Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) (29 page)

“You hit a home wun, Uncle Pawker!” Gabby screamed and was able to escape Mickie’s clutches in order to leap into my arms. She and Leo looked so damn cute in their miniature Parker Cruz jerseys and Red Sox baseball caps.

“I did,
sobrinita!
” I smiled down at her and kissed the top of her little head. I had actually hit a single home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but I was prouder of the triple I had in the first. That was one that would probably stick with me forever, especially because it was Kinley’s first game.

“It went so far, it almost went over the wall,” Leo said, awe in his voice, as he came up and tugged on my shirt to make sure I was listening to him.

“Yeah?” I asked and pulled him in close for a hug. “You going to hit it that far when you get big?”

He nodded with excitement in his eyes. “I bet when I get to the first grade, I could hit it that far.”

I laughed and walked with them over to my favorite people. “I bet you will, little man. Better eat all your vegetables if you want to be that strong.”

At that, Mickie threw back her head and looked like she was saying a prayer. She turned back to me and mouthed
thank you
, which I took as an indication that they were having problems with the kids and their vegetables. I just smiled and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek while passing my niece back over to her.

Dawson and Mason each gave me hugs, along with their own versions of ribbing me. “You were choking up on the bat, little brother,” Mason chided, but I knew he was just giving me the business like they always did. “Probably would have gotten two more homers if you’d take my advice.”

“I think my batting average would disagree with you.”

Diane sounded like she was getting emotional as she hugged me and Sam had some kind words that he muttered into my ear.
Words of a proud father
. Because even though he wasn’t my real one, he had never treated me as anything but. His praise meant the world to me and I craved his approval.

Seeing the pride on his face instead of disappointment or mockery always made me feel like I was actually worthy of it.

It was a huge relief to see Clay there as we hadn’t seen much of each other since his birthday party in January, making me realize how much I’d missed spending time with him. After giving him and Gwen hugs, I finally turned to Kinley.

All I wanted to do was take her into my arms and never let her go. Needed to show her how much her coming to the game meant to me. But I would have to wait and love her like that later, whenever I could get her back to my place and we could finally be alone. For now, I just leaned down and gave her a friendly hug, inhaling her flowery scent, and pulled back before I created a problem in my pants.

“How about dinner?” Clay asked, looking around the group.

I raised an eyebrow and looked down at the kids. “I know a pretty good pizza place not too far from here. But you guys probably don’t like pizza anymore, do you?”

We all almost had to cover our ears with the volume of screeches that followed that comment. “No, no! We want pizza! The really cheesy kind!”

“And vegetables!” Mickie said to them pointedly, giving them that mom look she had mastered so well.

The twins simultaneously groaned, so I put them out of their misery. “And if you guys eat all your vegetables, maybe I’ll buy you ice cream afterwards. Wait, no, I forgot. Ice cream is gross, isn’t it?”

“No! It’s our favorite!”

I caught Kinley’s eye and threw her a subtle wink as we walked away from the stadium. We could all celebrate today in our own ways. I was just going to be taking mine home with me later.

Parker

Well,
later
ended up turning into much later than I expected.

Eating took forever because the pizza parlor was packed—it was one of Boston’s most popular pizza hubs. Then, the food took years to come out. Plus, the place also had a few arcade games, which made it nearly impossible to pry the kids away from them long enough to stuff their bellies full of food. Then afterwards, we had to go get ice cream because I was a genius and had suggested it. Kids didn’t forget that stuff.

Not to mention the dozens of times I got stopped by fans for pictures and autographs. I even had to politely ask some paparazzi to let my family and I enjoy some time to ourselves when they were getting too close. In other words, I told them to get themselves and their cameras the hell out of my face in kid-friendly terms.

I wasn’t complaining about any of it, though.

I’d spent the entire afternoon and evening with my niece and nephew, who were growing up faster than I was ready to let them, my brothers who it felt like I hardly ever got to see anymore, my best friend who I’d missed hanging out with like crazy, the parents I’d pretty much adopted as my own, and the woman I was head over heels in love with.

No, it hadn’t been a bad day at all.

In fact, it had been pretty much perfect.

