Page 36 of Caught Stealing Your Heart
“Every night?”
“Every night. How did you sleep, Banks?”
He kissed my shoulder and answered, “Good. I’m still tired, but I need to get up and get ready for practice before I’m late.”
“What do you want to eat? I can cook you something before you go.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that, but I usually only have a protein shake and eat some fruit before practice. It shouldn’t be a long one today, so you want to meet up for brunch?”
“I’d love that. Where do you want to go?”
Banks climbed out the bed and stretched again. His third leg was poking against his boxers. I reached out to touch it, but Banks playfully slapped my hand away.
“Messing with you will really have me late, Leilani. How about you come with me?”
“To practice?”
“Yeah.”
I sat up on my elbows and raised a brow. “I can do that?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if you couldn’t.”
“Smart mouth. Okay, I’ll go.” I scooted to the edge of the bed, yelping when Banks picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. He roughly gripped my ass, squeezing it with every step. “Put me down, Banks!”
Gently, he placed me on my feet and kissed my forehead. We spent the next twenty minutes getting ready. Slowly, we’d both started accumulating things at one another’s houses. If he wasn’t at mine, I was at his. I loved my home, but Banks’s house was everything to me. From the size of it to the feel of it, I loved being there. If our relationship progressed to more, which I prayed it did, I’d definitely move with him.
Banks couldn’t keep his hands off me as we got dressed. He was extremely affectionate, and I adored that about him. He would steal kisses, slap my ass, randomly give me hugs. I happily accepted each time. We were making up for the time apart.
“I see you trying to be like me,” Banks said as his eyes traveled up the length of my frame.
“Uh, no. I had my outfit picked out in my head before you even put your clothes on.”
Banks smacked his lips and mugged me. “How does that work? Am I supposed to be able to read your mind?”
“Precisely.”
Of course, I knew Banks usually liked being in baseball gear for practice, so I whipped out my jersey with some biker shorts and Nikes. My locs were pulled into a high ponytail in case they let me get in on the action. I wasn’t sure, but I was hopeful.
Twenty minutes later, we made it to the facility. Banks was greeted by his coaches and teammates and introduced me to the ones I hadn’t formally met. They were all warm and welcoming, especially his friend Forest who I’d met briefly but didn’t really get a chance to engage with.
I sat in the dugout and watched them all cut up before practice started. Banks was like a big kid the whole time. Icaught a few videos of them all before they called me onto the field.
Forest clapped his hands together then rubbed them. “Boss been out here bragging on you, so we wanted to see if what he said was true.”
“And what has he been saying?”
“That you can get an in-the-park homerun.”
“Oh, really?” I turned toward Banks who was smirking.
He winked at me and nodded. “Yeah. Show them what you got.”
All eyes were on me as I confidently headed to the batter’s box. Banks placed his helmet on my head before positioning himself behind me.
“Nah, Boss. You gotta move and let her do her thing,” Forest demanded, laughing.
“I didn’t tell you how she would get one, but I told y’all she would.”
