Page 11 of Taking the Pitch (Love & Baseball #2)

CHAPTER TEN

judd

If this is what it feels like to be completely entranced by someone… I get it now. I get the obsession, the want, the need to be near that person. Watching her dance with that douchebag from across the club earlier drove me insane. I almost said ‘fuck it’ and started drinking just to keep myself from storming over there and punching his smug face in for dancing with what I want as mine.

And now that I have her in my arms, her looking up at me with her crystal-blue eyes full of the same desire I’m sure is reflected in mine, I’m not sure I can let her go. I move closer, breathing her in. I can almost taste the whiskey on her lips when she suddenly jolts forward.

“Shit!” I yell as cold liquid splashes down my back, causing my shirt to immediately stick to my back and the ice that was in her glass clatters to the floor.

Not thinking about where I’m at, I reach behind me and pull my shirt over my head, needing to get the sticky feeling of wet fabric off me.

I look up at Amelia and see her staring at me, lips parted and eyes dilated. She’s jostled from behind again, and I catch her in my arms as she stumbles forward. Her soft delicate hands landing on my chest. She stares at her hands for a second, then looks up at me through her lashes. Licking her lips, she glides her soft hands up the rest of my chest and over my collarbone, tracing the prominent lines with her fingertips.

Fuck, that feels good. I want to kiss her badly, but not here and especially not on the dance floor. Truth be told, I’m glad we were interrupted, because the first time I feel her lips on mine, I want it to just be us.

I feel droplets of what’s left of Amelia’s drink slide down my back. Making a decision, I take Amelia’s hands in mine and guide her off the dance floor, not even knowing or caring where Hazel and Charlie are at the moment. We weave through the crowd until we finally reach the bar. “Hey Seth!” I call to the bartender. He looks up from the other side of the bar, where he’s handing someone a beer, and cocks an eyebrow at me. Making sure no one needs anything else, he comes to where we’re standing.

“What happened to you?” he says, nodding to my bare chest.

“Dance floor mishap. Do you mind if I use your employee bathroom? There’s a line for the other ones.” I take the empty glass Amelia’s still holding and place it on the bar. “And another drink for her when we come back out?”

Seth walks around to the side and unlocks the little half door they have that leads to the back. He nods his head for me to come on through. “No funny business with the girl in the back, Davis,” he says through a grin as we pass by him.

I feel Amelia pull back for a second and I gently tug her forward. “Just getting cleaned up man, I have her drink all down my back and can’t reach it myself.”

Seth reaches under the bar and grabs a towel and rifles through another pile before finding what he was looking for and tossing both things at me. “Bathrooms to the right and there’s an employee shirt for you to change into.”

I give Seth a fist bump. “Appreciate it man.”

Hand still in mine, I lead Amelia down the short hall and to the door on the right marked bathroom. I open the door and guide her in first before closing and locking it behind us.

I turn back to see Amelia standing there worrying her lip.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, tossing the towel and shirt onto the small counter and moving until I’m in front of her.

“I’m so sorry, Judd,” she says quietly, staring down at the floor.

I tip her chin, making her look up at me. “It’s not your fault, Sugar Pie, that dance floor is beyond crowded. It was bound to happen.” She nods, but stays quiet. “Besides, I’m glad it happened.”

Shock crosses her face. “You are? Why?”

I step closer, taking her in my arms. “Because, when I kiss you, and it will happen, I want it to just be you and me,” I tell her.

She sucks in a breath and searches my eyes. “Why?” she whispers.

“Because Amelia, I am so goddamn attracted to you, I don’t want anyone else to witness me getting to taste your lips for the first time. That moment will be for us, and us only.”

We stayed at the club for another hour before the girls decided to call it quits. Hazel claiming she strained something in her booty from all the moving and shaking that was going on. After revealing to Amelia how I felt in the bathroom, she’s been a little on the quiet side. I hope I didn’t push too hard too fast, but fuck, I needed her to know how I was feeling.

Everyone’s quiet as I pull into my parking spot and turn off the engine. I look over at Amelia to see she’s fallen asleep, one of my Silverbacks hoodies practically swallowing her body. She was cold when we got the car from the valet and because I always have a hoodie handy; I gave it to her to wear. I look over my shoulder to see Hazel also passed out in the back. Glancing in the rearview to see if Charlie is in the same state, I’m met with emerald-green eyes staring at me through the dark.

“You good Char?”

