but deep down Iknew it was mostly her. She gave me incentives to play well,sexyincentives.

Every day I was in her sunshiny presence invigorated me, both on and off the field. She and the guys on the Sillys taught me how to have fun again. They taught me that, yes, this can be a career, but it doesn’t mean that you couldn’t make the most of it. You had to find the good in every day.

With my more relaxed attitude, I was more consistent in my hits. The power wasn’t all the way there yet, buttryingto hit all home runs didn’t win games. Hits won games. Whether it be over the fence or bouncing down the infield. Sending that white ball skipping across the green field grass got guys around the bases. It gave me hope that my career as a mid-30s major league catcher wasn’t quite over yet.

I had to admit, I was scared of “the end”. Baseball had been my life since before I was in grade school when Mom and Dad signed me up for T-Ball. Years of grit and determination got me here. I didn’t know anythingbutbaseball. So, what happened once it was all over?

My thoughts strayed to Cady.

Up until now, baseball was everything. I didn’t feel the need to find happiness elsewhere. I was content.

Ever since I met Cady, my mind had been on her more than my career. She was incredible, how could I not think of her? Witty, flirty, sweet and caring. Everything about her was a dream come true. Baseball was as much a part of her life as it was mine. She understood the stressors of the sport and took them seriously. She was the first genuine woman inmy life who meant more to me than a career in the majors.

Someone I could see myself spending forever with.

I glanced down at her, nestled into the crook of my arm. We were back in her bed, a favorite pastime of ours now. It was a safe space, a place we could relish in the quiet of just the two of us. No bright lights, no announcers, no cameras.

Sure, the sex was incredible, but it was all the tender times in between that made me feel like molten goo inside. On one of our early dates, she’d asked if I was a romantic. I never really thought of myself as such. The extent of my romance had been watching corny romcoms. But maybe that was because I hadn’tfeltoverly romantic towards anyone before.

Nor had I had this much sex before. It was almost as if her own personal fragrance was an aphrodisiac. A drug that I needed to keep breathing in deep that exploded in an orgasmic flora around me whenever I was inside her. It kept me wanting more.

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