We Belong Together: A BBW Second Chance Romance
Author: Parker, Weston
Date: 2019-02-14
Rights: Copyright 2019 Weston Parker. All rights reserved.

We Belong Together

Weston Parker

BrixBaxter Publishing

Contents

Find Weston Parker

Description

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Epilogue

Want More?

Insider Group

About the Author

Copyright

Find Weston Parker

www.westonparkerbooks.com

Description

The one that got away... and now she’s back in my life.

And in the oddest way. This beautiful woman is working to take over—fast. As if!

Like the guys I work with might listen to her.

But crazily enough, they do. All of them.

Except me.

She’s too sweet and innocent.

Or that’s how I remember her. But she’s all grown up now.

My best friend’s little sister is jacking up my life.

And now, I hear she’s saving herself for marriage and not interested in dating casually.

I’ll change her mind.

Funnily enough, she starts to change mine instead.

Casually doesn’t sound like so much fun anymore.

I’m playing for keeps.

Introduction

Join my Insider Group and keep in touch…

Also get a FREE novel

Get it HERE

Chapter 1

Daniel

"You like it like this, baby?" The petite blond I'd picked up the night before at the bar was ready to fuck the minute she woke up that morning. Normally I'd be all for it, but my dreams the night before had me a little off.

"That's good. Just roll your hips, girl. Fuck me harder." I squeezed her ass as I laid back in my bed. Her reverse cowgirl position should have lit me on fire, and it normally did, but she was too thin, too small. I liked thick thighs and a lot of ass on my girls.

Because of Terra. I pushed the thought away and lifted my hips to fuck the little minx harder. Her ass didn't even bounce. Shit.

Her moans filled the air as I glanced down to watch her pussy suck at my thick shaft. I pressed my thumb to her ass and closed my eyes, letting myself go back to a time where being turned on was easy, a time when not giving in was fucking hard.

I missed it beyond belief. But then again, I'd become what the public wanted me to become. A playboy pitcher for Seattle with a million women chasing him and none of them deep enough to care about anything more than Benjamin's and dick. Good thing I loved baseball and Washington State so fucking much.

It was the life most players would dream of. Fucking good for them.

"I’m gonna come," she grunted out and gripped my thighs, digging her nails into my flesh.

I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes, reaching out and taking hold of her narrow hips. Why the fuck did I end up with someone like her the night before? Right... too many beers and a TV screen showing the owner’s box at the fucking Oakland game.

Terra couldn't have been more beautiful as she stood there, her lips in a tight line, her dark red hair pulled in a tight bun. I groaned at the thought of her and rolled the girl bobbing on my cock over on the bed. I pressed my hand to her back and mounted her, fucking hard and fast as my heart raced. Was my girl with someone now? Rumors had gone around that she was dating Paul Thompson, the shortstop for Oakland, but I doubted that shit. He was a bastard and a half, and everyone knew it. Just the thought of him touching Terra had me gripping the girl beneath me a little too roughly. To think he played and she GM’d my rival team left me ill.

"Danny. Too much," she mumbled.

"Sorry." I tried to pull myself back to the present, but it was impossible. Seeing Terra on TV almost undid me. I rolled my hips and tried to finish the girl off beneath me. Her asshole winked at me as she came hard, wetting me and the bed beneath me. Normally it would have been fucking hot, but not that morning. I was a bit disgusted with myself.

"Fuck," she screamed and gripped the sheets, bucking against me.

I let her finish and pulled out, moving off the bed. "Thanks for last night. And this morning." I pulled the condom off and walked to the bathroom, ignoring her bitching behind me. I wasn't a bad guy, or I didn't think I was.

Fuck me. Maybe I was the worst, but I couldn't muster the desire to give a damn. The little blond had been a cock-tease all night, and after losing my will to push her away for the hundredth time, I finally gave in.

After closing the door behind me, I started up the water and turned on the radio I had built into the large three person shower. It was built with the idea of having a ménage every Friday night, but I'd quickly grown tired of that shit. Where I loved sex, it was getting old. Not having any emotion to it was draining me. Eight years of being a slut for Major League Baseball. It was the persona they expected and earned up more media points than anyone might imagine.

Sadly enough, it left me cold, hard, and alone.

I moved into the hot spray and let my thoughts go back to the night before. My cock jerked back up, twitching for attention. My girl had grown colder, more mature, and less spontaneous from what I knew. I never asked about her, but her brother and father gave up bits of information in passing conversations where she was mentioned.

A laugh bubbled out of me as I reached for the soap. There was no way in hell her father, Martin, was ever going to let me near Terra. We'd dated in high school and he'd hated me then. Now that I was one of the players on his team? He loved me to death but would kill me if anything became of us.

I gripped my dick and jerked on the tip, pinching hard and bringing a few moans out of myself. I wanted to punish myself for fucking things up with her all those years ago, but it was stupid. Eight years and I was still thinking about her. I craved her virginity like nothing else in my life.

It was sick, but the idea of taking her first wouldn't leave me.

"She's probably already fucked a million guys. Idiot." I turned and pressed my forearm to the shower wall as I fucked myself hard and fast. My eyes fluttered closed and I imagined her in the shower with me, her body slick with water and soap, her ass huge and hips thick like honey.

My balls tightened as every wicked fantasy I had came roaring to life. Her alabaster skin went on for miles and her dark red hair was wet and splayed out across her back.

"Fuck, I love you, girl." I slowed my thrusts and dove deeper into the image of my one and only spread out before me. Why the hell had I ever denied her back then? She wanted me to take her, to open her up and move her from being a girl to a woman.

My woman.

I wanted to wait, to spend our wedding night together wrapped up and figuring things out together, but it hadn't turned out that way.

Forcing myself away from the painful memories that quickly followed me losing her, I dove back into a fantasy I'd had since the day we met. Her long legs wrapped around me, her body bare as she clung to me, begging for me to own her.

I nodded as my body reacted violently to her cries in my head. Her heavy tits bouncing, her eyes focused on me, her body milking the fuck out of mine. A moan left me as I tensed and covered the shower wall with my release.

"Terra. Terra. Terra. Fuck, baby." I pressed my head against the shower wall as the room spun. I needed her so goddamn bad, and I always had. After years of ignoring her on TV and avoiding her when our two teams played against each other, I was ready for another chance. Another encounter.

She didn't like the virginal sweet guy I tried to be back in high school, which was good. That fucker was lost to the past.

The guy I was now wouldn't relent until I had her crying for more, and she would.

I had no doubt.

About damn time, Danny. Shit. You trying to get yourself fined?" Jeremy glanced up from the bench in the bullpen as I walked in. The younger pitcher was one of my favorite guys on the team and felt like the younger brother I'd always wanted. He needed a good kick in the balls from time to time, and I enjoyed that part of our relationship more than I probably should.

"Fuck you too, Denning." I dropped down beside him and glanced up to see Styles warming up. He'd be pitching that night, and I was all about cheering him on. The last game I'd pitched, something had popped in my right arm, forcing me to come out of the game. The media had a fucking field day with it and were still asking if I was a goner. Assholes.

"Speaking of fucking. What happened with that cute little blond that carried your big hairy ass out of the bar last night?" The kid smiled and wagged his eyebrows. He was twice the player I was... in the bedroom, not on the field.

"She was too thin." I shrugged and pressed my forearms to my thighs as I took in the sights around me. I'd loved baseball since I was a kid, and my adoration only seemed to grow over the years. There was something right about it, like an old tradition you did with your family on the holidays and weekends.

"Too thin? She looked about average." He snorted.

"Then you pick her up tonight. I'm sure she's going to be on the prowl again. I like a girl with meat on her bones." I licked at the corner of my mouth and lifted my eyebrows. "It's a big fucking turn on to watch her body bounce and tense as I fuck her. You wouldn't know anything about that, limp dick."

"McAdams." Our head pitching coach, Rick Burns moved in front of me. His eyes narrowed as he stared at me down the long line of his pointed-ass nose. "You're late."

"Nope." I stood up and slipped my hands into my back pockets, trying hard to hold back my desire to pop him in the face. That wouldn't be good for the old career. "I was one minute early."

"Early is when you get here before you're supposed to." He took a step closer, leaving our noses almost touching. "Don't do it again. We don't need your ass out there if you're not going to respect the team rules. Got it, hotshot?"

I clenched my jaw, hating how the old man disrespected me above everyone else. It was like the fucker had it out for me no matter what the hell I did wrong or right. "Yes, Sir, Mr. Burns."

"Good." He stood there a moment longer, staring me down. No fucking way I was backing up. We'd been at each other's throats for six years since he started with the team. I didn't see that shit changing anytime soon.

"Fuck." One of the other guys growled beside us, taking our attention away from each other.

"What's up?" Rick turned, his voice softening immediately.

It was all I could do not to roll my fucking eyes. Jeremy got up from the bench and moved to the gate, reaching up and gripping it. "Holy shit. Looks like Styles is hurt."

I moved around everyone with Rick in tow. Our starting pitcher for the night was already walking off the field with his arm limp as a noodle. "What happened?"

One of the other guys beside me shook his head. "He threw that pitch and must have fucked something up. You know he went to a boxing contest earlier this week. I bet he dicked up his shoulder."

"Idiot!" Rick yelled and pointed to Jeremy. "You're up, kid. We'll put you in for a little while and pull you out if we need to."

I turned to Jeremy as everyone went back to doing their shit. "Awesome. Get out there and show these fuckers what you're made of." I gripped his shoulders and squeezed. "Damn, dude. What have you been drinking? Muscle milk? You feel thick."

"Back off." He pulled back, his voice a little more hostile than I was used to. "I've been putting serious hours in the gym. Fuck. I hate going in before the seventh."

"You got this. Just show the heat." I moved back to my seat and dropped down. Something was off with Jeremy, but maybe it was the pressure of going out too early. He was a relief pitcher, which usually meant he only had to wrap up a game and shut it down.

"Let's go, Denning. Quick warm up and then your ugly ass is on the mound." Rick pointed to Jeremy and walked to the other end of the pen.

I smiled and leaned back. Jeremy would be fine, and we'd win the game hands down. We always beat the team we were playing tonight. Fuck, everyone did.

Chapter 2

Terra

"Top of the ninth boys and girls. It's a close one. Let's see what Thompson can pull out of his hat." The announcer’s voice rang out over the stadium as I stood with my arms over my chest in the owner’s box. My heart was beating a little too fast, but what else was new?

Paul was standing to the side of third base and all eyes were on him. Where I wasn't in love with the guy, I sure as hell needed him to pull us out of the situation we were in. Everyone was hitting the fucking ball his way.

"Terra. It's going to be alright." The owner of the team, Barry Cantrell stepped up beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "He's a great player. He's going to do what we pay him to do."

Throwing fits and acting like a cock?

"I believe that to be true too, Barry. He's just been a little off lately. Hell, everyone has. I know Paul has to be bone tired thanks to this team lobbing them over to him all damn night." I turned my focus back on my boyfriend as Barry squeezed me once more and dropped his arm.

"He's got something to prove. You know how he is." He chuckled and walked off, leaving me with my thoughts.

There should have been rules against GMs dating players, but it wasn't an issue in the league. All of the GMs were men. All but me.

"Come on, Paul. Do something amazing." I leaned toward the glass and held my breath as the pitcher threw a fast ball and the batter smack it right to Paul. I held my breath as Paul lifted his glove and caught it. Out. "Yes!"

The room behind me exploded. There was no reason for the bottom of the ninth to happen. We'd won the game, if even by only a run. I turned and shook hands with all the old guys in the room, finding myself the only one below thirty and certainly the only woman.

"I told you he would do it." Barry pulled me into a tight hug and patted my back. "Now, go make him a happy man tonight."

I stifled the look I wanted to give the old geezer and nodded before walking out into the crowd. The stadium was packed with crazed fans, which was a regular occurrence since we traded our previous shortstop for Paul.

"Terra! Miss Harmon!" Someone from the media spotted me and all hell broke loose. Why weren't they on the edge of the field, waiting for the guys to come off? "Can you answer a few questions?"

"Not now." I smiled kindly and lifted my hand. "You're missing the showdown on the field."

"Terra, how do you feel about the recent news that you've been labeled the heir to your father's ownership of the team in Seattle? Conflict of interest, right? Will you leave California and take over for him later this year or maybe before the next season starts?"

"My father is going to outlive us all. I’m not leaving Oakland anytime soon. Now, if you'll excuse me." I smiled and walked down to the dugout, wanting to find Paul to congratulate him.

"Wait! One more," another reporter yelled behind me. "Is it true that you're seeing Paul Thompson? Isn't that against league rules?"

I ignored him and walked out onto the field. There was something almost majestic about standing on the crimson-colored dirt. It had everything to do with being raised by a man that lived and breathed baseball. After losing my mother when I was younger, my father stepped in and did the best he could.

"Terra." Jake, our catcher walked up to give me a hug. "We did it again. Your boy pulled us out of a tight spot."

"Speaking of tight spots." Paul turned and smiled down at me. "How about we get out of here and go back to your place?"

Virginity jokes. Always. Paul waited with baited breath for me to let my guard down and offer up the one thing I had left to give on my wedding night. Good thing he wasn't holding his breath.

Jake laughed loudly. "Oh, Fuck. That's funny. Alright. You kids have fun." He patted Paul on the back and walked off as the crowd grew thick around us.

"You did good out there tonight." I let my eyes run over his handsome, rugged face. His dark blue eyes were filled with the same thing they always were - lust.

"Good enough to score some time with you?" He reached out and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. The girls in the crowd let out a girly sigh.

"I'm headed back to my place. Come over and I'll fix you something to eat." I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling a tad bit insecure with a zillion women crowding in to get a moment with my boyfriend. Something told me that each and every one of them would put out.

"And then?" He leaned closer, but I lifted a hand to stop him. I wasn't into public displays of affection. We'd been dating a few weeks at most, and he tried every chance he got to show me off. It was like being a trophy wife to someone that didn’t wear your ring yet. I hated it.

"Steak or chicken?" I asked as I clenched my jaw. The man had no modesty, talking about our intimacy in front of a crowd of people.

"I'll make you dinner! And then you can have me for dessert!" A girl yelled from behind me.

"I'm good, Terra. I think the guys are going to grab a beer. I'll see you later." He turned and moved into the crowd of women, the smile on his face telling me that he hoped like hell I knew how easily he could and would leave me.

I turned and walked off the field, my insides hurting a little. I wanted to be promiscuous, to let my guard down and enjoy the carnality of life, but it seemed wrong to do with some jackass that wanted in my panties for a night. All of them were that way.

