Page 15 of Taking the Pitch (Love & Baseball #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

judd

We’re two episodes into The Office when Amelia pauses the show and turns to me, hugging her legs to her chest. She looks nervous. “I owe you an apology,” she says quietly, eyes flicking to mine, then back down to her hands where she’s picking at her cuticles.

“For what?” She doesn’t owe me anything, least of all an apology. When I was heading to the library today, I decided to take Lucy’s advice and just be Amelia’s friend, to show her who I really am.

“For my behavior. For how bitchy I’ve been lately, especially towards you.” She pauses and shakes her head slightly. “I promise I’m not usually a miserable person. I just…” She sighs, flicking her eyes back up to mine. “I have a lot going on and I’m not handling it well,” she admits and rubs at her temples. I take her appearance in quickly. Even in the dim light, I can see the dark circles under her eyes are even darker than they were at the gym the other day.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything, Amelia.”

“No, I do. Especially after taking care of me tonight and rescheduling the interview. You didn’t have to do any of that, but here you are. Coming to my rescue.”

I shift on the couch and turn my body towards her, coming up with an idea. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll accept your unnecessary apology if you agree to accept my friendship.”

One eyebrow quirks up. “You want to be my friend?” she asks slowly, like she’s trying to comprehend something impossible.

I nod.

“Why?”

I shrug. “You can never have too many friends.” Deciding to keep my conversation with Lucy to myself. “So, what do you say? Friends?” I ask, sticking my hand out to her.

She eyes my hand before extending her own, connecting with mine. A tingle shoots up my arm as her cold hand connects with my warm one and her eyes snap to mine.

She feels it too .

“Friends,” she whispers, shaking my hand slightly. Not uttering a word about what I know we both just felt.

“Friends,” I repeat.

We stare at each other for a few heartbeats before she pulls her hand back and tucks it inside the sleeve of the hoodie I gave her. Seeing her in my hoodie when I walked into her apartment did things to me that had me reciting baseball stats in my head to calm myself down. I’ve never asked a woman to wear my jersey, but I hope one day that will change.

Collecting our plates, I watch as she heads to the kitchen and dumps them into the sink. I make a mental note to wash them before I leave. Moving to the fridge, she pulls open the freezer and extracts another ice pack. “Do you need anything while I’m up?”

I shake my head. “I’m good. Do you still have a migraine?”

“Unfortunately,” she mutters, coming back to her spot on the couch while she wraps a towel around the ice pack and places it behind her neck. “The pain is better than earlier, but it’s still there.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “Depending on how bad they are and what triggered them, they can come and go for a few days.”

“What triggered this one?”

“Lack of sleep, too much coffee and not enough water, stress…honestly a combination of things,” she says, hitting the play button.

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask, hating that she’s still suffering, even though she’s trying not to let on that she is.

Amelia rolls her head to the side and gives me a small smile. “No, I’ll use my neck massager after I take Bruno out one more time to help ease the knot I have. That should help.”

“I can rub your shoulders.” The words leave my mouth before I realize what I’m saying. “I mean…if you want? I’ve been told I have great hands.” I close my eyes. “Not like that. I mean, like that too.” Shut up. “But that’s not how I’m offering to use them.” Scrubbing a hand down my face. I look to see Amelia’s shoulders shaking and her face buried in my hoodie.

I stand. “You know what? I’m just going to show myself out,” I say, walking past her. A hand shoots out and grabs my arm and I look down to see Amelia’s face contorted in a laugh, eyes shiny from tears.

“No, please,” she says, wiping her eyes. “Stay. That was truly entertaining.”

“I think I’d rather go be awkward in the comfort of my own home.”

“That was impressive,” she says, letting go of my wrist and patting the couch. “But please, don’t feel like you can’t be yourself around me. That’s what friends do, right? Let their guard down around their friends. Shed the facade of having to be perfect all the time?”

“Okay, fine. I’ll stay,” I tell her, but point a finger at her. “ If you let me rub your shoulders. I guarantee I can do a better job than a machine.”

She purses her lips, fighting a laugh, but doesn't do a good job holding off her laugh as one bubbles past her lips.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Miss Morgan .”

She snorts. “Have you read any of my books? My brain lives in the gutter.” She gives me a wicked smirk. “Buckle up Davis. This friendship is going to be a hell of a ride.”

Something tells me I’ll enjoy every second of it.

