Page 9 of Taking the Pitch (Love & Baseball #2)
CHAPTER EIGHT
judd
I didn’t think it was possible, but Amelia is even hotter when she’s mad and right now she’s downright pissed. We get to my Jeep, and I hit the unlock button, jogging ahead and opening the doors for the girls. To my surprise, Amelia throws herself into the front passenger seat and buckles up, staring ahead. She must notice my surprise because she rolls her eyes and says, “I get carsick, so I have to sit up front if I’m not driving.” Still not looking at me.
I close the doors and hop into the front seat, turning the engine over. “Where to, ladies?”
Charlie’s the one who answers. “Ignite.” Shit. I haven’t been back since the night I was arrested. I look in my rearview and Charlie’s eyes meet mine. “You don’t have to stay. We can just reserve an Uber ahead of time.”
“No, I’ll stay and drive you drunkies back when you’re ready,” I tell her, giving her a wink in the rearview and putting the Jeep in reverse and turning to look behind me, placing my hand behind Amelia’s seat.
“You have a rearview camera.” Amelia nods to the screen.
I lean closer to her and move my hand from the headrest to play with a lock of her hair. “Maybe I just wanted an excuse to look at you.”
Her eyes flick to mine briefly before she rolls them and looks away, biting her bottom lip. She crosses her legs, making her already incredibly short skirt ride up even further. She uncrosses her legs and pulls her skirt back down, huffing out a sigh and crossing her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up higher.
I adjust slightly in my seat as I drive us out of the underground garage, trying to ease the pressure of my erection that’s formed against my pants since seeing her standing in the lobby. I had every intention of grabbing my mail and heading upstairs to watch a movie like I told the girls, but as soon as I overheard them talking about getting a ride share and saw Amelia in that costume that leaves little to the imagination, I knew I wasn’t letting them go anywhere alone, especially since I know they’ll be drinking.
No one speaks as we exit the garage, taking a right onto the street, the music from my playlist filling the space. The song ends and Taylor Swift’s “I did something bad” comes across the speakers.
“Oh, fuck yeah!” Hazel yells from the back. “Turn that shit up Millie,” she says, dancing in her seat.
Amelia reaches for the dial, her hand pausing halfway. “Do you mind?” she asks.
I look over at her quickly, liking the way she looks in my passenger seat, maybe a little too much, and shake my head. “Not at all Princess, go for it.”
“I’m no one’s princess,” she mutters, cranking the volume up before I can respond.
Hazel lets out a whoop and raises her arms up in the air, as far as the roof lets them at least, and shimmies in her seat. Charlie even joins in singing along with Hazel and Tay-Tay. Amelia looks back at them and barks a laugh.
“Come on Millie! Dance with us!” Hazel says, scooting as close to the middle as she can and bopping to the beat.
I start drumming my hands on the steering wheel. “Yeah, come on Amelia,” I say, singing along with the music.
A look of shock crosses her face. “You’re a Swiftie?” she yells over the music.
“Game recognizes game.”
She gives me the first genuine smile I’ve seen since we met yesterday and my heart stutters in my chest. She laughs a genuine laugh and starts moving to the beat in her seat, singing along with the music and the other girls in the back and a sliver of hope blooms in my chest that maybe she likes me more than she’s letting on.
The normally ten-minute drive takes twenty, thanks to the influx of Halloween traffic. After the first Taylor Swift song, there was an unspoken decision made between the girls to continue this mini-Era’s tour. I unlocked my phone so Amelia could control the lineup, and I didn’t mind one second of it.
When we pull up to Ignite , we see a decent line formed outside the entrance. I get into the valet line while Amelia turns the music down and turns back to talk to the girls. “It’s going to take forever to get in.”
“No, it won’t,” I say, giving her a wink.
She raises a brow at me. “Have you seen the line?” she asks, gesturing out the window. “We’re going to freeze our asses off before we can even shake them. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this costume doesn’t provide much warmth.”
Running with the excuse she’s inadvertently given me, I run my eyes over her costume, or lack thereof, finally bringing my eyes up to hers. I say, “Oh, I’ve noticed.” And give her a slow grin.
She rolls her eyes and turns her head back to the line of cars in front of us, crossing her arms back over her chest and sits back in her seat.
I chuckle. “If you play your cards right, you won’t even have to wait.”
Amelia narrows her eyes at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” I say, leaning on the console, closing the distance between us. “I have VIP access, and if you say please like a good girl, I’ll get you guys in without having to wait.”
Her blue eyes flare, burning brightly. She sits up and leans into me, leaving only a few inches between us, whispering, “Good thing I’m not a good girl, huh?” A slow, devious grin spreads across her face.
Can’t hear that enough.
I chance another inch forward and match her unspoken challenge. “We’ll see about that.”
Seconds tick by, neither of us willing to back down, when we hear Hazel’s voice erupt from the back seat. “Damn! Is it hot in here? Or is it just all the sexual tension I’m feeling?”