All but Danny.

"Right," I mumbled to myself and pulled out my keys. "You offered yourself to Danny a million times, and he denied you." I laughed bitterly, thinking back on my high school days. I'd been so deep in love with my brother's best friend that I couldn't have imagined life without Daniel McAdams in it. He was a good boy back then. "Oh, how things have changed."

I got in the car and closed the door before letting out a long sigh. I needed to tell Paul to fuck off. I wasn't going to be in a committed relationship if he wasn't. The guys on the Oakland team didn't just go out for beer and laughs. They went out and got shit-faced drunk and ended up in bed with someone. All of them that weren't wearing a ring, and some that were. Paul would be no different.

It was a wonder that anyone on the team respected me anymore. I needed to fix things, clean up my image. Or maybe I didn't. Maybe I just needed to let go of the hope that my first time would be with Danny and give in to Paul. He was hot as sin, and the times I'd hit my knees for him left me wanting to know how good it would feel to let him deep inside my body.

I let out a soft groan of frustration as I started the car. I was going to lose my mind if I sunk any farther down the dark hole of depravity I was headed toward. Grabbing my phone, I called my best friend, Niki to get my mind off things.

"Hey," she answered on the second ring, her voice filled with sleep.

"Oh, shit." I glanced at the clock. Ten in Cali, but it was one in the morning in New York. "I shouldn't have called this late."

"Ter. You can call at any time. You know that." The sound of her stretching loudly filled up my ear.

I winced. "You sound like a Big Foot when you do that."

"Come capture me and turn me in for a prize. Hopefully, someone big and strong will prod and poke at me."

We shared a giggle. Where I wasn't willing to sleep with anyone, she was the polar opposite. It was important to "take him for a test drive" before going any further. Even as far as a second date. I yearned to be a little more like Niki, but it just wasn't going to happen. Something about wanting Danny to own that first time left me crippled.

"How is Benji? Is he sleeping?"

"Yeah. Here in the bed with me. He'll be eight next month. He's getting too old for this." Her voice softened when she talked about her little man.

"Let him stay there until you finally decide to date someone worth giving a key too." I reached up and turned on the heater, a little chilled. How it was still in the fifties in the month of May was beyond me. Not that my hometown of Seattle was much better.

"Speaking of finding someone who's worthy of my snuggles," she paused, "what's going on with you and that hot pitcher you're dating? You letting him spend the night yet?"

Sex. Men. Money. We always ended up at one of those three things, almost like little old men talked about the weather and little old women talked about little old me.

"No." I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair. "I don't think he's the right guy for me, Niki. He's an asshole, and you know he's getting laid every time he goes to the bar with the guys."

"You're assuming that."

"Am I? Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to keep my thoughts to myself. We're best friends. No need to drool over your guy." She laughed. "When am I going to see you again?"

"I don't know." I pulled onto the freeway, suddenly wishing I hadn't called her. The sound of her voice took me back to a million good memories growing up. We'd all been a bunch of wild-asses back then, but life was free - fun.

"Alright, well, I'm going back to sleep. You're boring as shit right now."

I laughed. "I'll talk to you later. Give Benji a kiss for me?"

"I'll do it now. Night, Ter."

"Night." I dropped the call and tossed the phone into the seat next to me. My thoughts moved back to where they always did. High school. I hated how quickly I raced back there every chance I got. Eight years had passed, and yet somewhere in my mind, the what if's raged hard and heavy.

My breasts ached and nipples were tight, sensitive buds by the time I pulled up to my house on the bay. I'd gone over the night Danny and I'd been in his car, making out like two horny teenagers. It was right after his graduation events.

All I wanted was to fuck him there in that car, to feel him press his thick cock into my sloppy wetness and own me. I wanted to be his that night, and I hadn't shaken the thought since. Too bad we weren't even talking anymore.

"Fuck," I whimpered as I reached up and pressed the button to have the garage door close behind me. I knew better than to start thinking about him, but now that I had... all bets were off.

I reclined my seat a little and slipped my hand into my black slacks. A moan left me as I arched my hips up and pressed my fingers down my slick folds into my body. Everything disappeared and all that was left was him, hovering over the top of me.

"You want me to fuck you good and hard, don't you, baby?" He whispered against my lips as he gripped his cock in his hand, teasing me with the thick head of it.

"Please?" I reached out and grabbed his strong shoulders, pulling him toward me. I prayed he would mark me somehow as his own. I wanted his scent all over me, all over my bed. I wanted something to remember him by when he left again.

"You've always wanted it to be me, Terra." He leaned down and consumed me with a kiss that stole my breath.

"I need you so bad, Danny." I lifted my hips, trying to take control of our passion.

"Then you'll have me." He pressed his hips forward, forcing the thick head of his dick into my tight entrance and lighting me on fire.

I cried out in the silence of the car and bucked against my hand as lust raged through me. I'd never be turned on for Paul or anyone else. Every time I closed my eyes, it was him. Always him.

And it always had been.

Chapter 3

Daniel

I woke the next morning, feeling refreshed. I was glad I hadn't gone out to the bars, but instead picked up Lyndsay from my mom and dad. We'd had a good snuggle and the little turkey fell asleep in the bed next to me. Good damn thing the maid came during the day and washed the sheets. We'd have been camping out on the couch otherwise.

Turning carefully as the sunlight filtered through my bedroom window, I propped up on my elbow and reached out to brush a wayward blond hair behind her ear. My heart ached deep in my chest that she'd grow up without her momma. My sister's little girl was now mine, and she’d be raised as my own as best I could. Being a single father for the last few years had forced me to grow the fuck up in certain areas, at least all areas other than women. It's not like I could imagine a woman coming into my life and helping me raise Lyndsay.

"That tickles!" Her little voice surprised me. Big blue eyes looked up at me with an innocence in them that I knew I'd do anything to protect.

"What tickles?" I lifted an eyebrow and reached over to tickle the side of her neck. "This?" Her giggles filled up the air as I reached for her.

"No, Daddy! No!" She swatted at me and rolled off the bed, hitting the floor.

"Hey. You okay?" I moved quickly, ready to scoop her up.

She smiled up at me from the floor. "Yes!" Bounding up, she tickled my neck and ran off toward the living room, her blond curls flying behind her.

"You tricker!" I yelled playfully from the bedroom and got up. I ran my fingers through my hair and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. It was hard to believe Jannie had been gone for five years. Seemed like yesterday she was giving me shit about finding a good woman in my life. Too bad she never found a good man.

"What are you thinking about?" Lyndsay tilted her head to the side as she sat up at the breakfast bar, her little chin propped up in her hands. "You look worried."

"Nope. Just trying to wake up. I went to sleep with a princess next to me and woke up to a frog." I pinched the tip of her nose softly. "What happened?"

"A frog! Not me, Daddy." She pulled back, shaking her head.

"No. You're right. You're much too pretty for that." I walked to the fridge. "What does my girl want for breakfast this morning?"

"Pancakes, and eggs and maybe some bacon. Oh! And some sausage. And that ham we like so much, daddy. The really salty one."

I laughed and glanced over at her. "Cinnamon rolls it is."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm going to watch cartoons. Are we going to Mimi's again today?"

"Yeah, baby. You know it's baseball season right now. I have to be there when they tell me to."

"I hate baseball season." She walked toward the living room with her shoulders rolled in. I needed to find a damn day off to spend with her. The cute little thing had no clue that I was her uncle instead of her father. She didn't need to know. That was the decision mom, dad and I made the day we buried my sister. It was better this way, and I was old enough and wealthy enough to take Lyndsay.

"Not that I could do it without you," I mumbled to the empty air around me. My mom and dad had been more than helpful, and between the three of us, Lyndsay was growing up to be a bright, happy, healthy little girl.

"Dad!" she yelled from the living room.

"Yeah?" I pressed the button on the stove and walked to the edge of the kitchen.

"When are you going to bring home someone that can do my hair right?"

I put my hand on my hip and gave her a funny look. "Are you saying I'm not a good beauty shop lady or something?"

She giggle-snorted, the sound of it warming my soul. "Dad. We need a girl around here."

"Well, we have one." I pointed to her. "You!"

"Ugh. Never mind." She turned back to the TV and pulled her legs up to her chest before wrapping her tiny arms around them.

It was a conversation that came up day after day between us, and where I wanted to tell her how hard it was to bring a woman around, it was pointless. She was a little girl, and to her... she needed a mommy, and I needed a wife.

Terra swept across my mind again, but I dismissed the idea of falling in love and living the life of my dreams.

It was a fairy tale, a romance novel, a sitcom for someone else to enjoy.

It had little to nothing to do with me.

"Danny. There you are." Martin glanced up from the table he and Lance sat at as I walked up.

"Sorry, I'm late. Lyndsay wasn't in a giving mood this morning." I pulled out my chair and sat down next to my boss and his son, my best friend.

"She doing okay?" Concern moved across Lance's face.

"Yeah, buddy." I reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Man. It's good to see you. How's New York treating you?"

"Great." He smiled and glanced over toward his dad. "The old man here is still trying to get me back over here in Washington, but he's going to have to do something more than offering a baseball team."

I chuckled. There was no way in hell Lance would take the baseball team. He hadn't played sports a day in his life that wasn't forced by his old man. His sister, my Terra on the other hand...

"I've been trying for years, Danny, but you know how this pansy ass boy is." Martin winked and picked up his menu. "Naw. I'm proud of him and he knows it. He's been working day and night for his damn medical degree and he's the best Surgeon St. Mark's has ever seen."

"Hey, while we're taking turns kissing each other's asses..." I laughed as they both gave me a look. It was nice to feel like I was part of the family. I'd been haunting their doorstep since Lance and I were in third grade.

"I've actually put in for a transfer." Lance leaned back and gave me a cocky smile. "I want to move into medical research. I have some ideas."

"On what?" I paused as the waitress came over. Her dark red hair reminded me of Terra, but her model thin body shut down my bedroom thoughts almost immediately.

"Hi, guys. What can I get for you?" She kept her eyes on me as a smile played at the side of her mouth.

"Martin. Lance. You guys go ahead." I turned my attention back to my menu, ignoring her. When it was my turn, I ordered breakfast instead of lunch, getting all the things Lyndsay had mentioned earlier that morning. She had me hungry for them since leaving the house. Knowing my mother, Lyndsay would have her making everything she wanted to eat and then some. My mom loved the kitchen.

"So, tell me how things are going." Lance turned his attention to me. "Your shoulder doing okay?"

I rolled my right shoulder and rubbed it. "Yeah. It's much better. I just tweaked something, but I'll be good by the time I get to pitch."

"Well, if you're not, just say something, Danny. I don't want them to put you out there and we accidentally ruin your shoulder." Martin gave me a stern look.

"No, Sir. I'll not let that happen." I reached for my water. Everyone was so damn worried about my joints giving out, but I was good. There were better things to worry about. "So, I heard on the news the other day that you've changed your will to leave the team to Terra. That just bullshit stories the media are having fun with, or-"

"It's all true." Martin leaned back and glanced at Lance. "This guy doesn't want them, and if we're all being honest, Terra is the best pick. She's done an incredible job down in Oakland. It's crazy to think they let a woman take over as GM, but they did."

"And she's rocking it." Lance glanced at me. That familiar feeling deep inside of me woke up. I yearned to see her again, to reach out and touch her soft skin, to hear her say my name. "Oh, Lord. There he goes again, Dad."

"What?" I came to and glanced at Lance and back at Martin. "There he goes what?"

Martin laughed. "Lance was telling me this morning back at the house that you still have a crush on my princess." He tilted his head to the side as his expression tightened.

I felt like I was eighteen again, having to ask Martin if I could take his fifteen-year-old daughter to prom with me. It hadn't gone well back then, and it looked like it wouldn't be much different now.

"I'm thirty years old, guys. That was twelve years ago. Terra is like family to me now." I shrugged and moved back, grateful as fuck that the food had arrived.

"Whatever, Danny. I know you better than that." Lance pulled his napkin into his lap and smiled at me. "She's not got a ring on her finger."

"Shame." I shrugged and picked up my fork. "She should. She's a good woman."

"The best." Her father agreed and took a drink of his coffee. "Have you heard anything about the HGH issues that the Braves are having? There's a big scandal over in Atlanta right now. I think we need to request that the league test more often."

I picked up a piece of bacon, rolled it up and shoved it in my mouth. I was grateful to talk about anything other than Terra. I was a horrible liar and would have buckled in front of them if they kept poking me about her. I wasn't over her. Fuck, I'd never be. She was the one that got away, the one I dreamt about every night and still had some sad inkling of hope over. She was mine in some other place, some other time. The past.

"I think that's a great idea." Lance nodded before taking a big bite of toast. "The last thing you want is the publicity that comes with the league finding out that you have someone on the team beefing up on steroids."

"So maybe you start doing team tests yourself, Martin." I suggested. "Might be smart to get ahead of the game rather than ask the league to start getting after it. You end up in the same place you started then, with them finding out and you losing players."

"And getting shitty media coverage," Lance offered.

I smiled. "What's your deal with the media? Something happen or is this just one of your well-hidden fears?"

He shook his head. "Neither. I just think they're full of shit."

"Agreed." Martin glanced up. "I like it. I'll talk with Joe and Alan about it and get their thoughts."

"Damn, Dad. You still have Joe coaching? What's he, like, two hundred now?"

"He's my age, you ass." Martin smirked. "So is Alan. I like having my head coach and GM as good friends from my past. It lets me sleep at night knowing my assets are being protected."

I chuckled and took another bite of my sausage as my thoughts moved back to Terra. "Have you talked to Terra about taking over the team, Martin?"

"No." He shook his head and smiled. "Nothing to worry about just yet, Danny. I'm going to outlive you all."

"Truth." Lance glanced my way and lifted his hand for a high-five. I denied him for fun.

We'd been saying his father would be running circles around us when we were old men, and so far, we were right.

Chapter 4

Terra

"You work too hard." One of the coaches for the team in Oakland walked up and sat down in front of my desk.

"Well, I am the GM. It's part of the job." I leaned back and crossed my hands over my stomach as he watched me.

"You think you'll ever get tired of the sexist bullshit you have to put up with?" He crossed his arms over his thick chest.

"No. I think that's also part of the job." I shrugged. "My father taught me to be tough, so, I am."

He smiled. "I like it, but I still think you should take some time for yourself. What's Barry think about you living up here in this office or at the ball field."

"He probably doesn't know. He's an owner. He gets to live out his life." I chuckled. "My Dad has owned the team in Seattle forever, for as long as I can remember, and he expects a lot out of his GM."

