Anything but Minor (14 page)

He kissed me senseless, and when I thought he’d had enough, he kissed me some more. When he finally pulled his lips away, I opened my eyes to meet the lust mixed with anger in his.

“Rafe, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“You’re off your game.”

“I think so, too,” he breathed out as he pulled my bottom lip and sucked it gently.

“Your pitching is awful tonight,” I said as his hand slipped beneath my t-shirt. I arched my back and gave him more access. He moved his thumb over my nipple on top of my bra, and I cried out.

“Alice...shut up,” he groaned as he gripped my hair and twisted my head while he sank his teeth into my shoulder.

“Rafe,” I said, driven by pure need.

“Friends my ass,” he said as he hovered above me and slowly let my legs hit the floor. “We were never meant to be friends.” When he ripped himself away, his eyes bore into mine.

“How did you get back here, anyway?”

“No one was watching. I’ll go.” I turned to leave, completely confused between his anger and his unbelievable kiss.

“Alice,” he said with regret as I looked back at him. Every bit of his body language showed remorse. “We okay?”

“Yeah,” I said with reassurance. “You’re just frustrated. You’ve got this.”

“That’s not why I kissed you,” he said firmly.

“Rafe, you’re up,” I heard barked behind me. I turned to see his pitching coach glare at me. “Lady, you can’t be back here.”

“My apologies,” I said as he scrutinized me. I heard heated words between them as I made my way out of the dugout and winced as “piece of pussy” flew out of the coach’s mouth. I’d been categorized as a distraction from Rafe’s game at that moment. I hurried back to my seat as Dutch eyed me.

“You can’t do that.”

“I’m aware,” I said as my cheeks heated. Andy eyed me from the dugout as he took the steps to the field. I smiled at him, and he did not smile back. I mouthed “Sorry” to which he nodded as Rafe took the plate. His first pitch had Dutch clenching her first at her sides. His second got my attention. I watched his posture, and he didn’t seem rattled at all. I’d been thoroughly kissed. The kind of kiss a woman begs life for. The kind of kiss that keeps the sexual imagination spinning for months, even years.

I watched the umpire close his fist as the batter struck out, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face as Dutch eyed me with suspicion.

“What did you say to him?”

“Nothing prophetic,” I said as Rafe threw another solid pitch.

Rafe might not be rattled, but the man had my head spinning.

“Good game, Rafe,” Jon, my manager, complimented as I toweled off. I looked at him and could see the lecture coming, or at the very least, a tongue lashing. It was rare that my manager ever approached me outside of his office. I took it as a good sign.

“It wasn’t her.”

“You can’t afford to—”

“I’ve played too many seasons for this,” I said as I pulled a shirt over my head and deadpanned, “It’s not the girl.”

“You’re being watched, Rafe.”

“Nothing new,” I assured. “I’m good.”

“Fair enough.” He spit out the black sludge from his curled lip. “Briefing is canceled tomorrow. Get with Rod about the reschedule.”

I nodded and didn’t bother to ask why. He managed his way. I played mine.

With a rare free day ahead, I immediately thought of Alice and texted her.

Rafe: Meet me at Andy’s tomorrow at seven.

I then looked at the message below it.

Unknown: Son, I need to talk to you.

I threw my phone in my locker and showered. When I told Jon it wasn’t Alice, I’d meant it. My father had texted me hours before my game. In all my years, nothing had ever tripped me up on the field except for Martin Hembrey and his bullshit.

He’d played his role, too, but unlike my concerned manager, my father had played for himself. Martin Hembrey was the sole reason I wasn’t playing major league baseball. The man had bred me to love ball, live it, breathe it, but he hadn’t given me the talent or the tenacity. He hadn’t played the games for me but took credit for everything, anyway. Like my mother, he took and took until one night I gave back. The result of that cost me the first few years of my career.

No, it definitely wasn’t the girl that had me off my game. It was the girl who had saved it.

I’d tasted her, and now she lingered everywhere, my lips, my tongue. She had me so hard up, I stayed semi the rest of the game. I wanted to bury my face between those legs and hear that moan that sounded like a song for me. I wanted to lick every inch of her and then lose myself so deep inside she’d forget to breathe. And then I wanted to fuck her back to life stroke by stroke.

I’d always been loyal to my game, my attention never swayed, ever. Kissing Alice the way I had with several innings left to pitch was the first time I’d ever betrayed my first love, and it felt fucking amazing.

I knew I’d never pull another stunt like that again. I knew that those watching hadn’t missed her leave the field or the improvement in my throwing after. If I was being watched, and I knew I was, let them see. Let them all see.

I slammed my locker door and made a beeline for my car. I forwent my usual visit to Andy’s bar for a new reason.

My tastes were changing.

I tapped the bar for another round as I waited on Rafe, unsure of what he could possibly want from me. We hadn’t spoken since our kiss last night, which was odd because we usually texted until one of us passed out. I wasn’t sure if his text invite for a drink was a means to an end or a chance to explore our chemistry. I was up all night touching the places he hadn’t touched.

“You’ve been drinking a lot of that horrible beer lately,” I heard as he took the stool next to me. His scent lingered between us as I turned to greet him. “It’s an acquired taste,” I said as I took another sip to try to hide the obvious perk in my presence at his arrival. He was dressed in jeans, a dark t-shirt, a reversed ball cap, and had never looked better. “You called this meeting. I’m all ears.”