Sam and Diane had bowed out after pizza to catch their flight back to D.C., and my brothers and the kids had taken off after ice cream because the kids were tired and they were all in one vehicle. Besides, I think they sensed that I needed some time with my best friend. We decided to meet for breakfast in the morning since I had an evening game tomorrow.

So, here we were. Clay, Gwen, Kinley, and me sitting at a bar, having a few drinks. I felt like Kinley and I had handled the situation well so far. I’d managed not to touch her excessively—a huge struggle—or undress her with my eyes. Mostly. Talking to Clay and not imagining Kinley naked in my bed was strangely harder than you might think. I couldn’t decide if I was disturbed or turned on.

“I see you haven’t run D.C. into the ground yet. How’s all of that going?” I asked him.

To say that I was proud of Clay would have been a massive understatement. He was the first non-Democrat D.C. Mayor in over fifty years, something that had been almost unheard of until last November. He ran as an independent and the odds had been wildly stacked against him. Even with all the shit he’d been dealing with regarding Gwen and her psycho ex-fiancé, he’d handled it all with patience and class and had come out on top.

Clay grinned and brought his bottle of beer to his mouth. “It’s hard work. Always something going wrong and David’s always losing his mind over every little thing.” He shrugged, the grin still on his face. “But I love it.”

I smiled and slapped him on the back. The man was basically my third brother, so when he was happy, I was happy. “That’s awesome, man. You know if you ever need anything, you can call me anytime.”

It wasn’t as if I wanted to perpetuate the notion of selling my brand or anything. But slapping a celebrity face on a commodity could be very appealing to the masses. And if it helped out my friend in any way, I’d do it.

“What, I don’t have a pretty enough face so I need yours?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

I smirked. “Well, you got a woman like Gwen so she must find something about you appealing.”

Clay scoffed and Gwen looked over and smiled at us, catching the end of our conversation. She leaned in and gave Clay a kiss, distracting him long enough that I could look over at Kinley without worrying he might cut my balls off if I lingered too long. Her eyes were already on me, burning into me. Then, I felt her foot touch mine and slowly slide up my leg, rubbing in circles, moving higher and closer to the tent in my pants.

Christ
. We weren’t even skin-to-skin but coming into contact with any part of this woman drove me crazy.

She knew it, too.

Her mouth held the beginnings of that sexy smirk of hers as she watched the effect she was having on me. We both took sips of our drinks—she in order to hide that smile behind her glass and me because I needed something to take the edge off. I was starting to lose control of my need for her. That desire had been building since she left Florida three weeks ago, and it was reaching a fever pitch that was scarcely allowing me to breathe, let alone think.

And I’d be lying if I said the idea that we had to keep our relationship a secret from everyone—the idea that we could be caught at any moment—didn’t add to the excitement.

“So, where are you off to next, Kinley?” Clay asked his sister, who was dangerously close to getting me off with her Converse-covered foot, in a bar, a mere foot from her brother who had no idea.

It looked like it took her a second to get her thought processes in order as she focused on him and cleared her throat. “Um, I’ve got a shoot in the Outer Banks in two weeks. And then I go out to Long Beach for about a week next month.”

We played the Angels in Anaheim next month. I wondered if her Long Beach shoot was around the same time because the two cities were basically right next to each other. It was also Kinley’s birthday next month—May eleventh—so if her shoot fell around the time of her birthday and when I was in Anaheim, it would work out perfectly. I’d have to talk to her about it later.

It occurred to me that we really needed to look at both of our schedules for the next several months and maneuver some time to see each other.

“I love the Outer Banks,” Gwen said and then turned to Clay. “We should go there sometime this summer if you can get away. Bea and Felicity said they have a friend who has a house there.”

Clay smiled the smile of a man in love as he gazed at his woman. “I’m sure I could manage a weekend away.”

Gwen’s smile grew and they kissed again. That was when I decided that I was sick of watching their make-out fest and wanted to go have one of my own. I scooted my chair back, causing Kinley’s foot to fall with a
thud
, jerking her attention back in my direction.

“Well, kids. I think I’m out. Been a long day and I need some sleep.” I stood up as the three of them followed, Clay chugging down the rest of his beer. “You guys can stay. You don’t have to leave because of me.”