"He has the same one he's always had, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Alan has been my father's right hand for a long time."

"And what about you going up there? I'm sure everyone's been busting your balls, er... your…."

I saved him from himself. "Everyone has been after me about it. My dad just shifted his will. It's nothing to really think too much about. He's still healthy and running circles around all of us. I'm here for a long time to come, I'm sure."

"Well, I for one hope so, kiddo." He stood. "And I'll say it again, you need to get out of here. It's Saturday and everyone is at home enjoying their families. You should be too."

"Thanks. I'll leave soon." I pulled a stack of contract renewals back toward me and tried to focus, but there was no use. His words rang in my ear. Everyone is enjoying their families. I snorted. I didn't have a family anywhere near me.

I had Lance in New York and Daddy in Seattle. Niki, my best friend was in New York too. How in the world I let myself end up in California away from everyone I loved was a mystery. Or was it?

Memories flashed before my eyes of the night I decided to pack my shit and leave Seattle for good. I was twenty, and although it had only been seven years ago, it felt like a lifetime.

"Stop it!" Danny yelled as we stood in the rain outside of his apartment. "You know I can't keep doing this shit with you, Ter."

"I know." I glanced down, hating myself for putting him in the position of having to come after me again. I only wanted his attention, and I'd have done just about anything to get it. "So where do we go from here?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and lifted his chin to the sky. His t-shirt was light blue and tight against his muscular chest. Every cell in my body was on fire to feel him against me, to know him intimately. "I don't know."

"Okay," I whispered as the familiar burn of rejection welled in my throat. We'd been dating off and on for years and yet we were moving in different directions. He wanted to play for Seattle, and I had a job offer in Oakland. My career would never take off if I stayed on my father's team. I'd never make a name for myself.

"Okay?" His voice hardened. "Okay is all you have to say? All these years of me talking to you about us getting married and building a life together and you can't even fucking consider staying here with me?"

"You don't want me, anyway." I crossed my arms over my chest and prayed that the rain mixed with my tears was enough not to let him know how much I was hurting. "I've tried a million times to pull you close, but you keep me at arms distance, Danny."

He reached out and gripped my shoulders, pulling me tight and leaning down with anger in his face. His nose touched mine, and I stifled a groan. It was better to see him riled up and pissed than showing no emotion at all. "You don't think I want you? I'd tear the clothes from your fucking body here in the street and make you scream my goddamn name a million times if I thought it was right for us, but it's not, Ter. You don't want an asshole that uses you, and I don't want a woman that craves that shit."

"I didn't-"

"Hush," he barked. "I'm staying here to play for your father. I'm not coming to get you out of another wild ass situation." He glanced back at the bar I'd been in with Niki. She was still somewhere in there, having a good time. Where she'd end up taking a man home, I never would have done that. I just wanted Danny to come after me, to prove that he loved me. It was silly and childish, but I was second string to his career. I was nothing that excited him anymore, and as soon as he started playing for Seattle, he'd get around a bunch of alpha asshole playboys and find a girl that was better than me, sexier than me... just simply not me.

"Thanks for the help." I pulled out of his hold and walked back toward the bar.

"Terra! Don't do this. I'm as serious as a fucking heart attack right now. I don't want a woman that wants this shit in her life."

I lifted my hand and waved to him, but kept my eyes on the door to the bar. I didn't want anything other than him, but I needed something to make me feel. If it wasn't drugs and sex, then a little bit of danger and a rough crowd would do.

He left me for baseball, and I left him to feel alive again.

"Thank God all that shit is over." I stood and grabbed my purse. There was no reason to sit in the office and stare at lines on a page if I couldn't concentrate enough to actually read them. I'd moved to Oakland the next month and found my place in the middle of the field again. It gave me some sense of peace to know that I'd traded in whatever was going to happen with us for the thrill of the game. It was something at least.

And the need to hang out in bars, ride motorcycles and act like a wild ass was completely out of my system.

I had a new danger that I played up against daily - being a woman in a man's world.

It was a painful challenge most days, but fuck if I didn't love it.

"Miss Harmon. Looking nice, ma'am." One of the outfield players wagged his eyebrows playfully at me as I walked up to the group of players gathered at the edge of the field.

"Behave, Rodriguez." I smiled and turned to face our coach. "Keep going. I just wanted to stop by to wish everyone luck."

They continued on with their spiel about the game that was starting in an hour or so. Paul walked around the outside of the team and came to stand beside me. He crossed his arms over his massive chest and stole glances at me until the short meeting was over.

He reminded me of Danny in so many ways. Thick arms and a great smile, a tight ass in his uniform and a huge cock. That's about where it all stopped though.

"Terra." He turned to face me and reached out, grabbing my shoulders. "You've been avoiding me."

I gave him a non-committal nod. "Yeah. I have."

"Why is that?" He licked the side of his mouth. "You mad because I'm a baseball player who acts like a player."

I smiled and pulled back. "Good luck tonight. I'm sure we're going to win this one."

"I'm not pitching tonight," he called after me.

"I'm well aware, idiot," I mumbled under my breath and made my way up to the owner’s box. I needed to tell him things were over between us. He was a desperate reach for me to feel something sexual, and it had worked for a little while, but me not giving it up, in the end, shut us down pretty fast. I was good with oral and anal and everything in between. I just wasn't ready to give my virginity up. It was stupid and traditional. I was sure I'd fucked up the sanctity of it a million times over with my slutty ways post-high school, but maybe not.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as I reached the box, and I paused to answer it before going in.

"Terra Harmon."

"Hey, Sis. Just calling to wish you good luck." My brother, Lance.

"Well, thank you kindly, Sir." I turned and pressed my back to the wall behind me. Funny how hearing my brother's voice left me thinking about Danny - again. Hell, if I were being honest, everything had me thinking about him lately. It was the situation with my dad. Him planting the idea that I'd be headed back to Seattle in the next five to ten years had old memories and far too many feelings rising up inside of me.

"You're welcome. So, when are you going to make your way up here to see me and that sexy little pole dancing friend of yours?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

I laughed. "She hates it when you call her that."

"Then maybe she should get herself a real job. She's a smart cookie."

"And she loves what she does." I defended Niki, though I really didn't need to. My brother thought of her like another sister. "I take it you're back in New York now?"

"Yeah. It was good to see Dad. I just wish you would have been there too."

"Maybe next time." I nodded to some of the guys walking into the box beside me. "Is there some reason why you decided to push Dad to change his will?"

"Oh yeah." He huffed. "I hate baseball. It's about time I came out of the closet on that shit."

"If you think for one second that we didn't all know that you hated baseball all these years, you're outta your fucking mind. You cringed and curled up on the ground in the fetal position when we pitched you a ball." I smiled and wrapped my free arm around myself.

"Hey. I was four years old. We can let this one go now."

"You were seventeen."

"Same difference." He paused to chuckle. "Anyway. I got to have breakfast with Danny while I was there."

My body stiffened and I had to work hard to pull in a quiet breath. "Oh yeah? How is your old friend?"

"We still on that kick?" His tone softened a little. My brother knew far more than he should have, but he was much more than a brother to me. He was my best friend outside of Niki.

"Yeah. We always will be." I moved away from the wall and turned to walk to the railing where I could watch the game. "How is he?"

"He's good. Not great, but good. You know he's got Lyndsay with him now?"

"Jannie's little girl?" My heart ached in my chest. I knew Jannie had died a few years back, but I couldn't bring myself to go back home, so I made some stupid shit up about not being able to get off. The decision still haunted me.

"Yeah. She's as cute as a button, and he's all about her. She's got blond curls and big blue eyes like Jannie did."

"God, that's sad." I pressed my hand to my heart and took a shallow breath. "And Danny is doing okay with raising her and still being a slut on TV."

Lance laughed. "He took over your spot of wanting to live a wild life, and you took his of wanting to settle down and chill."

"And the little girl plays in how? I imagine it's hard to live as a slut and still find time to raise a baby." I knew I was crossing the line, but no conversation about Danny ever ended well for me. There was too much involved. Too many hurts. Too many memories. Too many desires unfulfilled.

"No clue, but he's doing it well. I'm proud of him. I think it's the need to fit the persona of a cocky bad boy pitcher that has him fucking a different woman every night."

Now Lance was just being mean.

"Alright. I gotta go."

"Oh. Did I hit a nerve?"

"Fuck you too, bro." I ended the call and slipped the phone into my pocket. We'd forget and forgive by the morning, but the thought of Danny sleeping around would haunt me for the rest of the evening, much like it had since I waved goodbye and walked out of his life.

He wasn't at all the man he used to be, and scary enough, part of that excited the hell out of me.

Chapter 5

Daniel

"So why is Martin so dead set on getting Terra lined up to take over the team?" My father leaned back in his chair.

I reached out and ran my hand over the old wooden table in their dining room. I'd grown up around that table. A shit-ton of memories were made there, my favorite being Terra laid out, letting me touch all over her. We'd come so close to making love as kids, but I always stopped it.

"What?" I glanced up and forced myself back into the moment. "You say something, Dad?"

He chuckled and reached out and gripped my forearm. "What's going on with you? You've been out of it a lot lately, and you're spending a lot of time at the bars again. Lyndsay is all of our responsibility, of course, but she looks to you as her father. You're all she really has, Dan."

I nodded, knowing he was right. "I'm lonely." I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. "It's stupid, but it's true."

"It's not stupid, but you know what I'm going to tell you." He lifted his eyebrow and smiled.

"Yeah. I know, dad. I'm not going to find the kind of woman I'm after in a bar." I glanced down at my hands as the sound of my mother and Lyndsay laughing in the kitchen warmed my heart. "I wouldn't be nearly as worried about who I bring home if it weren't for peanut." I nodded toward the kitchen.

"And that makes you a good man." He reached out and tapped the table in front of me like he had been doing my whole life. It was his gentle way of telling me to look up. "You'll find her, Dan. I promise you. Just start looking with more than your pecker."

I snorted and shook my head. "You could have left that part out."

"What part?" My mom walked into the room with a platter of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. "What did we miss?"

"Yeah! What did we miss, Daddy?" Lyndsay reached for me.

I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her before leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Nothing. Your pawpaw was being a dirty old man."

"What?" My mother put the platter down and gave my father a stern look. "What were you talking about before I came in?"

"Dan's love life." He reached for a piece of bacon and smiled at me. "Tell your mom what I said, big man. Go ahead."

"Nope. I'm outta this." I grabbed a plate and moved Lyndsay in the seat next to me. She smiled up at me, and I couldn't help but lean in to kiss the top of her head again. "Tell Mimi and PawPaw to let it go. We'll find us a queen when the right one shows up for my princess."

Lyndsay giggled. "Nope. Mimi and PawPaw can do what they want. They give me chocolate cake when you're not looking!" She sounded just like me somehow. The thought of it made everything better. My sister would have been proud of her little girl, and probably even of me.

"Peanut!" My mom and dad yelled together.

I glanced over at them. "I knew about the cake. You guys leave crumbs everywhere you go."

We all shared a good laugh before my father prayed over the meal. It was my mom that broke the silence.

"So, if we're talking about your love life."

"We're not." I gave her a look that usually got me in trouble.

"Don't raise your eyebrows at your momma, boy," my father barked out.

I lifted my hands in surrender as Lyndsay giggled beside me. "Sorry. There's just nothing to talk about, Mom. I'm trying to focus on the team and Peanut right now. I don't have time for anything else."

"But he told me that he's lonely." My father winked at me.

"Brother." I rolled my eyes and got scolded for that too. It was like I was sixteen again.

"Daniel." My mom reached over and slid her hand over mine. "Why don't you ask Martin what's going on with Terra? She was such a big part of your life back when you were behaving better. Maybe she could be a part of it again."

"Oh, Lord. Not Terra Harmon again." My dad shook his head before shoving a piece of sausage in his mouth.

"Roy. Watch how much pork you eat. You know your heart doctor-"

"Back to Terra please." My father licked at his fingers. "She was a wild child back then, Dan. You know it. You tried to keep her in line and it ended up breaking you two up and destroying you. I thought we'd never get you to smile again after she walked out of your life."

"I don't need a recounting of the past, Dad." I picked up my fork and ate a bite of my eggs, groaning at how good they were. No one made them like my mother did. "She's living in Oakland now, and doing really well for herself."

"Married?" My mom smiled as if there were an innocent bone in her body.

"No clue." I shrugged. "I didn't ask Martin or Lance at breakfast earlier this week."

"Lance was in town?" My mom reached over and pulled my napkin in my lap.

"Yeah." I picked it up and wiped at my mouth. "I guess Martin is putting Terra as his heir to the team."

"Oh. Wow." My mom's eyes brightened a little. She loved Terra Harmon like crazy, no matter how many struggles I'd had when we were younger. She believed we were made for each other. I believed it too, but the time had passed.

"Back to Terra." My father butted in as Lyndsay hopped down with a piece of sausage in her hand.

"Keep your hands off the couch, Missy!" Mom called after her as she bounded away.

"Otay Mimi!"

I smiled. "There's nothing to talk about, guys. Terra isn't going to come back into my life."

"She sure as hell is if Martin croaks, Dan." My dad leaned toward me. "And you need to be prepared. The girl is a wild child."

"She is not!" Mom countered.

"I don't know what she is guys, but drop it. We had a thing in high school, and yes, I thought we would end up together raising kids by now, but we didn't. She's a great girl but deserves someone else. I'm not the guy I used to be. You both know that." I took a few more bites of my breakfast, hoping like hell they would leave it alone. I yearned for Terra bad enough on my own. I didn't need them bringing her up as if the universe was playing a fucked up joke on me.

"Alright, but my opinion still stands as your mother." Mom tilted her head as her expression softened. "You need to start looking for love, Daniel. You're not the kind of man that deserves cheap sex from hookers."

Embarrassment welled in my chest as my neck and face burned. "Mom. Really?"

"She's right, son. You need to leave that life behind. It's dangerous and the fires of hell are waiting for you."

"Oh, brother." I picked up my coffee mug and leaned back. "If I'm going to hell for sleeping with a hooker then we're all in trouble. That's the least of my worries."

My mom chuckled. "Enough of this nonsense. Eat your breakfast and get some rest. You're pitching tonight, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Pull out some of that fancy shit you got hiding in your back pocket." My dad's smile widened. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Alright, Dad. I will. Just for you."

"Top of the third and Daniel McAdams is on fire tonight ladies and gentlemen." The announcer's voice filled the stadium.

I got into position and threw one more practice pitch to Gary from the mound. The displays around the stadium registered 96 miles per hour. My arm ached, but I was still throwing heat. The crowd erupted as loud music billowed from the speakers.