She nods and gives me a soft smile. “You like her,” she whispers, eyes glancing at Amelia, then back at me.

“I do,” I tell her, deciding there’s no reason to hide it.

She nods and holds my gaze. “Just…be careful with her, Judd. She’s my best friend and if your intentions are just to fuck around, please find someone else. She’s been through enough.”

“It’s not,” I tell her immediately. “I like her. I don’t want to hurt her.”

Charlie nods again and releases her seatbelt just as Hazel snorts. “One pumpkin latte!” she yells, startling herself out of her sleep. “What happened?” Hazel asks, rubbing one of her eyes and smearing makeup, making it look like she got in a fight with all the colors around her eye.

Charlie chuckles. “We’re back at Millies. Come on, let’s get all this shit off our faces so we can go to sleep.” She looks at me again in the mirror. “Thanks again, Judd.”

Hazel stretches, then looks over at me too. “Thanks for driving tonight, Judd. We had a blast.” She looks at Amelia’s seat, then back at me, giving me a wink. “All of us.”

“Anytime, ladies,” I tell them as they open their doors. Hazel pauses before getting out. “Want me to wake Millie?” she asks.

I shake my head. “You two go ahead. I’ve got her.”

“Thank God, Millie can be a grouch when she’s woken up.” Hazel smirks at me and twiddles her fingers at me. “Good luck with that,” she calls over her shoulder before shutting her door and heading towards the elevators with Charlie, leaving Amelia and me alone in the car.

I sit there for a few minutes, watching Amelia sleep, letting Charlie’s words replay through my head. ‘ She’s been through enough. ’ I know she has a story. Between talking with Jeremy yesterday, Charlie’s words today, and the fact that she has to have a service dog because of her anxiety, something terrible and traumatic has happened to her. The overwhelming desire to protect her washes over me and I make a silent promise to her to do anything possible to gain her trust.

She stirs in her seat before her eyes pop open, and she slowly looks around. Sitting up quickly in her seat, she looks around again, then notices me in my seat. She relaxes back in her seat before a yawn escapes her perfect mouth and she stretches. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She freezes and whips her head to the back, noticing the empty seats. Turning back to me, she asks, “Where are Hazel and Charlie? How long was I asleep? Why didn’t you wake me?”

I chuckle. “We just got here.” I nod to the elevators. “As for Charlie and Hazel, they just headed up. I told them I’d bring you up.”

“Oh, uh thanks.” She pauses and looks at me, narrowing her eyes. “Wait, were you going to carry me?”

I shrug. “Hazel mentioned something about you being a grouch when woken up, so I figured that might be my best bet.”

She crosses her arms across her chest and huffs. “I’m not a grouch.”

I laugh and open my door. “Whatever you say, Peach. Are you ready to go up?”

She crinkles her nose at the nickname and shakes her head, opening her own door and getting out. She rounds the front, and we walk to the elevators, my hand dropping to her lower back.

“Don’t like Peach?”

She shakes her head again and hits the call button before crossing her arms over her chest. My hoodie looks like a dress on her and I fucking love it. The elevator dings announcing its arrival and as she walks ahead of me to enter, blood rushes straight to my cock. Because the hoodie I gave her is one that has my name on the back. An image of her naked with nothing but my jersey pops into my head, making my cock even harder.

“Are you coming or what?” she asks, sounding slightly annoyed that I’m still not in the elevator.

“Yep, coming,” I say, getting into the elevator and sliding my hands in my pocket, hoping to disguise the major hard on I’m now sporting.

She hits the button for the tenth floor and looks at me, eyebrows raised. “You gonna do the phone thingy for your floor?”

“No. I’ll walk you to your door first.”

“That’s not necessary,” she protests. “I’m a big girl. I can get myself home.”

Something shifts inside of me, and I take my hands out of my pockets, softly gripping her upper arms and backing her into the wall of the elevator. When her back hits the wall, she gasps and I bring my hands up to both sides of her head, caging her in.

Reaching down with one hand, I grip her chin and tilt her face to look up at me. “I know you can take care of yourself Mills; I never said you couldn’t. But my momma raised a gentleman, and I will be walking you to your door. Understand?”

I see her throat bob as she swallows and nods her understanding.

“Good,” I whisper, tracing my thumb over her plump bottom lip. “Now, remember what I said at the club earlier?”

I flick my gaze up from her lips to her eyes and see that they’re dilated with desire. She gives me a small nod.