He gave me a sideways glance. “You in a hurry?” He motioned to Kristina behind the bar.

“I kind of am. I have a date,” I said as I braved a glance in his direction.

“Not anymore,” he countered with a clear tick in his jaw. “Text him now and tell him you got held up.”

“Why would I do that?” I asked, shocked as I noticed the sudden stiffness in his back. All the humor vanished from his face.

“You know damn well why,” he barked as he gripped his beer without breaking eye contact with me. He was close, his lips pure temptation.

“Well, I’ve been here almost two months and haven’t been on a date, so, no, Rafe, I won’t cancel.”

He smirked and pulled away from me. “The hell you won’t.”

“I’m not your toy. There are at least twenty women in here that will go without dinner and good conversation to let you play with them.”

“What if I want to play with you?” he said as his finger slipped through the belt loop on my dress. His fingers splayed on my hip, and he dug them in possessively.

“I would have to say tough. I have a date.”

“Fair enough,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “I’ll make a deal with you, or rather, a wager.”

“A wager?”

“This is a sure thing for me,” he said as he motioned for Kristina.

“I’m not following,” I said as he turned to me, his eyes full of mischief. “And I’m pretty sure you’re already cheating.”

“Now, Alice,” he said in an odd sounding, singsong voice, “hear me out. I’m going to order a shot. You take it the
way
I instruct you to, and you can go out on a date with...”

“Trey.”

He rolled his eyes. “You take this shot I’ll let you got out with Trey.”

I looked at him defiantly. “I don’t need your permission.”

“Humor me,” he said as he whispered over at Kristina. She gave me a look that said “Oh shit, sister” and began to gather bottles.

“Fine,” I said. “One shot and I’m leaving.”

“Ah, but here’s the kicker,” he said as he took the slip of a light scarf from around my neck and tied it behind my head. “You have to actually be able to
take
the shot.”

“Rafe, cut the crap,” I barked. “Why do I need to be blindfolded for a shot?”

His breath was at my ear as he lingered and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Secret southern ingredients, baby.”

“Whatever,” I rasped out as he put the glass in my hand.

“Now, once you take it, you have to swish it in your mouth for fifteen seconds, not a second less, and then swallow. If you do that, then I’ll not only let you go on your date with Trey, I’ll
pay
for it.”

“Rafe, I have to drive,” I said, suddenly worried about the shot’s potency.

“I promise it’s harmless.”

“Fine, can we do this now?” I didn’t know what my real issue was, it may have to do with the fact that I felt he liked me, and I now wanted him to admit it. I couldn’t stand the constant wondering, the incessant thinking about it. I wanted him to verbalize it like an adult. This ploy to keep me away from a date was childish. Well, screw him. I had a perfectly fit pilot ready to let me know he liked me in a mature way. Without hesitance, I lifted the glass and began to swish the liquid in my mouth.

And then hell unleashed it’s fury on me as the longest fifteen seconds of my life began.

My first sensation was a sour burn on my tongue, quickly followed by the presence of something solid. Something that should not be present in a liquid shot. Cottage cheese? I swished as I held my gag in and smacked my hands over my mouth to keep from spilling a drop.

“Holy shit, Rafe, she’s going to do it,” I heard a bar regular named Will shout as I became aware I had an audience. The count was at an unbearable six, and for a second, I thought the concoction would bulge out of my mouth and through my fingers.

“Spit it out, Alice!” Kristina pleaded as she ripped one hand from my mouth and put an empty plastic cup in it.

“It doesn’t get better,” Rafe whispered, his voice unsure, which only fueled me to keep going.

In my mind, I’d thrown up a hundred times, and yet as the count wound down and I thought Rafe nothing more than a barbaric pig, I ripped off my blindfold and looked right into his eyes as I swallowed in an exaggerated gulp.

“FIFTEEN!” The crowd shouted in unison.

“Here, honey,” Kristina said as she handed me a fresh beer. I took it gratefully as I downed half of it and got several pats on the back as a few people dispersed. Rafe kept my eyes, his full of ice as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and threw a couple hundred on the bar. “Have a nice dinner.”

I looked down at the bills and left them there as I pushed myself away from the bar. “A simple I don’t want you to go, Alice, would have been enough,” I whispered as I stood in front of him and saw his eyes roam my light blue dress. I was more dressed up than any other night he’d seen me. I had a dusting of bronzer on my newly tanned face and had applied mascara and a nude lip gloss. My dress was cut in a V in the front and showed my molehill of cleavage. I felt pretty. The way Rafe was looking at me made me feel beautiful, but in a way, he’d just ruined it.

I waited all of the three seconds he deserved and walked out of the bar as my chest sank a little. I made it to my car and jumped when I heard him close behind me.

“I don’t want you to go, Alice.”

“Why?”

He turned me around to face him. His eyes held the honesty I was looking for, his voice was thick with sex. “Because I want to kiss you, Alice, and then I want to drive you home—to
my
home—and make you come while you say my name in a way and in a tone you’ve never used before.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all I’ve got,” he said as he took a step forward.

“You’ll hurt me.”

“I don’t want to.”

I knew he meant that, but still, they weren’t the words I wanted to hear. My head was at odds as I voiced my body’s decision.

“I’ll let you kiss me...and take me to
your
home. And we can see what happens from there on
one
condition.

“Name it.”

I stood there staring at him and wrapped up in the desire that thrummed between us. I slowly lifted my phone from my purse.