I glanced to my first baseman and nodded. We were shutting this shit down fast. I needed a quick game and a win on my list of accomplishments. It would take away the dark thoughts I had about my love life or lack thereof.

My father was right. Slutting around had me feeling like shit inside. I wasn't that guy at all, and yet over the last eight years, I'd become him. The skin of a playboy fit tight, but I yearned for so fucking much more.

I put the next three batters down with ease and walked off the mound to the sight of the crowd dancing. Glancing up to the owner’s box, I saw Martin leaning toward the glass, his thumbs up and a big smile on his aging face. I lifted my thumb up and nodded at him.

I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of me. My mom loved Terra, his only daughter like she belonged in the family, but my dad thought she was an unruly slut who wanted in my pants. Did Martin know how I felt about his girl?

Not that I planned on telling him. Fuck that.

"Good job out there, man." Our head coach, Joe stood and popped me on the butt as I walked down into the dugout.

"Thanks, coach." I pulled off my glove and dropped down on the bench. A smile haunted my lips as I thought about my pitching coach, Rick's comments. He was always on my ass no matter how good I did. I knew what he was up to, but I wasn't in little league anymore. It was a bad cop technique he only used with me because he believed that I could be the best. I was almost positive that time was passed now that I was moving into my thirties, but who knew. I still wanted to try for it.

"Dude. Did you hear about Martin putting his daughter and not his son as his heir to the team? I thought he had to sell that shit to someone else." One of the younger players sat down on my right, his eyes filled with mischief.

Gary, our catcher and the oldest guy on the team sat down to my right. "And it's his prerogative to do what he wants. He owns the team."

"But a woman? Come on." The younger player leaned back and let out a sound of disgust.

"She's more than capable. I bet she could outrun you, outhit you, and she's much better looking than you by a mile." Gary chuckled and leaned back. "Martin is brilliant. He knows what he's doing."

Did he? I kept my thoughts to myself. I had too much invested in the conversation. Where I wanted to see Terra again, I sure as fuck didn't want to put us in the awkward situation of her owning the team. It was a hard job, and I didn't know of another female owner.

"You okay?" Gary turned and stared down at me. He knew a little bit of my story seeing that the old timer had been playing for Martin for as long as I could remember.

"Fuck yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I slipped into character, pulling on the persona the guys expected from me. All of them but Gary.

"I see." He nodded and turned back to the field, done with me and my bullshit. I couldn't blame him.

I leaned back and closed my eyes as we ran through our batting line up. My dad was right. I was fading in and out more lately than I had been before. I couldn't help it. I wanted to know who she was now more than ever. Was she the wild child that ran her hands over my cock every chance she got or had she settled down? Which way did I want her to be?

Fuck. I didn't care. I just wanted her.

Chapter 6

Terra

The conversation with my brother still weighed heavy on me a few days later as I got ready for a dinner date with Paul. It was my last-ditch effort before breaking things off with him. I hated to be alone, but there was no way I was dating someone who was sleeping around on me, and I was pretty damn sure he was.

"I shouldn't have been such a bitch about Lyndsay." I leaned toward the mirror and finished lining my eyes with a thick black pen. "I can't imagine raising a baby." Niki was on face time with me, and I had the thing propped up so she could see me too. "You know what I mean?"

"Uh, yeah. I do." She lifted her eyebrow and tilted her head. "I have a baby. Remember?"

"Eight years old isn't a baby." I picked up the phone and walked to the bedroom. "You think I should just cancel with Paul?"

"No. I think you should go to dinner, have a great meal and a bottle of wine. After that, go back to his place and put on a strip tease for him. Make sure to put your back to him when you take your panties off and bend over." Her tone gained excitement. "Men love seeing your pussy lips between your legs. Especially if you're wet."

I glanced down at the phone and gave her a look. "Really right now? Gross."

"Not to them. It's a win-win. I promise."

"You're such a slut." I walked into my bedroom and moved to the bed. "Black dress or white."

"Red please, and yes, I am. Sleeping with who I want, when I want keeps me from wanting to jump off a bridge."

"Why not look for someone to build a life with?"

"Ugh. You sound like Danny. Have you been hanging around him lately?" She sounded slighted disgusted. It was cute, as was my best friend and my ex-boyfriend's relationship. We had all been too close not to have really been affected by the fallout of everything that happened.

"I'm not sure the Danny you remember is the one that's playing for my father's team." I turned the phone to show her the dresses. "Black or white."

"I guess black if you don't have red."

I turned the phone back to me and sat down on the edge of the bed in my panties and bra. "I'm not trying to sleep with Paul, Niki."

"Why not? You've done just about everything else. You said he was amazing at all of it." She glanced up away from the phone. "Hey, buddy. Dinner is on the stove. How was school?"

I laid the phone down on the bed so Benji wouldn't accidentally see me half-naked. No reason to scar my godson. The conversation between mother and son was loving and comical, as always. Some part of me wanted a relationship like Niki had with Benji. I wanted lots of relationships and always had, but as per usual, I'd gone about it the wrong way. I wanted Danny to rescue me, to save me, and I wanted Paul to be Danny. Every fucked up spot on the map between the two of them had been joke after joke.

"Hey. You still there?" Niki asked.

"Yeah. I'm here." I zipped my dress and had to tuck my hips forward to get the damn thing over my ass. I growled and leaned over as my long hair made a curtain around my face. "Why do I have to have such a small waist and a big ass?"

"Cause God loves you." She smiled. "I'd give anything for your ass."

"You hitting on me?" I winked and wagged my eyebrows.

"I wish. Life would be a lot easier if I could talk myself into loving a girl." She laughed. "You'd be first on my list."

"Okay. Thank you very much." I moved back and went in search of my shoes. "You think I should apologize to Lance for my comments on Danny and Lyndsay?" I yelled back toward the bedroom as I walked into the adjoining closet.

"No! That's dumb. It's not like you said it to Danny, Ter."

"Yeah, but saying it to Lance is about the same." I grabbed a pair of sexy black heels and walked back into the room as someone knocked on the front door. "Shit. I gotta go. He's here early."

"Just let him down easy and if he needs someone to console him, put him on a plane to New York and I'll take one for the team." She let out an exasperated huff, playing the part perfect.

"Right. Like you need another dick in your life."

"Actually-"

We laughed and I picked up the phone. "I love you. I'll talk to you later this week. Wish me luck in letting him go."

"Lucks, bucks, and tons of fucks. Be safe and I love you too."

I rolled my eyes at her silly chant and hung up the phone. Paul would take the news well. He was tired of playing my games too.

"What? Why would you want to walk away from us, Terra? I'm the one not getting hardly any of my needs filled. You're getting everything you want out of this." His jaw tightened as his eyes narrowed.

We were in the middle of a fancy five-star restaurant in San Francisco. Probably not the best place in the world to drop the break-up bomb.

"Because. It's not fair to you, Paul."

"No. It's not, but I'm willing to live with it. I know what you're holding out for, and where I don't agree with it, I still understand. I'm not an idiot."

"I never said you were." I pursed my lips before the truth rolled out of them. Why in the fuck did I ever decide to date a baseball pitcher? They were all the same. Cocky, stubborn asshats.

"I'm not giving up on us. Period." He picked up his glass and lifted it to his lips, drinking deeply.

The muscles in his neck flexed, sending a shiver down my spine. I loved the idea of a strong, aggressive alpha male, but it never worked out. They didn't agree with my idea of virginity. So, fuck them. All of them.

"Look. Let's just be work friends and if the situation arises where we go get a drink and end up back at your place then-"

"Wait. You're telling me that you're okay with a one-night stand as long as I don't fuck you properly?" He snorted.

Heat burned my chest and neck. "Shhh... for shit's sake. Keep it down." I glanced around, grateful that no one was around us.

"I'll keep it down when you explain yourself." He reached across the table and captured my hand. "We're good together, Terra. You know we are. We'll figure this thing out and keep moving forward. I have no doubt that you're the one I want in my life."

Lies. He loved that I was GM of the team, giving him more pull, more power, or so he thought. Some part of me couldn't help but wonder if he was trying so fucking hard to keep me because of my father's recent decision. To be married to a club owner would give him power and wealth.

"You're sleeping around on me."

"You have no proof of that." He released my hand and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have beers with the guys. Are you wanting me not to do that anymore?"

I shrugged. "I don't care what you do. I'm not doing this anymore. I feel like a fool around you, and that's not at all how I want to live my life."

"You're being overly sensitive, which isn't you at all. Why? Because of your dad's announcement? Did he even include you in that conversation? Does he expect us to pick up our lives here in Oakland and come to Seattle?" He didn't sound at all put out by the idea.

Bingo. He wanted the club in Seattle, and I was the quickest way to it.

"I don't know. I'll talk to him soon. I need to run to the bathroom." I picked up my purse and walked to the ladies’ room, ignoring the whispers from various men as I moved through the restaurant. Everyone knew my father, and most knew me. It wasn't the life I wanted necessarily, but after years of running from my past, I had no clue what I wanted the future to look like.

But I knew one thing for damn sure. Paul wasn't going to be in it.

I walked into the bathroom and pulled out my phone, texting my brother. Fifteen minutes. Text me that there is an emergency. I need out of a dinner.

I didn't get a response back, but Lance would help me out. After staring at myself for a few seconds in the mirror, I walked back out to find Paul talking with a couple of women who had walked up to the table.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out. Lance.

"Terra. This is Sandy, Misty, and Diane. They're huge fans."

I glanced down at my phone. "Hey. I need to go. My brother's texting with an emergency." I walked around the table, ignoring the women. I leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Call me later and we'll figure things out."

"Wait. I drove us here, baby." He stood, his face becoming a mask of angst.

"It's good. I'll grab a cab. Seriously." I smiled at the girls. "Take the seats around the table. Have fun."

I turned and walked out of the restaurant, feeling like the coward I was. My phone buzzed again. Lance was overdoing it.

After hailing a cab, I got in and pressed the button to call my brother. He picked up on the third ring, but I jumped in to give him hell.

"Dude. I said fifteen minutes. Not five." I snorted but got nothing back. "Lance? You there."

"Terra," he whispered, his voice broken with thick emotion I'd not heard since mom died.

"Lance?" Fear coated every nerve ending I had and my pulse spiked so quickly that I felt dizzy. "What's wrong?"

"It's dad," he croaked out.

"What about dad?" Panic choked me out. My father was everything to both me and Lance. He’d been our stronghold when mom died and rearranged his life to be there every step of the way in every part of our days. I couldn't remember a time that I didn't have him to reach out to, to laugh with, to just be myself around. "What happened?"

"He was on his way to a party for the team tonight, and he was hit by a drunk driver."

"And?" I gripped the seat next to me and panted softly. My lungs tightened to the point of not being able to force air into them.

"And they rushed him to the hospital, but he didn't make it, Terra." My brother's voice broke as he sobbed on the other end of the line.

Numbness filled my chest. "Who was with him, Lance?"

"Joe was." He choked on the words.

Joe and my father went way back to the beginning, the head pitcher for his team a friend and family member.

"And is Joe okay?" I wasn't sure how my lips were moving anymore. I felt almost like I was sinking into an icy lake and the water was rushing up to steal my life.

"Physically yes. Mentally. No way."

"What do I need to do?" I crashed back against the seat as a cry left me.

"Pack your things and get home. I'm headed there on a red eye tonight. Be careful and know that I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered into the phone and dropped the call. Pressing my hands to my face, I let out a long scream and cried until I couldn't make sense of anything.

Thank God for the cab dropping me off at home.

Chapter 7

Daniel

"Oh man. I can't believe you fucking hung in there for all nine innings. Insane." Jeremy patted my back as we stood side by side in the locker room at our lockers.

"It was a bit of a stretch, but I was on point." I turned back to my locker and pulled out my clothes. "You gotta lean into that shit as you get older. It comes around less often."

"Naw. You're full of shit." He slammed his locker shut and turned, dropping his towel. "You going with us tonight to drink?"

The first thing that came to mind was getting back to my mom's place to pick up Lyndsay. I'd been going out too much lately, my dad was right. "Naw. I need to get back to the house."

"Aww... come on, man. You know Daddy Warbucks is coming tonight." He snorted.

"Hey." I turned and gave him a look. "Don't talk about Martin like that. He's a class act." I was glad to hear Martin was coming. I'd nudged him to come spend some time with us earlier that week.

Jeremy lifted his hands. "Alright. Sorry. Looks like I hit a nerve."

"He pays our overrated salary, cock." I turned back and grabbed the rest of my shit before closing the door and walking to the bench closest to me. I dropped my towel and got dressed, ignoring the guys messing around. They were all overly excited from our win being so big.

"I know. I was just kidding." Jeremy pulled his t-shirt over his head. "So come with us."

"Where are you guys going?" I worked to get my clothes on and fought with myself over what the fuck to do. I needed a release like nobody’s business, though I could find that with a beer and a long shower. I didn't need another pretty face in my bed, but it was much more appealing than my hand.

"Over to Ruska's. You know you love that place. Come for a little while. We'll play some darts. Loser buys the beers for the night."

"You never do well with this, Jer." I smiled and forced myself to relax. Lyndsay was already sound asleep and my parents probably were too. To go over there that late would mean pulling the baby from her warm bed, and for what? So I could get some sense of being a good guy?

That ship sailed a long fucking time ago.

"Then you have nothing to lose, old man."

"Alright, punk. It's on now." I finished getting ready tying my shit-kickers and stood up. "We going their first?"

"Yeah. Someone set up a buffet over there in the back from what I heard." He dangled his keys in front of my face. "You want to drive the Porche?"

"No." I pulled out the key to my bike. "I'm not driving your pussy car."

"Why not? You don’t wanna get some pussy?" He wagged his eyebrows, looking like the punk he was.

"I don't need to drive anything to get some action. Watch and learn tonight." They were good guys, and I fit pretty well right in the middle of them. I walked down the long hallway to the parking lot and found my bike. I got on it and drove out to Ruska's, enjoying the solitude the ride provided.

Some of the guys were already at the bar when I got there, all of them much too happy to see me.

"Food is in the back!" Jeremy walked in behind me, surprising me a little.

"Did your wheels touch the road?" I smiled over at him and walked to the back of the bar. The smell of Mexican food filled my nose, and I breathed in deeper. "Fuck, I'm starving."

"Me too. Enjoy man. They'll keep it full." He grabbed a plate and handed it to me.

"I'm aware nugget head." I popped him in the back of the head and moved in front of him. "You're the newbie. I've been doing this for seven years. Get the fuck outta here."

