Page 30 of Forbidden Love

“I hardly had my way with you.” He adjusted himself, and my gaze was drawn to the very noticeable bulge.

“Do you want me to—” I gestured lamely toward his crotch, wondering if it was advisable to get on my knees in the grass, or would we scandalize some poor family who showed up for batting practice?

“As much as I want that—and, baby, I do—it’s not the right place or time. There are your brothers to consider too.”

Rage burned through me, hot and red. “My brothers don’t have a say in my life. I’m my own person.” I moved away from him, but his hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping my momentum.

I couldn’t look at him. I was embarrassed that I’d let go as I had and that I’d gotten angry about my brothers. I wish they didn’t affect me the way they did.

“Hey, I just meant that we should talk about what happened before.” He dropped my hand, running it through his hair. “I didn’t mean to make a move before you heard me out. Now it’s probably too late.”

“I want to hear what you have to say.” I’d been waiting eight years.

He sat cross-legged on the grass just feet away from where we’d been making out and dry-humping like a bunch of teenagers without a care in the world. He motioned for me to sit in front of him, so I did.

The palms of his hands rested on my knees. “First of all, I was a stupid kid. Not for what happened, but for sneaking out and not calling you later.” He shook his head but held my gaze.

This was what I’d wanted him to tell me all along, but now that he was saying it, I wasn’t sure how I should feel.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I was thinking about your brothers and how they’d react if they knew. I didn’t have a right to do what I did. Whether you were legal or not, your brothers would have been pissed. I didn’t want to do anything to screw up our friendship.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to hear it.”

He squeezed my legs. “But we’re not kids anymore, and I’ve never felt this way around anyone else.”

My heart fluttered like a butterfly using its wings for the first time. “So, what does this mean?”

“That’s up to you, but I want to be your friend and get to know you. The person you are now.”

My stomach sank. He wanted to be friends. I shouldn’t have been disappointed. We couldn’t offer each other anything else, not with him being friends with my brothers and me not knowing where I’d be living next month. “That sounds good.”

“Then it’s settled.” He moved to get up, holding his hand out to assist me.

We walked back to the mound in silence, but my mind was rolling with what just happened. I’d suspected everything he just told me, except for the part about me being different from everyone else. That maybe there was something between us, but then he’d called it friendship. That didn’t sit right with me.

“Why don’t I pitch to you?” Tyler asked me.

“I don’t have a helmet.”

“Use mine.” I picked his helmet up off the ground where he’d thrown it before he’d charged me on the mound. It was a little big, but it would work for now.

“No charging the pitcher,” he said with a wink when I picked up his bat and moved into the batter’s box.

I got into position and narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s your MO, remember?”

“You seemed to enjoy it,” he said as he stood sideways and brought his glove and ball to the front of his body.

I flushed all over, the memory of him grinding against me coming back to me. My body still tingled with the aftermath of that orgasm as he threw the ball, and it sailed past me. I hadn’t even had time to react because I was preoccupied with thoughts of him.

When he raised a brow, I said, “You distracted me.”

I threw the ball back to him, and we got into position a second time. I refocused on the pitcher, trying not to think about what we’d just done in the outfield. I was only mildly successful. This time, I swung, but it was late.

Thankfully, he remained silent as I threw the ball back and got into position.

“Third time’s a charm,” Tyler said.

“It had better be,” I muttered as he threw another pitch. This time, I jumped on it early, hitting it before it crossed the plate. It sailed over Tyler’s head, bouncing just past second base.

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