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JAMIROQUAI

O nce Cady announced to the guys that “Dancing Through Life” was going to be the big song for our 4th of July game, they were all over it. She nearly fell out of her seat when I surprised her with a special, shortened arrangement of the song. With the original song clocking in at nine minutes and forty-seven seconds, I didn’t think we had it in us to dance for almost ten minutes straight in the July heat.

Schmidt cornered me almost immediately after Cady had mentioned it, and asked if his DJ friend, Andy, could have a whack at making something custom for us. The hype playlist Schmidt played for warm-ups was 90% DJ Andy remixes. Since the music was fire, I wholeheartedly agreed.

With my specific song request, it was the first time I was able to see Cady in her element. Once she heard the arrangement, she went into full choreographer mode. I caught her absentmindedly working on dance moves any spare chance she had. I lost count of how many times we watched the library scene in Wicked so she could commit the dance moves to memory.

After I fixed my bed, we spent most nights at my place. It gave her ample space to work out dance moves and placement of the players. I happily shoved my furniture to the side, giving her the full space of my living room and dining room area in my penthouse. My place had been so cold and drab, but when Cady was twirling about, she gave my home the breath of life it sorely needed.

Having Cady join me in my space on more of a regular basis was just so easy . She asked for nothing, well, except for another round or two between the sheets, or wherever we ended up. We’d managed to christen just about every abstract surface, horizontal and vertical, in my apartment and hers.

In sharing the same space, I had a front-row seat to those very tasty matching sports bras and bottoms. I may or may not have bought a few sets that were her style and tucked them in a drawer in my bedroom. You know, just in case.

She was irresistible in every which way. I felt myself getting hard just watching her bend over to put her shoes on. It was like I had the stamina of my teenage years all over again. Surprisingly enough, it also spread to my vigor on the field as well. Most days I was giving the Sillys guys a run for their money with the dance routines.

I felt alive. Invigorated. Happy. Much happier than I’d been in a very long time. I thought baseball was all I needed. It wasn’t until I met this little spitfire, who was obsessed with me, that I started to take a hard look at my future.

Cady was obsessed in all the right ways. She didn’t give a damn that I was in the majors, she didn’t care that I got demoted, and she didn’t want anything except to spend time with me . It was the first time that I wanted to give a woman the world, and she didn’t want it.

Fucking hell.

I was in love with her.

I spent so much time avoiding these deep feelings. It was stupid of me to think that something like this couldn’t blossom in only a few weeks. When I finally admitted it to myself, it felt like a confession to the sins of my denial.

I could breathe again.

I felt whole. Confident. Confident enough to know that I wanted Cady by my side.

But how could I tell her?

Throwing the “L” word at a person, after not even two months of knowing them, was scary. Even though I felt sure about it, I wasn’t completely sure that Cady felt the same way. Would I scare her off if I said something?

I’d caught her appreciative starry-eyed stares in my direction from time to time. Perhaps her feelings were still budding. I didn’t want to rush things. Not when they were as incredible as they were.

What would the off-season bring? Long lazy days of the both of us tangled up in each other’s arms in bed? Movie marathons on the couch? Enjoy the calm quiet of each other’s company? The more I fantasized about it, the more I looked forward to it.

Would the Sillys off-season be less crazy and more prolonged than the majors? Typically, we’d get three months tops, four if we didn’t make it to the postseason. I was already enjoying the more laid-back vibes of the ELB season. Away games were easier too. The Sillys played teams on the East Coast instead of all over the US. The only exhaustion was from the days of travel instead of the crazy jet lag on top of it.

“Hey, Slugger, you with us?”

I startled a bit and glanced down to see Cady with a smile just for me. The guys were twirling around me, working on their specific parts for the big dance number. I on the other hand was somehow selected to be Fiyero in this scenario. This might have had something to do with the fact that I just so happened to be banging the tasty choreographer. And maybe I dropped a few hints.

“Oh, uh, sorry. Wrapped up in my thoughts.” I muttered.

“You missed your cue.” Cady bit her bottom lip trying to suppress her grin. I wanted to grab her chin and hold her still while I sucked that damn lip right out of her mouth. Instead of giving in, I lifted my gaze to the field. Noting the music, I grumbled. Damn, how distracted had I been? Ender looked on in a huff with a cocked hip in his impatience.