Jeremy laughed and pressed his shoulder to mine as we moved down the buffet line. "That pretty blond over there is eye-fucking one of us. I'm going to say it's me."

I glanced up to find a pretty woman with great lips and a tight dress watching me closely. "Yep. She's watching you, buddy. I give it ten minutes and she'll be in the back room, on her knees, sucking you off."

He groaned. "Fuck that sounds good."

"Too much. Too soon." I filled up my plate and made my way to one of the tables where some of the other players were. We chatted about baseball, tits, and money as we ate. Nothing out of the ordinary. The bucket of beer between us ran out far too quickly, and I was nominated to get another one.

"Alright. Alright. Shit." I got up and walked to the bar, reaching into my back pocket. Where the fuck was Alan, Joe, and Martin? I was almost positive all of them would have been there by then. "I need two buckets of beer, please."

"You bet, handsome." The bartender gave me a flirty smile and turned to start working on my order.

"So brunettes?" The pretty blond from across the room smiled over at me.

"I'm sorry?" I turned to face her a little and took her in. Too thin. Always.

"I see you checking out the bartender. Do you only like brunettes?" She gave me a pouty look. Money and dick. That's all the women in my life wanted. It was a little sickening, and yet the bastard in me woke up and stretched. Time to play.

"I'm not concerned with the color of her hair. I just wanna know if she spits or swallows."

Her expression turned seductive. "And which do you prefer?"

"Come on now, baby doll. You know men like a woman who knows how to drink the good stuff." I turned back to the bartender and paid the tab. I turned back to her and let my eyes move down her body slowly, feeling nothing. "Why? You thirsty?"

"For you? Absolutely."

"Good. There's a room in the back just before the bathrooms. Head that way and I'll give you what you're after." I turned and walked away from her, not at all concerned with what she or anyone else thought. She wanted to suck a dick? She could borrow mine for a while.

"Fuck you, man." Jeremy moved up beside me.

"Not my type, handsome." I winked at him before setting the beers down. I grabbed one for myself.

"I'm talking about the blond. She was totally waiting to pounce on you, wasn't she?"

"Oh yeah." I hit my beer against his. "I'm going in for a blow job. Pull me out in about ten minutes. Closet before the bathrooms."

"What? Why?"

"Cause I'm not sticking my dick anywhere but her pretty mouth. Do what I said, or I'll get you back good for leaving me there." I turned and walked to the small closet, knowing that Jeremy would help me out. I'd done it for him a week or two before.

"Hi." She stood beside the door.

I opened the door and moved back. "After you, princess."

She moved into the closet and turned to face me as I reached up and pulled the string for the light. "I love watching you on the field."

"Great. On your knees, please." I reached out and helped her down before leaning back and pressing my upper back to the wall. "Have fun."

"What? Do you want me to just-"

"Pull it out and suck it. You asked for it. No playing shy. It's a waste of time." I reached down and slid my fingers into her blond hair, hating the stiff texture of it. She had too much of something in it.

"Okay." She moved in and worked me out of my pants, moaning and groaning about the size of my dick.

I pulled her closer and wrapped my fingers around a thick chunk of her hair to hold her in place as I slid the full length of my shaft down into her mouth and deeper into her throat.

She didn't gag. She knew exactly what she was doing. Good. It made me feel like less of a bastard. I closed my eyes and imagined Terra on her knees, her nighty a soft pink, her nipples hard and cheeks red from embarrassment. I'd let her suck me off a million times when we were kids, and fuck if she wasn't amazing at it.

I'd be her first, and she mine. I wanted the rest of her first times, but something told me that they were already gone.

My orgasm swelled in my balls, and I picked up my pace, fucking the pretty blond fast and hard. She gripped my thighs and held on like a champ, taking more and more of me until my shaft was covered to the base in sticky wetness.

"Fuck," I moaned and let myself go, pumping my hips and letting her drink me dry. Dizziness had me reaching for the wall behind me as I leaned back and pulled my cock from her. Guilt slammed into me as it always did. I wasn't the kind of man to fuck a girl's face in a closet, and yet there I stood, doing just that.

"Delicious." She stood up and smiled. "Fuck me?"

"Yeah, baby." I spun her around and bit my lip. Come on, Jeremy.

"I've wanted you since you started playing baseball seven years ago." She slid her hands up the wall and arched her back. Her ass barely caused a bump in her skirt. I needed so much more.

A knock on the door had her yelping. I jerked it open to find Jeremy standing there - wide-eyed. "Fuck, Dude. You need to get out here. Martin was in an accident and didn't make it."

"What?" I pulled my pants up and tucked myself inside, grateful for the bastard. "Sorry. I gotta go."

"Next time?" she called after me.

"Yeah. Of course." I wrapped an arm around Jeremy's shoulders as we walked back to the team. "Dude. Ten minutes. Not twelve. Not fifteen. Fuck."

"Danny-" he started.

"And don't mess around like that. Use something else next time. Martin is like a dad to me." We walked up to the team, and the pale faces and a few teary eyes caused me to stop. "What's going on?"

"Dude. I just told you." Jeremy pulled from me and turned to face me. "Martin got in a car accident on the way over here. Joe was driving and he's okay, but Martin didn't make it."

It was almost like time stilled. Everything moved in slow motion.

"No," I whispered and turned to walk toward the door. I pulled out my phone and found a message from Lance to call him as soon as possible. "Fuck."

I walked out into the cold night air, knowing I should call, but there was no way I could get my voice to work. Pain laced the center of my chest, and the memories of losing my sister, Jannie three years before, roared to life.

Death was finality. It was a fucking bastard that took and took and never gave back.

"No." I got on my bike and started it up. I'd just go to Martin's and find him there. He probably just skipped out. He had to have. My thoughts raced back to a couple days before as I pulled out of the parking lot with my heart racing.

We'd won the game and I'd finished showering last, leaving me the only one in the locker room. After getting my shit together, I had walked back up to the field. The bright lights were still on, and yet it was completely silent on the field. I walked toward the pitcher’s mound, something I'd done a million times, and yet that time it felt different.

I stepped on the mound and bounced my feet as the wind shifted and blew hard up against me. I let my eyes move along the outfield and breathed in the smell of the stadium. My heart swelled in my chest. My life was so damn full. Only one thing was missing.

"You've been in love with this place and this sport your whole life." It wasn't a question. I turned to find Martin standing in front of the first row of seats behind home plate.

"Yes, Sir. I have been." I walked toward him and smiled. "I hear you're coming out drinking with us tonight."

His chuckle was warm. "I guess I'm stuck then."

"I'm glad you are. The guys need to see you from time to time."

"Naw, but it's a nice gesture." He moved to sit down in one of the seats as I walked closer. "You know that my time here with the team is almost up, right Daniel?"

"I do." I slipped my hands into my jean pockets. "I'm not happy about it, but I understand you wanting to do something else with your life."

"That does sound nice." He leaned back and let out a long sigh. "I know everyone is nervous about Terra taking over when I resign, but she’d be so good for you guys. She’d wake you up."

I wanted to tell him that I loved her. That I always had, and that I probably wouldn't stay if she came back. It hurt too fucking much to watch her rule the world - my world - and not be able to reach out and take her as my own. A mixture of sadness and anger burned through me.

"Promise me something." He leaned forward, pressing his forearms to his legs.

"Yeah. Anything." I pulled my hands-free and reached up, gripping the bars above me. He'd been like a father to me most of my life, right alongside my own.

"Don't leave for at least one season after she gets here, okay? I know you two have a past-"

"Martin."

"I'm serious. You walking off the team would be hard for her to come back from, with the players and within herself."

Did he know what we were together? What she meant to me.

"You don't know what you're asking me to do." I pleaded with him with my eyes.

"I do, and I'm sorry for asking, but you're like a son to me, Daniel. Do this thing for me and help my baby transition. She's going to come in screaming and kicking."

"And if I can't?"

"Then I respect that too." He smiled and leaned back. "Although seven years does seem long enough to suffer over a broken heart."

"I'm not sure it will ever heal." I dropped one hand and rubbed my chest. "You still miss Mrs. Harmon?"

"Every day. Every night." He glanced up at the heavens and smiled. "That's why I never remarried. There's no need to. Not when you had the best the first time around."

I chuckled. "I'll do my best to honor you, Martin. I'll stay as long as I can, especially if it helps Terra."

He turned his attention back to me. "Good. Now, get out of here and go live your life."

"This is my life." I turned and walked toward the parking lot, waving over my shoulder and thinking about the promise he wanted from me. It was an asinine thing to do to me, but he loved Terra too much to let her stand alone, and she wouldn't. I'd help as long as my heart could bare it.

Tears blurred my gaze as I tried to stay focused on the road. It was my fucking fault that Martin had come to Ruska's in the first fucking place. How could I ever explain that to Lance? Or better yet, to Terra?

I couldn't, and it was pointless trying.

Chapter 8

Terra

I couldn't get a red eye out the night before. So instead, I paced the floor at my house, vomiting every couple of hours when I let my emotions get the best of me. Lance checked in several times during the night, but we did no good talking to each other. It only seemed to make matters worse, like we couldn't find comfort in each other.

My flight wasn't leaving until ten, which gave me far too much time left on my hands. I waited until the sun came up to call Niki. She needed to know what was going on, and with any hope, she would get to come to Seattle to help me through my dad's funeral and such.

"Hey. Shit. What time is it." She yawned loudly in the phone.

Just the sound of her left me crippled. I dropped down on the couch and let out a little sob, unable to help myself.

"Terra?" Panic filled her voice.

"Daddy got in a car accident last night and didn't make it." I pressed my hand to my face.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry. I should be closer. I could come over and hold you."

"It's okay. I just wish I could quit crying." I wiped at my eyes, angrily. "I'm still in shock."

"You will be for a while, sweetheart. When are you flying back to Washington?"

"At ten this morning." I forced myself up and took a deep breath. "Is there any way that-"

"Yes. Whatever it is. I'll be there for you. I'm here for you now."

Her kindness left me fending off another wave of tears. "Thank you. I just wanted to see if you could come to the funeral. I'm going to need you. Lance is going to have to lean on Danny or one of his other friends. Every time we talk, we just end up balling on the phone together."

"Oh, Terra. I'm sorry, honey. I'll be there. I'll get a flight in today and will stand beside you the whole time. My Aunt Catherine lives here in New York. I'll see if she can keep Benji for a few days."

"Okay." I took a shaky breath. "I'll tell you everything when I see you in Seattle. I don't want to go through all of it again right now."

"I understand. Text or call me anytime you need to, and be safe. Let me know when you get home for sure."

"Okay. See you there." I tossed the phone behind me onto the couch and walked to the living room, just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

Home. Seattle would always be home. It's where I was raised. Where I went to school and fell in love for the first time. It's where every good memory I had left of my mother lived.

"How did this happen?" I sat down and pressed my face to my hands as weariness rolled over me in thick waves. How in the world could I ever make it without my father? As far as I was concerned, I couldn't.

A knock at the door surprised me. I stood and walked to the door, grabbing a robe on my way. I was a little surprised to see Paul standing on the other side. It was way too damn early for him to be up.

"Hey." He reached out and touched my arm. "I heard about your dad."

"What? How?" I moved back and opened the door wider. "Come on in."

"I guess Barry found out late last night." He walked in and made his way to the kitchen. "Maybe there's some channel for owners?"

"Who knows." I followed him, a little bit glad that he was there. It was nice to be around someone, even Paul. "I'm leaving for Seattle at ten this morning."

"I figured you'd already be gone, but I wanted to stop by just in case." He turned to face me and pulled me close, wrapping his strong arms around me. "You left so fast last night. I wish you would have let me go with you, Terra."

I pulled back. Life was too short to pretend that I was happy with what we had. It was the worst fucking time in the world to tell him, but he needed to know. "I appreciate you coming over, Paul, but this thing between us is over."

He slipped his hands into his pockets. "I think you're just reacting out of pain, which I get. You go to Seattle and we'll take a break. If you decide that you don't want us when you get back, then I'll respect that. Just don't make that decision now."

I nodded, not willing to respond. I'd already made the decision, but I didn't have the energy to explain that to him.

"Thanks for coming over." I walked to the coffee pot. "It's really sweet of you."

He moved in behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders before leaning down and kissing the side of my neck. "I want to be here for you, Terra. You know I care about you."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't hang out without getting laid." I laughed bitterly.

"Hey. Don't do that right now. You're hurting. Let me make you some breakfast and then take you to the airport."

I reached up to cup my face as another wave of tears burned my eyes. "I'm sorry. Just ignore me."

He forced me to turn and held me tightly. "Never. It's going to be okay. Time heals all wounds."

I bit my tongue and kept my snappy comebacks to myself. Time might heal his wounds, but there was no way in hell they would ever wipe away the need to see my dad smile, to hear him laugh, to get 'a look' from him.

No one would understand that but Lance and of course Danny.

Though it was stupid, the thought of sinking into his embrace was the only thing that kept me standing upright.

It was sick, but it was what it was.

"Sis." Lance walked toward me as I jogged down the hall to the baggage claim. There was an urgency inside of me to see my brother. I crashed into him and tucked my face into the crook of his neck as I cried. "It's okay. I'm here. We're going to get through this together."

I nodded, but held on tightly to him and cried as my response. I wasn't normally so dramatic, but everything felt muted, wrong without my father in the world. It took a few minutes to pull myself together, but I finally did.

"It's not fair." I moved out of Lance's arms and walked to the baggage claim.

"I know it's not." He wiped at his face and reached for my bag, lugging it off the belt. "Is Niki coming home too?"

"Yeah. It's not until tomorrow though." I slipped my arm into my brother's and walked with him to the door. "Have you seen anyone yet or made any arrangements?"

"No. I got in at three this morning." He released my arm and held the door for me. "I plan on going to see Danny and maybe Alan today."

"How is Joe?" I wrapped my arms around me, unnerved by the fact that it was wet and cold in Seattle. It was late spring for shit's sake.

"No clue. I'm going to see him later today too. You want to come?"

"No. I don't want to see anyone just yet." I took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not sure I could hold myself together around anyone but you and maybe Niki."

"And that's perfectly fine." He moved up to a small red Honda and popped the trunk. "You want to drive or want me to?"

"You can." I got in the car and leaned back, closing my eyes. Weariness sat on me like a well-worn coat. It was nice to be home for the first time in years, but I hated the reason for being there. I waited until Lance was in the car to speak up again. "Have you talked with Danny?"

"No. I told him to call me, but he didn't. If I know him well enough, he's pretty fucked up over this too."