Kinley’s eyes flickered over to me. I knew she realized I wasn’t speaking to her. She was coming home with me as soon as we could ditch the lovebirds.

Clay shook his head and put his hand on Gwen’s lower back, leading her toward the exit. “No, it’s fine. We need to head back to the hotel anyway. Got an early flight back to D.C. in the morning.”

We all made our way outside and said our goodbyes. Clay pulled me in for a hug and said, “Good game today, man. Proud of you.”

I hated when he said shit like that. It made me feel all emotional and my throat would tighten up. “Thanks for coming today,” I told him. “You know I appreciate it.”

He nodded and stepped back as Gwen leaned up to give me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Before she pulled away, she whispered in my ear so that only I could hear it, “He’s missed you.”

Dammit
, now she was saying shit like that, too. She met my eyes and gave me a kind smile before she turned away and allowed Clay to lead her over to a cab. He opened the door and guided her in but turned back to me and Kinley standing on the sidewalk before he followed her.

“You coming, Kinley?” he asked. “We can give you a ride over to your friend’s place.”

Oh, shit.

I started to panic when my mind went blank for an excuse to keep her there with me. But, of course, she had one all ready to go. “You guys are at the Marriott, right?” she asked her brother.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Her place is on the other side of the city. You two go ahead. I’ll get another one.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “You sure?”

She waved him off again. “Yeah, yeah. We won’t have to split the fare this way and it’s just easier. Go ahead.”

She approached him and gave him a hug before practically shoving him into the back of the cab. I would have laughed at the sight if I wasn’t so hard that my pants were choking the life out of me. It would have been too painful to laugh.

The second their cab was down the street and out of sight, I grabbed Kinley by the arm and yanked her over to the side of the bar, out of sight from most of the patrons walking the street.

Neither one of us said a word. Hell, we didn’t even think. Our lips met in a fury of hungry kisses and tangled tongues, battling each other to see who could go deeper and lose their minds faster. I’d been dreaming about her body, imagining her taste for weeks, and it was even better than I remembered.

We sealed our bodies closer, fusing our mouths together, and swallowed each other’s moans as we tried to consume one another. My hands went to her ass, pulling our lower halves closer, needing to feel that friction of her hot center rubbing against my hard length.

Shit, I was fucking insane for it.

My fingers then moved to the bottom of her denim cut-offs without thought or consideration of what I was doing or who could be watching. I angled myself to block her body from any prying eyes as my fingers snuck under the shorts and dove into her panties. When they made contact with that sensitive nub, Kinley gasped and I tore my mouth away from hers.

I wanted to watch her.

I didn’t care if someone might recognize me. The only thing that was on my mind right now was pleasuring my girl and seeing her give into me.

She met my eyes with a wild plea. “
Parker…
” Yeah, she needed it.

My finger entered her swiftly, easily because she was already soaked for me. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip to keep from crying out. My eyes practically rolled to the back of my head as my finger thrusted in and out of her, feeling her tight channel squeezing it and pulling it back in.

Her body was demanding more of mine.

Her flesh seeking my flesh.

I stood there watching her climb that peak and remembered how it felt when that same part of her was wrapped around me, pulsing against me when she found her release. I was going crazy with the need to feel that again. Soon.

She grinded her hips against my hand, working her body against it. That confidence—the demanding way she was controlling her pleasure, taking it from me—was so incredibly hot. I could barely restrain myself from pulling down those tiny shorts of hers and shoving myself inside of her.

“That’s right, baby,” I whispered into her ear. “I’ve got what you need. Take it. Just fucking
take it
.”

She whimpered and it spurred me on to go faster, drive into her harder. It didn’t take long for her to reach her climax. Between the constant FaceTime conversations the past few weeks and the all-day stare-off today, we’d broken the world record for longest foreplay session.

And it was about to kill me.

She was slowly coming back down from her high, and I made sure that her body was completely covered before I stepped away. I wanted to tell her that was just the beginning. But I could see by her lazy smile that she already knew.

Tonight wasn’t going to be a sprint.

I hadn’t seen Kinley for three weeks and I was starting to feel symptoms of withdrawal.

No. Tonight was going to be a fucking marathon.