Since I wrangled the part of Fiyero, the guys unanimously voted for Ender to be Glinda. The match between the pitcher to the catcher was too hilarious for even me to overlook. Poor Ender was a lot shorter than me, so the partnering worked out in that aspect.

“Look, the quicker we nail this routine at home plate, the quicker you guys can get out of here for your lunch break.”

“I’d rather nail you at home plate,” I mumbled and looked away innocently. Cady’s gaze snapped to me. There was a flash of fire in those gray-blue depths, a sultry warning for later. Although now my brain was stuck on a plan to christen my favorite base with her in the future.

“Alright, everyone!” Cady’s voice cracked before she cleared her throat. Mm, she was thinking about that idea too. Excellent. “Let's start again with Jamie and Ender at home plate.”

The guys scrambled back to their starting positions. They were the background dancers fanned out around the infield as Fiyero and Glinda had their little moment while he crooned to her. Well, me crooning to Ender. I think the blonde wig we all suggested would have helped me picture him as Glinda better. But he drew the line there. We managed to talk him into rhinestone jerseys but even that had taken some convincing.

“Dude don’t fuck it up this time,” Ender grumbled as his eyes darted to something off in the distance. “I have lunch plans.” He was a man of few words. He followed my pitch calls without question and was normally much more mild-mannered. Something was under his skin today.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve got this,” I said, not only to reassure him but also myself. This routine was fun. I got to watch it come to fruition, firsthand, in my living room while Cady bounced around in her sports bra. Shit, Jamie, no. Focus on the routine.

The music started up again. Furrowing my brows I did my best to focus on Ender and all the dance moves. A spin, a little sashay, a dip. Ender was much more graceful than me, but I was the one who had to lead the dance steps. We pulled off a, mostly, flawless finish.

The music stopped and I immediately heard Cady’s excited squeals .

“Holy shit you guys, I really can’t wait for tomorrow. You are all going to blow everyone’s minds!”

Helping Ender up from our dip, my eyes darted over to Cady as she bounced around to each of the guys to offer last-minute notes. She needed to fucking stop with those double entendres or else my dick was going to have a few things to say about it.

“Okay if you all can manage two more flawless run-throughs you guys can head out early.” There was a resounding cheer throughout the players along with a renewed sense of vigor. “I have no doubts you guys are going to wow the crowd tomorrow. They won’t know what’s coming.”

Ender glanced at me, and we shared a nod. Sweat was already pouring down my back from the insufferable July heat and humidity. But the end was in sight. Once again I thanked myself for shortening the song down to something much more reasonable. Ten more minutes in this heat was about all we could stand.

The guys found their first mark and Cady started the music. My heart was pounding with excitement and nerves. Who would have thought that I’d be the star of a musical number? It was enough to make even a major league ball player shake at the knees.

Then I saw her.

Cady was all smiles as she stood back to watch the magic unfold. The chaos inside me subsided enough to let my inner Fiyero out in full force. With each dance step I nailed, her brows went higher and higher on her forehead in excitement. Her encouragement was subtle, but it fueled me. Enough so that it spurred a few extra flourishes of my hands and feet. Cady loved it when we adlibbed. Within reason.

With me super into the song, everyone else fed off the energy. I could only imagine what the stadium would be like tomorrow if we were going to be this on point. To hear the cheer of the fans would make this a production to remember.

By the end of the second run-through, half the guys fell to the grass to have some reprieve from the late morning sun. Cheers and exclamations echoed around as Cady gave us a round of applause. Our afternoon off was well-earned.

“Nice work out there, Slugger.” I nearly jumped out of my skin as Cady slapped me firmly on my ass. It was unexpected. But the more unexpected part of it was that I liked her spanking me.

“Don’t tell me you’re going around slapping all the butts of the players,” I growled with the thought as I cast a glance at the guys collecting their things off the field.

“No, just yours.” She gave me a wicked grin as she bit down on her lower lip. “Although I don’t get why guys in sports do it. Who the hell started that?”

“Someone with a spanking kink probably.” I shrugged, feeling the tug of a smile as Cady burst out in laughter.

“Who knew baseball could be so kinky?”

“I mean, it is the sport that inspired all those sexual innuendos.” My voice dropped to a husky murmur, just for her. Her cheeks went pink as she realized everything that I alluded to with that one sentence. “Speaking of, which base can I slide into tonight?”