"Of course he is. Daddy meant the world to him too." I turned and looked out the window at the dismal weather. "I'm thinking we'll do the funeral on Friday. That will give us time to get everyone in town. That sound okay to you?"

"Yes. That gives us two days." Lance reached over and took my hand. "We're going to figure this out."

"Figure what out?" I turned my attention to him as anger burned down to the depths of my soul. "Figure out that everyone we love is gone besides each other?" My voice cracked again.

"Terra. Don't do that. Dad wouldn't want you to-"

"You don't know what Dad would have wanted, Lance. We left him, remember? We both split and left him alone with one thing to focus on and love. That fucking baseball team."

"Sis."

"No. Please. Just leave me be for now. Please." I pulled my hand from his and turned back to the window. There were no words that could heal my heart, not yet at least.

I just prayed no one else would try and help me get over it.

I wasn't anywhere near ready, and I couldn't see a time when I would be.

Life was fleeting. Short. Fucked up and ugly.

At least mine was.

Chapter 9

Daniel

I somehow made it home the night before. My emotions were all over the fucking place and I couldn't shake the fact that Terra needed me. Truth be known, I was probably the last person she needed. I was a horde of bad memories mixed among the good ones to her. The only place I could find her where she still loved me was in my dreams.

"Danny," she whispered roughly, her mouth against the side of my neck as she lay curled up behind me.

I woke and blinked a few times, trying to decide if I were lost in another dream. The soft brush of her fingertips down my chest and over my stomach left me not giving a shit where I was. As long as she didn't stop touching me, I'd have stayed there forever.

"What, baby?" I gripped her hand and pulled it down further until I got her where I wanted her. She stroked my cock, and my body lit on fire. The delicious press of her breasts against my back had my balls tight.

"You awake?" She licked the side of my neck.

I groaned and squeezed my ass, pressing forward to force my engorged cock through her tight grip. "Fuck, yeah, angel. I'm awake and hard for you."

"I love it." She ran her hand down my shaft and scraped her nails carefully over my balls.

"Fuck," I moaned and pulled her hand from me. "Suck me off?"

"Anything you want, Danny." She moved back, and I rolled onto my back, praying like hell that I could stay in the dream long enough to feel her lips around my dick.

"I just want you." I almost lost my breath as she moved up from behind me and crawled down my body. Her dark red hair tickled my stomach, and I reached down and slid my hand in it as she reached my cock. "I love you so much, baby."

"Not as much as me, but it's okay." She gave me a sexy smile. It was our cute little saying we'd been handing over to each other most of our lives. Or when we were together at least. Her pretty pink tongue ran over the long length of my erection, pressing down on the thick vein that ran along the base of my dick.

"Fuck," I groaned again and lifted my chin as my eyes closed. She was everything I wanted in my life as a partner, but the heat between us in the bed put it over the top. We've never properly made love, but I'd tasted every square inch of her, and she had returned the favor more times than I could count.

Her soft moan caught my attention, and I opened my eyes to watch her take the full length of me in her mouth. She glanced up, her eyes watering a little from too much dick, and I fell in love all over again.

"Please don't leave me," I whispered and gripped the side of her face, pulling her down the last inch.

She flicked her tongue over my head, and the world disappeared. I grunted and lifted my hips as she used her hands and mouth to milk the fuck outta me. Never in my life had I enjoyed something so much.

"Come here." I reached down and grabbed her under the arms, pulling her up my body. "I want to feel your sweet little pussy wrapped around me."

"Be careful with me," she said seductively as she pressed her elbows against the bed by my face and rolled her hips. The movement teased the head of my cock and forced a little of it inside of her.

"I'd never hurt you." I ran my hands down her back, wanting so goddamn bad to push her down on my shaft and fuck her with the wild intensity I felt building up inside of me. Soon. Not her first time, but soon.

"But you did. You do every day." She sat up and slid down my cock, her body not nearly as tight as I'd expected. "So I'll fuck you this time and walk away, just like you fucked me in the past."

"What are you talking about baby?" A cold sweat washed over me, and the pleasure I'd expected to feel fled from the scene. Had she been with another man? Of course, she had. No fucking way she was going to wait on me. How stupid was I?

Did I really care? No. Not in the slightest. I had her now and she wasn't going anywhere.

"You know what I'm talking about, Danny." Her expression tightened just before she got off of me and stood at the edge of the bed. "And now, you killed my dad."

I woke up with a gasp, my dick rock hard and weeping, but my heart torn to shreds. Fuck me for telling Martin he needed to come hang with us. It was my fault, and she'd know that soon enough. I'd never win her back, and yet there was no way I wasn't trying. I'd fight against myself every fucking inch of the way, but if she were coming back to Seattle, I was taking what was mine, emotions, and feelings be damned.

"Hey." I walked onto the field later that day and stopped beside Joe, our head coach. He looked like a ghost, but I understood why. Him driving the car when he and Martin were hit had me wondering why the hell he was even on the field so soon.

"Danny." He nodded my way. "Get out on the field. You're almost late, and I'm in the mood to chew someone's ass. If you want it to be yours, keep standing here."

"Nope. Just wanted you to know-"

"Save it, kid." He nodded toward the field. "Go."

"Yes, Sir." I jogged out onto the field for a warm-up round before the game. No one looked ready to play. Our catcher, Gary stood from his kneeling position as I walked onto the mound. He pulled his mask off and gave me a sad smile.

I let out a sigh and walked toward him. There was no fucking way for any of us to ignore the situation, not that we wanted to. We'd be lucky to hold our own during the game thanks to the weight of Martin's death hanging all around us.

"Hey. You doing okay?" He stopped in front of me, the old guy kind and an all-around favorite on the team. He was closest to Martin outside of me and the coaches.

"I've been better. I need to call Lance, but I just can't bring myself to do it. It's my fault that Martin's gone." I swallowed hard but squared my shoulders. Where I'd wanted to keep the information to myself, I couldn't with Gary, and I knew I wouldn't be able to with Lance. It was half the reason I hadn't called him yet, though I knew I needed to.

"Bullshit kid." He reached out and gripped my shoulder. "Martin was his own man. You had no control over him."

"I agree with that." I stared the old man in the face as the crowds poured into the stadium. "I'm the one that made him feel like he had to come out with us though."

"And he did." He squeezed my shoulder and released it. "It's not your fault. You're not God, and the sooner you realize that the easier your life will become."

I snorted. I wasn't humble, but I sure as hell didn't think I was a god. "What about the funeral? Any word on that yet?"

He pulled his cap off and glanced around before settling his steely eyes back on me. "From what I understand, Terra and the rest of the family are coming in today or tonight. The funeral will be on Friday to give them time to make arrangements and get the word out. I'm sure it's going to be a packed house."

"Do they have a place big enough to hold everyone?" I ignored the deep desire to see Terra and hold her tightly against me. She wouldn't want my comfort, and I couldn't blame her.

"No clue, but you know Terra. She'll figure it out."

"I wish she didn't have to." I took a deep breath. "She should just get to be Martin's daughter this weekend."

"She'll always be Martin's little girl, Danny, but she's a grown woman now. She's so much more than you might remember." A smile played at the side of his lips. "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"Seven years." I didn't hesitate. I didn't need to. I'd caught a glimpse of her on TV or haunting the stadium when Oakland came up to play from time to time, but I hadn't stood in front of her in a lot of years.

"Well, the timing is off and quite shitty, but I'll warn you to hold onto your hat, boy. If you were in love with her back then, you're going to have a hard ass time not tripping over yourself to get to her now."

"I'm going to the funeral as a friend," I mumbled. "I'm not interested in anything else."

He nodded and turned to walk back to the plate, his voice carrying behind him. "Yep. You keep telling yourself that."

Chapter 10

Terra

"T? You up?" My brother's voice slipped under the closed door of my bedroom. Staying at Dad's house while I was in Seattle was a blessing and a curse. I knew once I got past the funeral that it would feel good to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and laugh the night away with my brother beside me. We were the best of friends, but for some reason, I felt disconnected from him right now. Hell, I felt disconnected from everyone.

Defense mechanism.

"Yeah. I'm up." I rolled out of bed and grabbed my robe, pulling it on and tightening it. He extended a cup of coffee as I pulled the door open.

"For you."

I smiled and took it, glancing down to see that it was the light brown color that only he and my dad got right. "Looks like a dessert." I forced a smile.

"Just like you like it?" He moved back, his dark brown eyes warm and welcoming.

"Yeah. Thanks." I moved out of the bedroom and stopped in front of him. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me, cradling me against his chest. "There's nothing to apologize for. I have no clue which part you're talking about, but I'm good. I just wish I could take all of this away for both of us."

"Me too." I moved back and waited for him to turn and walk down the hall before following him. "Let's make some breakfast and then I guess meet with the funeral home or maybe Dad's lawyers?"

"Unfortunately, both." He walked into the kitchen, and his phone rang from across the room. "I hope that's Danny."

"Why?" I took a seat at the breakfast table and tried to keep my voice even. Just the mention of Danny's name and a million emotions rose up inside of me. Some good, some not so good at all. I knew I'd have to see him the next day at the funeral, but I was dreading it. Some part of me was so fucking angry that he'd denied me his first time and yet I'd saved mine for him.

What a slut he'd become, and me? I was still holding on for a great wedding night with a guy that didn't exist. What a joke.

"Cause he hasn't called and he's avoiding me." He picked up the phone and walked over to sit down next to me as he answered it. "This is Lance."

I motioned for him to put it on speaker. He gave me a silly look but did as I asked.

"Hey man. It's Danny." My heart leaped into my throat at the sound of his voice. I might have melted to the floor like a damn drama queen had my brother not been watching me for signs of an emotional explosion.

"Hey. I was wondering if you were going to call." Lance leaned back and crossed his legs. "You doing okay?"

"I've been better." Danny's voice sounded like masculine sensuality. "I should have called Lance, but I've been so fucked up over this. I loved your dad, man."

Tears burned the back of my eyes. Of course, he loved daddy. He’d been half-raised by him like the rest of us, and when I left... Danny stayed beside him and played on his team.

"I know, man. We're going to get through this. No worries on not calling. I know you were working through all of it." Lance let out a long sigh. "We're meeting with the lawyers and the funeral home today. They've already buzzed me ten times since the accident."

"The funeral home has?" He sounded confused.

"No. My dad's lawyers. I swear to God those guys just don't get it." Lance glanced up at me. "Terra got in okay yesterday, but she's a hot mess."

I gave him a look and mouthed, 'really'?

Danny's voice softened. "I bet. She was always your dad's favorite out of all of us."

Lance chuckled. "Yeah. She was."

I wiped at my tears and stood, not sure I could listen into any more of Danny being sweet about me.

"I keep dreaming about her again, Lance. Dreams where she loves me again, man."

My brother snatched up the phone and took it off speaker, giving me a less than pleased look and walking off to another room of the house. As if it were my damn fault that I'd heard Danny's confession. It sort of was.

He dreams of me? Of me loving him?

That old familiar feeling of desire to belong to him roared to life inside of me, but I forced it behind the depression from losing Daddy. It was my time to mourn, not dig up old relationships and dust them off. Danny and I had made our peace angrily years before. We were nothing to each other, no matter how much I wanted us to be.

"When is Niki coming into town?" My brother glanced over at me as we rode to the lawyer's office. The visit with the Funeral home had been fast and so much better than I thought it would be. They'd be taking care of everything, and what they couldn't do, Lance was doing.

"She should be in tonight sometime. I told her just to come out to dad's house. She can stay with us."

He nodded as he pulled up to a huge high rise. "I'd like that. Is she bringing Benji?"

"No. Her Aunt is watching him." I unbuckled and got out of the car, turning to look at my brother over the top of the roof. "Danny still talks about me?"

"Some." He shrugged and walked to the door, opening it and moving back. "He's not fallen in love since we were kids. I blame you for that."

I laughed and walked in. "Whatever, Lance. You know how much I wanted the two of us to be something, and twenty isn't a kid. He chose his path."

"And you chose yours." He pressed his hand to the small of my back and directed me to the left down a long hall. "Listen, you know that Dad just changed his will, so I'm sure there's going to be an investigation."

"What?" I glanced over at him as my voice rose. "Why would they investigate? I didn't ask him to change it."

"It's just standard procedure. Just try not to bite this guy's head off. He's not the most tactful person in the world."

"Great," I mumbled and stopped at the opening of a huge, overdone office.

"Mr. Tan? We're here about our father-" Lance started, but the small Asian man cut him off.

"Martin Harmon's kids. Come on in, please." He motioned for us to sit down at a round table in the center of his office. "Can I get you a coffee, water, tea?"

"No. We're fine." Lance moved up beside me as we walked over and took our seats.

I shook my head no.

"Alright. Firstly, please accept my condolences. Martin was a great man and loved you both more than you probably know." He pulled out a file. "There were recent changes to his will, and we'll set up everything next week to start working through the file and the disbursements, but I need some papers filed." He glanced up at both of us. "Terra was named as the next owner of the team here in Seattle. You're both aware of that?"

I turned to my brother, choosing the worst time to fight over the team, but I wasn't taking the cash cow and leaving my brother with a house and half a bankroll. The team made more money than everything else put together.

"Let's just co-own the team, Lance." I reached out and gripped his wrist as it sat on the table.

"No. I'm not interested." He shook his head and gave me a warning look. "Dad and I discussed this at length before he changed the will. I'm busy in New York with a new research project."

"Then I'll run the team and move back here to help with it, but you need to get half the revenue." I dished him up an equally motherly look.

"No. I'm not interested, Sis. It's yours. Period." He pulled his hand from mine and turned to Mr. Tan. "Dad wanted her to fully have ownership over the team. It's hers. We're not changing that."

He chuckled. "You actually can't change it without a pretty nasty legal battle, but I will tell you that it will leave your sister a billionaire and you only a multi-millionaire. Your father’s assets are vast, but with the market value of the baseball team, it’s quite a sum of money." He glanced down and flipped through the papers.

"Good. I think I can live with just being filthy rich. My sister can be the billionaire and live in the spotlight." Lance gave me a cocky smile.

“Brother.” I rolled my eyes. My brother and my father had ganged up on me for my own good - one last time.

Chapter 11

Daniel

I drank myself into a semi-comma that night after the game. Most of us did. Thankfully, Gary gave me a lift back to the house and helped me get into bed. He was a good guy. Much better of a friend than I deserved.

I woke Friday morning in a panic. What time is it?

Martin's funeral was at ten and I hadn't thought to set an alarm. I rolled out of bed and hit the floor hard, my stomach lurching as I tried to stand up.