“Well, it’s just us in here,” I tell her, lowering my head.

I can hear her breath catch as my lips get closer to hers. “Tell me to stop Mills and I will. I won’t take something you’re not willing to give me.”

She stares at me for a heartbeat before I feel her hands run up the front of my borrowed shirt. One hand grips the front of my shirt and tugs me closer, the other roams over my shoulder to the back of my neck, fingers tangling into my hair.

Taking that as permission, I crash my lips to hers. Eliciting a soft moan from her. Her fingers tighten in my hair and tug softly. I hear a growling noise and realize it’s coming from me. Fuck, this woman makes me feral.

Needing more, so much more, I angle my head and trace her lips with my tongue, seeking permission. She opens willingly and I dive in, the taste of whiskey strong on her tongue. She pulls at my shirt, trying to bring me closer. Taking my hand from the wall, I run it down her body and over the curve of her ass, lifting her easily and pinning her to the wall. She wraps her legs around my waist and gasps when her core slides over my length. I press my body into her, catching her soft whimper with my mouth.

I pull away from her lips and trail soft kisses over her jaw and down her neck. God, she tastes so good. She arches into me when I hit a spot on her neck, her legs clamping down harder around me. Softly biting the spot, a deep moan erupts from her, making my already rock-hard erection painful. I’m moving further down to her collarbone when the Ding! of the elevator startles us.

We both stare at each other, chests heaving before I set her down just as the doors open. She pulls my hoodie back down that rode up when I had her delicious body pinned up against the wall. Running a hand through her mussed hair, she looks at me sheepishly. “Guess we should get off before the doors close.”

“I was trying, but the elevator interrupted us,” I tell her jokingly and not at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone as much as I want the five-foot nothing spitfire in front of me. If I didn’t witness how much she drank tonight, I would suggest we go back to my place and finish what we started. But tasting the whiskey on her reminded me she is under the influence, and I don’t want anything impairing either of us when I make her mine.

Her cheeks redden at my comment and a soft chuckle leaves her. Placing my hand on the small of her back, I guide her out of the elevator. She turns to me, fidgeting with the sleeve of the oversized hoodie when we reach her door.

“Thank you… for everything tonight,” she says, ducking her head.

Her hair falls forward when she dips her head down. Without even thinking, I push the lock of hair out of her face and trace my finger along her jaw. I can’t help myself. Touching her is like breathing, it just feels so natural. I drop my hand from her jaw and stuff it in my pocket. “There’s no need to thank me. I enjoyed going out with you three.”

A little crease forms between her brows when she looks back up at me and my hand fists in my pocket. It’s all I can do to keep myself from reaching up and smoothing it away. “You enjoyed watching us get drunk and dance with other guys while you had to stay sober and play bodyguard?” she asks skeptically.

I shake my head and take a step forward, leaning against the hand I place above her head. “I enjoyed watching you let loose and have fun. Something tells me you don’t do it often, and that’s a damn shame because you looked sexy as hell out on that dance floor.”

Her teeth graze her bottom lip, pulling it into her mouth. Reaching with my other hand, I tug it free, running the pad of my thumb over it. Her heated gaze falls to my lips, then back to my eyes, silently pleading with me for another kiss. Just as I’m about to fulfill her wishes, a loud thump followed by giggles, then not so quiet shhh , sounds from the other side of her door.

Amelia covers her face in a groan and thumps her head against the wall. Chuckling, I gently grab her wrists and pull her hands from her face. “Guess that’s my cue to leave.”

I drop her hands and step back, giving her room to move. She turns towards the door and reaches for the knob, but stops and turns around. “I still have your hoodie,” she says, turning around and reaching for the hem.

Placing my hands over hers, I stop her. “Keep it.”

“No, I couldn’t. It’s yours.”

“Keep. It. I have more.” Closing the short distance between us, I grip the back of her neck, extracting a gasp from her and whoever is on the other side of the door. I cover the peephole with my other hand and lean down, whispering into her ear. “Besides, I like seeing you wear my name.”

I give her a kiss on her flaming red cheek and back away, giving her a wink before turning and heading back to the elevator before I’m tempted to do more. “Goodnight, Amelia,” I call to her over my shoulder.

I hear a faint “Goodnight” before reaching the elevator. Hitting the call button, I rock back on my heels, waiting for the car to reach the floor.

Goodnight indeed.