“Fucking Roy,” Amelia mutters to the T.V. from her spot on the floor in front of me where I’m currently rubbing out a series of gnarly knots from her shoulders and neck. I don’t know how she functions with these. I’d be crying like a baby. In fact, I did cry like a baby the last time one of the team’s massage therapists got their hands on me.

“How do you even function with this many knots?”

She shrugs, tracing her finger from Bruno’s nose to the top of his head and back down. He came over and plopped down next to her as soon as she sat on the floor, laying his head in her lap. “I guess I just adapted after a while. I used to get massages every other week, but when my massage therapist moved. I just quit going. It gave me too much anxiety to find a new one.”

Running my thumbs up her neck and digging into the base of her skull, Amelia lets out a long moan, not helping the semi I’m sporting from listening to her moan off and on for the past fifteen minutes. I’m running out of stats to recite.

“Have you ever tried booking a group massage with Charlie and Hazel? It might help ease the anxiety of going for the first couple of times?” I suggest.

“We actually did once, but Charlie is so crazy busy most of the time our schedules usually don’t align with hers or what the spas had available. Hazel and I don’t want to go without her and make her feel left out.”

I make another pass with my thumbs, then run my fingers over the back of her skull, entangling my fingers in her hair as I increase the pressure.

“Oh, fuck,” she whispers, melting into my hands.

Her breathy voice sends a jolt straight to my cock, making me bite my lip to keep my own groan at bay.

“I think I’m dead,” she mumbles.

I clear my throat and drag my thoughts from a naked Amelia spread in front of me, moaning my name as I feast on her. I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea.

“Uh, is it helping?” I croak out as I continue to rub her skull.

“Immensely. Can I just hire you? We can add personal masseuse to your resume in the off season,” she jokes.

Extracting my hands from her hair, I hold one hand out and twiddle my fingers. “Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in it and you can text me anytime you need me to release some tension,” I tell her, choking back a snort at the double innuendo.

She slaps my hand away. “I was joking.”

“I’m not. Give me your phone,” I tell her, holding my hand out again.

“Seriously, Judd. It was a joke. I’ll be fine,” she says, tapping Bruno to move him and scooting away from me, slipping her hoodie back over her head, indicating she’s done. “I really appreciate you working those knots out, though. It’s true, you really do have great hands,” she says, smirking at me.

I chuckle. “Anytime Amelia. I mean it.”

She looks from my hand to me and back. Sighing, she grabs her phone off the floor and unlocks it, placing it in my palm. “Don’t make me regret this,” she grumbles.

I quickly input my number before she changes her mind and send myself a text before handing it back to her. One of her eyebrows quirks up when she sees the screen and looks up at me with a small smirk.

“Sexiest man alive?”

“I wanted to make sure you knew who it was.”

“Because I have so many other Judd’s in my phone,” she deadpans. “Anyway, it’s getting late. I should take Bruno out.”

Bruno’s ears perk up at the mention of his name and he goes to the door, spinning twice before sitting down and waiting.

“Do you want some company?” I ask, not ready for the night to be over yet and not wanting her to be out in the dark alone.

Shrugging, she slides on a pair of shoes. “If you want. We’re just going to the grassy spot in the park next door.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder towards the park that borders this side of the apartment building.

“I’ll go with you. It’s dark out.”

Amelia snorts. “It’s a really well-lit area. Plus, I do this every night. Nothing has happened to me yet.”

“And nothing will tonight either,” I tell her, following her out the door.

After she locks her door, we make our way to the elevator. Hitting the call button, I lean up against the wall and tuck my hands into my pockets, waiting.

Amelia chews on her bottom lip and peeks up at me out of the corner of her eye.

“What’s on your mind, Shortcake?”

She shakes her head, lips twitching in a smile. “Why do you call me Shortcake?”

I chuckle at her question. The elevator arrives and we shuffle in, my hand falling to the small of her back as I enter behind her. She hits the lobby button, and she turns toward me as the doors close.

“Well?”

I rub my hand over my beard. “Well, if it’s not obvious, you’re pretty short.” She rolls her eyes and I laugh. “Plus, out of all the names I’ve called you, you seem to balk the least at that one.”

She hums and nods her head.

“So, you approve, Shortcake?” I joke, nudging her with my arm.

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “I guess I do.”

I know she’s approving of the nickname, but maybe it means she’s approving of me, too.