"Ugh. Fuck," I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. Drinking at thirty was totally different than drinking at twenty. At least the morning after was. After stumbling around the room like I was still drunk, I found my phone. 8:30.

"Thank God." I took a few deep breaths and tried to wake up. After a few minutes of pacing the floor in front of my bed, I forced myself into the shower and changed into the only black shirt, tie and slacks I had. I debated over whether to wear a jacket or not, but the sound of my father in the back of my head answered the question for me.

"Jackets are required for weddings, funerals and public events. Period."

"Got it," I said and pulled the jacket over my shoulders. After checking myself one more time in the mirror, I grabbed the keys to the bike and headed to the funeral home. There was no way in hell they were going to have enough room to hold everyone, but I reminded myself that it wasn't my problem. I had to pay my respects, carry the casket as a pallbearer and try not to lose my shit over seeing Terra for the first time in seven years.

Something told me that the first two items on my list were cake compared to the last.

A million questions raced through my mind as I made my way to the funeral home. What did she look like up close? Had she found someone else? Was she happy? Did she want kids when we got married and I built her the house of her dreams?

I scoffed at my ridiculous thoughts and parked the bike next to a row of expensive cars. Baseball players and their toys.

"Daniel. There you are." My father walked out into the parking lot and offered his hand. "Your mom was getting worried that you might skip out."

"No. Never." I hugged my dad and walked into the building to find it as I'd expected - packed. The soft elevator music mixed with the sound of crying and the smell of moth balls had my stomach lurching again.

Fuck me for getting wasted the night before.

"Your mom is sitting up near the front. I think Lance is near that office over there. I’m sure he’d love to see you." My father pointed to a row of offices and rubbed the middle of my back. "We're here for you."

"I know, dad. Thanks." I walked towards the offices and tried to catch my breath. It was insane, but the woman of my dreams was somewhere in one of the rooms around me. My pulse raced and sweat collected on my hands and forehead. Shit. I wasn't going to make it.

"Hey. You looking for me?" Lance walked up and smiled, offering me a quick, brotherly hug.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm late, man." I hugged him tightly before moving back. "You need me to do anything?"

"No, and you're not late. We're starting in ten minutes." He smiled and shook his head. "Being on time is a waste of time, right?"

"You stole the words from my mouth."

"Excuse me, Mr. Harmon. Can I talk to you for a minute? Sorry to interrupt." An elderly woman with a hymnal in her hand walked up beside us.

"Do what you need to do, man. I'll be up front with you guys and my folks." I patted his arm. "I'm here for you."

"I know you are." He winked and turned to the lady, leaving me standing there, sweating my balls off again. Where was Terra? I didn't want to walk up on her and be surprised. I needed a minute.

A hard-on in a funeral was beyond fifty shades of grey. I moved up to the opening to the sanctuary and paused, letting my eyes move along the crowds until I spotted someone with hair the color of fire. Dark red locks billowed down her back, accentuating just how tiny she was up top. Her hips jutted out, and her ass forced her fitted black dress to curve beautifully.

"Shit." I swallowed hard and glanced down toward my shoes as I breathed in through my mouth. She was everything I remembered her to be and probably so much more.

"Fuck, dude. Have you seen Martin's daughter?" One of the guys from the outfield moved up beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Daniel. She has to be the most beautiful woman I've seen in months."

"Years." Another guy moved up on my other side. "She has curves in all the right places, and her confidence is wicked hot."

"Chill it." I growled at both of them. "She just lost her dad for fuck's sake."

"I know." One of them lifted his hand in surrender as the other disappeared into the crowd, headed Terra's way. "I was just telling you about her. Shit, man."

"I already know about her." I straightened up and brushed my hand down my chest. "She's going to be taking over for Martin, so learn to respect her. She's not just a pretty face." I glanced his way. "She's your new boss."

"I'm down." He gave me a cocky smile.

"Good luck." I walked into the room and nodded at a few people, shook a few hands and tried hard to force the conversation with the guys out of my head. Everyone would be vying for Terra's attention, but I knew here, no one would get it.

"Thank you so much for coming." Her voice carried behind her as I took the final few steps between us.

"You've become such a lovely woman, Terra. I know your dad is so proud of you." Alan, our GM reached out and shook Terra’s hand, the sad look on his face a replica of everyone else walking around.

"Thanks, Mr. Danes. I'm sure we'll be talking sooner rather than later." She reached up and brushed her hair over her shoulder, sending the sweet aroma of her shampoo to smack me in the face. As if I needed any other stimuli.

"Good." Alan's attention turned to me. "Daniel. I just saw your folks somewhere around here."

I stiffened and so did Terra. "Yes, Sir. They're mingling with everyone."

"You look nice son." He moved past me and patted me on the chest as he did. "You clean up well."

Terra turned around and pursed her lips. There were so many things I wanted to tell her, but more than anything else, I wanted to pull her close and kiss her until her knees fucking gave out.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, not fully able to find enough air.

"Thanks." She held my gaze, not at all fazed by me from what I could tell. There was a hint of anger in her expression unless I misread it. "It's good to see you."

"You too. You look-"

"Terra! Darling. You just look stunning." An older woman who was dressed to go to a masquerade ball took Terra's attention away from me.

She turned without blinking an eye and moved into the woman's arms. I took a deep breath and found my parents. There was no need in analyzing the moment. She wasn't glad to see me in the slightest, and I couldn't blame her.

My mom leaned over and kissed my cheek as I sat down between her and my dad. "Did you see Terra? My God. She's so beautiful, Daniel."

"What?" My dad leaned around the front of me, whispering loudly.

"Shh!" My mom responded, rolled her eyes and turned to the front as the service started.

I sat between them with my eyes on Terra. It was a long ass half-hour of watching her shoulder shake and knowing that she was hurting. I should have been the man next to her. The one with his arms around her, holding her as she lost her hero, but I wasn't.

I was a few rows back, watching helplessly. There was no fucking way she was going to let me close to her.

And as sick as it was, there was some sense of satisfaction deep down in the darkest parts of my soul. I might not have been her man, but no one else was either. Which meant there was still a chance.

A slim one, but that's all I needed.

Chapter 12

Terra

Numbness surrounded me as I stood at the edge of my father's grave. Rain drizzled from above, almost making the memory perfect. I'd suffer for a long time trying to get over losing him, but one thing would have made it so much easier.

Having someone that loved me intimately suffocating me with love.

But it wasn't meant to be. I glanced up and turned, catching Danny's eye as he stood a row behind me with the other team members that had carried my father's casket. He was beyond beautiful, a well-aged version of the boy I'd fallen in love with.

Anger was my only protection against him, and I knew I needed one. The little bits of his conversation with my brother left me with one conclusion. He was interested, but it was for the wrong reasons. It had to be. The sport meant everything to him and now I was going to own my father's team?

Where I didn't think Danny was anything like Paul, I couldn't help but wonder what his intentions were.

He'd chosen his future over me. Plain and simple. And it was probably a good thing.

His hot and cold affection confused me back in school. He'd pushed our lust to a certain point and shut us down, leaving me to feel needy and slutty by my desire to push him farther. He didn't want to close the gap between being kids and being lovers. I understood it more now, but it still stung like a bitch. If I let him back into my life, would he do it again? Take us to a certain point and freeze up? Shut down? Walk away?

I turned back to the graveside as the preacher finished up his part.

"The Harmon's want to thank all of you today for coming. They'll be hosting a come and go brunch at Martin's house. There are flyers with directions if you're interested. Thank you and God bless." He nodded and gave me a sad smile.

Lance slipped his hand into mine. "Come on. Let's get over to the house before everyone else does."

"Okay." I pulled my hand from my brother's but moved in behind him.

"You guys need some help?" Danny jogged up to us, keeping in step with me instead of Lance.

"No," I responded as Lance glanced back and said, "Yes."

Danny laughed softly. "Alright. I'm coming. I'm like one of the kids too."

I bit my tongue. He should have been my husband, the father to all of the kids I didn't have.

"Hey! Wait up." Niki jogged up to the other side of me and slipped her hand into mine. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks." She leaned forward a little and bit her lip. "Danny McAdams. Looking hot as usual."

He smiled. "Thanks, Niki. You look great yourself. How is your little guy?"

We got to the car, and I pulled out of Niki's hold and got into the front seat, sparing myself the long ride back to my dad's with Danny pressed to the side of me. Conflicted emotions had me sick to my stomach by the time we got to the house. I'd mumbled a few responses to the conversation in the back between my brother, Niki, and Danny. It was like old times, except I didn't feel at all like a part of what they were up to.

"Thanks." I smiled over at the driver and got out. I'd entertain everyone for a little while and fake illness. It wasn't too farfetched seeing that nausea swam in my stomach.

"Terra. Wait up." Niki called to me, and I paused long enough for her to reach me.

We walked to the front of the house in silence. One of my father's many staff members opened the door. "Miss Harmon."

"Thanks." I walked into the house and let out a soft sigh. "Sorry. Something about being around Danny leaves me feeling a million times more broken than I am."

"I understand that." Niki slid her arm into mine. "Come on. Let's get some food and something to drink and find a corner to hunker down in. You know you're going to be bombarded with people soon."

"Sounds good." I walked over to the food table and let my eyes move across the various items. Nothing looked good. I moved out of the way and turned to find my brother and Danny talking with Alan, Joe and Gary, the old guys that were part of my father's baseball organization. Each of them means so much to him. So much more than maybe they knew.

Danny's shoulders pressed against the black button up he wore, and his ass looked so damn good in his slacks. His thick legs caught my attention, and by the time Niki caught up to me, I was wet, aching and panting a little.

"Hey. What's going on with you?" She gave me a funny grin. Her eyes followed my gaze and she snorted. "You seriously think you're going to be able to deny yourself a roll in the sheets with Danny McAdams? You're outta your fucking mind, Terra."

"I'm not giving into him." I narrowed my eyes and turned to face her. "He's not getting back into my life."

"How about just into your body?" She wagged her eyebrows and gave me a sexy smile.

"No. I can't." I turned around to find him watching me with the same interest I watched him with. "He'll fuck me up for sure."

He smiled and mouthed. "What?"

I shook my head and gave him an ugly look before turning my back to him. "He denied me a million times in high school. Fuck him."

"I'd fuck him. For sure." She turned and pressed her shoulder against mine. "Maybe a release would be good." She leaned around the front of me. "It would be healing."

"Or damning." I walked over to the bar. "Whiskey please."

"And Coke?" The bartender offered a smile.

"Just whiskey. A double shot, please." I stiffened as someone moved up next to me. Lance. "Thank God." I let out a long sigh. "I thought you were Danny."

He chuckled. "I see you're both up to teasing each other from across the room. Dad would be proud of you. Your poker face is on tight."

I nodded, took the drink and kicked it back, finishing it in a few long gulps. "Another." I handed it to the bartender. "No more ice, please."

I downed that one too and growled at the burn. I wasn't hoping to get drunk, but a buzz wouldn't hurt anything.

"Alright, lush. Come on." Lance took my forearm and led me back toward one of the many bedrooms in our dad's mansion. We left the door opened and walked to the bed where pictures were laid out. "I'm going to put some of these on the slide show at the next ball game. Which do you like most?"

I licked my lips and leaned over, picking out two I loved. "These."

"Lance. You needed me, man?" Danny's voice surprised me.

I glanced over my shoulder and stifled a groan. Fuck the man was a god. With so much liquor in my system, I'd have to be careful. I'd be on my knees trying to fit his enormous cock in my mouth if I weren't careful. Memories raped my insides, and I jerked back around and picked up a third picture.

"Here. I'm out." I started to walk out, but my brother grabbed my wrist. "There are more. Just stay here for a second and I'll get them."

I turned to hear him explain to Danny about the pictures too. He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Danny turned toward the door as it clicked shut and back to me. "If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was say so, Terra. You didn't need Lance's help."

I laughed hatefully. "As if." I turned back to the bed. "My brother still has some lofty hope that you'll be a part of our family."

"And you?" He moved up beside me, his mere presence causing my insides to ache.

"That ship sailed a long time ago." I refused to look at him. I couldn't. I knew the minute I did that I would sink into his arms and let him have anything he wanted from me.

"You have no idea what you do to me." He brushed a long string of hair off my shoulder.

I jerked around and stepped toward him. "Don't touch me again."

"Because you like it too much?" He closed the gap between us and passion boiled in his gaze.

"You have no clue what I like. I offered myself to you and you refused me." I laughed sardonically. "But you fucked a zillion other women, didn't you, Daniel McAdams." I moved back and took a sharp breath. I was going to break down. "The world's sexiest bachelor is back in my life, ladies and gents. He can't get to home plate with the girl he loved, but he'll swing that fucking bat for any other horny bitch in the stands."

"Terra." He reached for me, but I jerked my arm away.

"I'm leaving. Tell Lance I'll be in my bedroom."

"Don't go. I'm serious." He walked toward me as I turned and walked to the door.

"Stay away from me, Danny. I won't tell you again. You didn't want me then, and I sure as fuck don't want you now."

Chapter 13

Daniel

"Alright. You ready for this? Keep your head outta the clouds and make this shit happen tonight, McAdams." Our pitching coach, Rick, gave me a stern look as I walked out of the bathroom into the locker room.

"Got it, coach." I walked past him, not really in the mood for him singling me out. I'd do what I did best, which was pitch. That's what the fuck they paid me to do, and I'd do it.

Rodriguez walked up and clamped his hand down on the back of my neck, leaning around and smiling at me. "Word on the street is that you used to date our new owner."

"Oh yeah?" I'd been trying like a mother fucker not to think of Terra over the last two weeks. She'd made her move to Seattle with Lance's help, and they'd gotten a few other guys on the team to pitch in, but she hadn't wanted me there. It stung like a bitch and left me wanting to fuck her up emotionally. Did she think she was the only one who lost out on something all those years ago? What the fuck had she been running from when she high-tailed it down to Oakland? Me? Well, fuck her too.

"He's right man." Another pitcher moved up on my other side. "Tell us about her, Danny. Was she as sexy back then as she is now?"

I hesitated, not wanting to talk about her like a piece of meat, but what did it matter? I was hurt over her words and pissed at myself for not grabbing her and shutting her up with my tongue down her throat. I knew what she needed, and yet I refused both of us.

I should have locked the door and fucked her senseless. She wanted me to... without a doubt.

"She's always been a beautiful girl." I opened my locker and pulled a few things out.

"She means something to you, man?" Rodriguez asked.

"If she does, you need to get over that shit." The other guy laughed as Jeremy walked up.