Chuckling, I back away from Amelia. Whatever moment we were having between us, broken. Her face flushes and she breaks eye contact, retreating to her side of the Jeep. I’ll let her off the hook for now, but there’s no way I’m not revisiting whatever that was later.
The line ahead of us moves and a valet driver rushes to my door. I put the Jeep in park and turn to the girls. “That’s our cue, ladies. Ready to get your party on?” Amelia exits without even saying a word and Hazel gives me a wink before getting out. Charlie, however, stays.
“You don’t have to stay if it’s going to be too much for you, Judd,” she says, and I know she’s talking about being around all the alcohol and drunk people and being one of the few sober ones. But really it doesn’t bother me. Not drinking was never my problem. Not knowing when to stop was.
“I’m good, Charlie. It won’t be a problem.”
“You’ll let me know if it is, though, right?”
I nod. “I promise.”
We exit, and the valet guy hands me my ticket and hops in, driving off. I hold my arm out to Charlie, and she loops hers through mine as we meet Amelia and Hazel on the sidewalk. I offer Amelia my other arm once we reach them, but she doesn’t take it. Instead, she walks to Charlie’s other side and takes her arm. Chuckling, I raise my eyebrows at Hazel. “Are you going to play hard to get to?” I ask, offering my arm.
“Nope, who doesn’t want to hang off the arm of a gorgeous baseball stud?” she says loudly, aiming her eyes at Amelia.
Amelia peaks around Charlie. “Someone who has standards , Haze,” she shoots back, chancing a quick look at me before turning her head back to watch where she’s walking.
Charlie bumps her shoulder into Amelia’s. “Put the claws away Millie, thanks to Judd, we didn’t have to wait for a ride, and we get VIP access.”
I hear Amelia mumble a “Whatever” as we get to the entrance, making my grin grow wider. The more she resists, the more amused I become. I can’t help but wonder just how much I can push her until she gives in to the attraction that is clearly between us.
When we get to the VIP entrance, I see my favorite bouncer is running it tonight. “Deny! How’s it hanging, man?” I hold out a fist with Hazel’s arm still weaved through mine and Deny gives me a bump back. Deny’s an intimidating dude at 6’7”. Not only is he a fucking giant, he’s also built like a damn linebacker. His arms are easily the size of one of my thighs. He has a serious resting bitch face, too. But underneath all that brick and brawn, is a soft teddy bear, not that he wants anyone to know that.
“Judd! Not bad man. Haven’t seen you here in a while. Everything good?”
I can feel Amelia’s eye on me, silently waiting for my answer. “Ah, everything’s good, bro, just been hanging out with my nephew and helping Kess with things around the property.” It’s not a lie. I have been doing those things since my arrest. Trying to keep myself busy and out of trouble.
Deny nods. “Cool man, well, enjoy yourself tonight.” He moves and pushes the door open for us. Before we can even walk in, the base of the music smacks us in the face. Hazel lets out a whoop as she disentangles from my arm and enters the club first, dancing through the entrance. Once she’s in the doorway, she turns back and grabs Charlie’s arm that was connected to me and pulls her through with Amelia, who shoots me a quick side eye before following behind.
“Looks like you have your hands full tonight, Juddman,” Deny says to me as I follow them through.
I watch the sassy blonde that has completely entranced me make her way to the bar with the other girls. She peaks over her shoulder, looking back. When she sees me staring at her, she whips her head back around and pretends to pursue the bottles that are displayed on the shelf behind the bar. I look at Deny with a wide grin. “You have no idea Deny, no idea at all.”
I give him one more fist bump before making my way to the bar. Nodding my head at a couple of people I know as I make my way there. Amelia is ordering her drink when I reach them.
“An amaretto whiskey sour please,” she yells to Seth over the loud music. Seth nods to her then sees me and gives me a chin raise.
“What about you, Judd? The usual?”
“Nope, not drinking tonight. I’m the devilishly handsome designated driver for these angels tonight. I’ll stick to water,” I tell him, giving Amelia a wink. She rolls her eyes while Hazel and Charlie giggle.
Seth places the girls’ drinks in front of them and Amelia sucks half of hers down before I even get my water. “Woah there Angel Cake, might want to pace yourself,” I tell her, leaning in closer so she can hear me.
She gives me a look from the corner of her eye that screams ‘Fuck Off’ before taking her straw out of the drink, laying it on the bar and tossing back the rest, slamming the glass down on the bar. My eyebrows shoot up and I look at the two women on her other side, making eye contact with Charlie, who’s trying to hide her smirk behind her cocktail glass.
Seth comes back to the center, and I hear Amelia order another drink and a shot. If she keeps this pace up, she’s gonna be passed out or sick as hell before the night is over.
Seth places the shot in front of her and moves to make her drink. Amelia grabs the shot and turns her body towards me, leaning an elbow on the bar. She raises the shot in an air salute to me and downs it, keeping her glacier blue eyes on me the whole time, challenging me to say something.
Yeah, I’m not that stupid. I give her a smirk instead, and she smirks back before turning to the girls.