"Cut him some slack, dick-hats." He pushed them away.

"I don't need slack." I shrugged. "We dated back in high school for a short time but it wasn't nothing to write home about. She wouldn't even put out."

"Guys. This is Terra Harmon. I think most of you know her from Martin talking so much about his baseball-loving daughter." Joe's voice filled my ears, and by the tone of it, I knew he and Terra had heard my comments.

Shit.

I turned to find her in a pair of jeans and a Seattle t-shirt. Her breasts were just a little over a handful, but her ass was way more than I could handle. I loved it. Fuck me. I loved her.

"She wanted to come down and talk to you guys for a few minutes. Give her your attention, or I'll have your balls removed before you jog out onto the field." Joe gave everyone a stern look, but his eyes narrowed when he came to me.

"Firstly, thanks for everyone who attended my father's funeral." She stepped farther into the center of the group and locked eyes with a few players. "It meant the world to me, and I know my father would have been pleased and proud of all of you."

I could almost see them swooning as she moved around the room. She had no clue how much power she had over all of them. It was a million times worse for me.

"I am taking over the team as my brother Lance wants to help cure a rare disease instead. He's into saving lives, and I'm into making them better." Everyone laughed but me.

She moved back and reached up, flinging her long dark hair over her shoulder. I could almost see the fucking boners rising in everyone's pants. It was beyond disturbing and the caveman in me wanted to fling the teasing little bitch over my shoulder and spank her ass all the way to the shower.

Who did she think she was? Making me look like an idiot in front of my guys?

She went on to talk a little more about the structure of the team and keeping things the same. Her speech was well put together and had she been anyone but my dream lover, I'd have listened to every word and decided she was probably better than Martin for us. But she was my girl. My lady. My future wife and the girl I wanted creaming on my cock every night.

To watch the fuckers around me falling in love with her was almost too much.

"We're going to be late," I barked out, looking like the asshole I felt like.

"We have three more minutes." Alan gave me a look and turned back to Terra. "Go ahead."

The light in her eyes died a little. "Any questions from anyone?"

Rodriguez stepped up, and my stomach turned sick as he glanced back at me and smiled. "I hear you used to date McAdams over there. Poor thing you." Everyone laughed, and I almost drowned in embarrassment. "You guys aren't still together, right?"

She locked eyes with me, and I knew it was going to be downhill from there. "No. We were really more like friends back then. It was nothing to write home about." She shrugged. "He tried and tried to get me in bed, but I was a prude." Everyone laughed again. "I still am."

My heart sank. It was me who was a prude back then and her that had tried to get me in bed a million times. The coldness I felt coming off of her reminded me that I didn't know the woman in front of me. Not even close.

I rolled my eyes. "She's an ice princess, boys. Respect her and you'll be fine. Anything else and she'll drink you dry." I turned my back to the group as everyone let out a few sounds of surprise.

"Enough out of you McAdams!" Alan yelled my way.

I lifted my finger in the air and got my stuff out of the locker. I ignored everything until I heard some of the guys laughing over me throwing her haughty ass under the bus. The conflicting emotions inside of me were almost too much. I should have beat my own ass for being such a jerk.

"You got her, man. Shit," Rodriguez moved up beside me. "She must have fucked you up good back in the day. You just served that shit up on a silver plate...."

The guys around me whooped and hollered like a bunch of apes.

I turned around, being who they expected me to be and grabbed my cock. "She couldn't handle this shit back then, and she sure as fuck couldn't handle it now."

"Yeah. Who does this lady thinks she is?" One of the younger guys moved into the center of the locker room. "She doesn't know nothing. I'd teach her a few lessons. Did you see how juicy her ass was?"

I turned back to my locker, hating myself.

"Hey. What are you doing right now?" Gary barked at me as he moved up beside me. The noise in the room behind us hid our conversation.

"She started it, old timer. You know that."

"And you're a grown-ass man. Where's your respect for Martin, boy? You think he'd want you to turn this goddamn team into a bunch of horny teenagers over his daughter? You're not the man I thought you were at all."

"Gary." I turned to face him as he popped me in the face with the back of his hand.

"No. You don't get to talk to me. Fuck you for that." He turned and walked off, leaving me to feel more dejected.

"What the hell was all of that?" Jeremy walked up and stood in front of me as I stewed in self-pity.

"I don't know." I pulled my shirt over my head and tucked it in. "Terra is my high school sweetheart. She's pissed about what didn't happen back then, and I'm pissed about what did. I thought seeing her at Martin's funeral would clear things up and maybe mend our friendship, but all I could think about was fucking her until she submitted to me."

He nodded. "She's got an ass just like you like."

I popped him in the chest. "Shut the fuck up."

"I see that smile." He winked and grabbed his glove. "Come on. Let's put this shit down and hit the bars. You can find someone else to worship your cock tonight, dude. There are a million women waiting to do it."

Sadly enough I didn't want a damn one of them. I wanted the one I couldn’t have.

Chapter 14

Terra

Fuck Danny McAdams with his perfect body and sexy smile. I hadn't seen him shirtless in seven years, and yet seeing him that way a few minutes ago had my nipples budding, my pussy contracting like she had a mating call out for him.

It was disturbing on far too many levels to think about. He'd been sexy back in high school and early college, but nothing like he was now. Thick muscles covered his chest and stomach, and tight tanned skin stretched across them. The tight white boxers he'd been sporting left nothing to the imagination, and I knew the other guys in the locker room had to be jealous.

It was all I could do not to stare at him when I walked into the room. It was good to see he was being a total asshole. That's about the only thing that would keep us apart. Him. It had always been him pushing me away, refusing me the warmth of his love. Good. Seemed things hadn't changed. I liked consistent. I could live with it, or so I told myself.

"Terra." A deep voice called after me. Gary.

I turned and offered him a kind smile. "Hey there. Good to see you."

"Terra. I'm sorry about the way-"

I held up my hand and shook my head. "It's not for you to deal with, Gary. I'm a big girl and I've been in a lot of locker rooms. I've dealt with things that would make Danny's comments seem like a nursery rhyme." Where part of my comment was true, the rest was a lie. I had been through more than my fair share of shit over the last seven years, but nothing cut as deep as his words did. It was because, on some level, I still loved him. There was a small smidgen of hope that we would find resolution and be together.

"I know, but it's Danny." His eyes filled with sorrow. He knew our story as best as my father had. Danny, Lance and I had been a part of the team's lives since they all started years before. Gary had been one of the only ones on the playing field that stuck it out with my father.

"And Danny is just another player to me now." I shrugged and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Get out there and do what you do best."

"Alright, but I think Alan should talk to him." He moved back and tilted his hat to me.

I held my tongue. Alan didn't need to talk to Danny. I did. He could act like a cocky bastard anytime he wanted to, but it wasn't going to happen in my dugout, my locker room, my bullpen or on my goddamn team. He'd be off the team so fast it would make his head spin.

"You coming?" Alan glanced back at me as he paused on the stairs.

"Right behind you." I nodded and followed him up. Danny and I would have to get over our shit. Neither of us were kids. We had a baseball franchise to take to the World Series, and we would do it together. I had to remember that I wasn't the only one hurt by our breakup. Or maybe I was, and some part of me wanted to protect him from me.

Why the hell didn't you kiss me the other night?

My body ached at the idea of him picking me up and pressing me to the wall of my father's bedroom. I knew how good it felt to drown in Danny's aggression, and the passion etched into his eyes that afternoon after the funeral was intense. I'd have opened myself up and given him my virginity and anything else he wanted. I'd downed liquor like a fish in water in hopes of him coming on to me. It was a great excuse the next day.

But no. He'd acted like a dick and stood his ground. Much like he had in the locker room. Fine. I could call it over before it started too. Fuck it.

"You alright?" Alan moved back and opened the door to the owner’s box. "You're breathing a little hard."

"I'm out of shape." I walked in and shook the hands of the guys taking up a few chairs. Alan and I both knew I wasn't out of shape, but there was no need in being truthful. Danny had my heart racing, my palms sweating, my anger rising sharply. Bastard.

After talking about how great my father was to everyone, I found a seat and leaned forward, focusing my eyes on Danny. He looked like sex incarnate in his baseball uniform. He had to have on a cup, but the thick bulge at the front of his uniform still looked so damn good. I wasn't going to make it around him. One of us had to go. Maybe talking to my scheming-ass brother would help. He could help me think about how to separate myself from the desire to dive back in the past and fix everything as if none of it had ever happened.

It was a pipe dream for sure.

"Yes!" The guys around me jumped up. Danny had caught a ball the batter hit hard as hell. I stood up, my pulse racing a little. It could have hurt him so easily. He glanced up to the box and lifted the ball, smiling. Cocky bastard.

I dropped back down. Maybe it should have hurt him.

One of the older guys moved over to sit beside me. "Your father was a good man, young lady." He folded up his newspaper and laid it down on the small table in front of us. "Tell me how you plan on filling his shoes."

"I'm not sure that was ever the plan." My eyes caught the story on the front of the paper. It was about me and the upcoming downfall of one of the greatest baseball teams of all times. My father's. I forced myself to look away from it and turned to stare into his condemning gaze. "I'm going to pick up where my Dad left off and apply the rules he taught me my whole life."

"And she's not alone." Alan moved up behind me, gripped my seat and leaned over a little. "Frank, you know as well as I do that an owner is important, yes, but the GM, the coaches, and the players make the team."

"I guess." Frank stood, glanced down at the paper, back at me and walked away.

"Don't mind him. He's stuck in the 1930's." Alan walked around to take Frank's seat as I picked up the paper. "And don't mind that either."

The room erupted again, jumping up and shouting for joy as Danny shut down the inning with no runs.

I read the article, diving into my own doubts so deep that I wasn't sure how to get back out. It started with touting the greatness of the late Martin Harmon but very quickly moved into his poor decision to hand over the team to his daughter, not that his son was any better.

"Wow." I leaned back and continued to read. Not only was I not capable of running a team, but I was a woman. "A woman for god sakes." I put the paper down and gave Alan a look. "It's going to be an uphill battle, isn't it?"

"It is, but I think the more you hang out with the guys and let them see you as one of them, the better." He shrugged. "They all go to Margarita's for food and drinks after the game. We'll go. Stick close to me and I'll make sure they behave."

"I can take care of myself." I stood and moved to press my hands to the glass.

"Shit." Alan stood and moved up next to me. "Text from Joe. They're pulling Jeremy out."

"Why?" I turned and narrowed my eyes, trying to see over to the bullpen. There was no way. The angle was too shitty.

"Your father decided to do random drug testing for HGH. Jeremy was tested and the results just came in. The kid's taking it."

I turned back to the game. "Let me know what I need to do."

"We have to report it to the league on Monday and suspend him. They'll want to test everyone and talk with you."

"A scandal should be much more entertaining than what the media has on me now." I nodded toward the paper. "Just being a woman isn't too exciting, but having drug abuse in my first month? That'll sell."

"Terra." Alan rubbed the top of my back. "It happens to every team. We'll talk to the kid and figure out what the fuck happened."

"Sounds good." I kept my eyes on the game, not sure what to feel about everything. I wanted to be a GM and help run a team, not own one. Every good thing that the team did would be credited to the coaches and the players, but the shitty things?

Those were all mine to deal with.

Chapter 15

Daniel

"What's the long face for, bro?" Rodriguez moved up beside me at the bar and took a seat. We'd won the game without too much effort at all. Between the shit with Terra, hearing about Jeremy being popped for HGH and the game not being a challenge? I was full of aggression and angst. I needed to fight or fuck. Bad.

"Nothing, mother fucker." I tapped the bar beside me. "Sit down and buy me a beer for launching that ball to you a few times tonight."

He smiled and dropped down in the seat next to me, his smile faded. "Tough break for Jer, huh, man?"

"Yeah. I knew the kid was beefing up a little, but I'd hoped it was just him getting into the gym. The last thing the team needs is a steroids scare. We're going to have the fucking league all over us."

"And with a new owner?" He gave me a weary look and turned to order a beer. I waited until he was done to pick the conversation back up.

"She's a strong woman. Martin taught her right."

He laughed. "Yeah. She sure tore your ass up in the locker room."

I smiled. "She did, didn't she?" I was pissed and hurt over her nasty response, but some part of me that loved the fuck outta her was proud. I deserved to be put in my place, though I'd never admit it to anyone, especially not her.

"Why did Lance turn down the team, Danny?" He turned to face me as his eyes widened a little. I ignored whatever caught his attention. It was a woman no doubt. One I wouldn't be interested in. He liked his girls loose and slutty as fuck.

"He's onto something in his medical research." I reached out and patted Rodriguez's cheek. "Hey. You still here with me, fucker?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Looks like the boss lady showed up, but she changed."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Terra in a light blue blouse, her nipples tight and obvious through the thin material, though I doubt she knew it. She wasn't the type. The black jeans she wore fit her like a glove. My balls tightened as my cock woke up, ready to grow thick and long for her.

"Shit." I turned back to him.

"You guys still got some hung up feelings, don't you?" He lifted his eyebrow.

I chuckled. "Up yours, man."

"Whatever. You know I love you, brother, but I'm going to see if the boss lady knows how to salsa dance."

"She doesn't, but good luck." I turned on my stool and let my eyes run across her. From what I could tell, she hadn't seen me just yet. Would she be looking for me? Probably not. My hopefully wishing was starting to get a bit sappy, even for me.

Her long red hair curled around her shoulders, and I knew how silky it was. I didn't have to wonder or guess. I'd had my face and hands buried in it a million times as she and I were fooling around. I groaned in remembrance of how good she tasted. Her come was almost fruity and left me wanting to lick at her pussy until she beat me backward.

Everything inside of me screamed for me to get the fuck up and remind her how we were together. How good we had been. It could be better now. I wouldn't deny her anything. My dick. My money. My car, house, future. Did she want kids? Fuck, I'd have a million kids with her.

Anything.

I was more than surprised to see Rodriguez lead her out to the dance floor. The smile on her face was beautiful and it drew me in. Hell, it drew all of us in. I got up and walked to the edge of the floor with my beer in hand to watch them. I knew Rodriguez could tear up a dance floor, but my girl? No. She was never a-

I almost swallowed my damn tongue when the music started and he spun her around the floor. She not only kept up but stole the lead from him several times. My pulse spiked. She wasn't the girl from my past, but something entirely new. Mature. Changed.

"How changed?" I mumbled against the top of my beer bottle before taking a long drink. She was fluid and knew her shit. I wanted to steal her away and find out how she learned to dance and who held her tightly as he taught her?

Were they naked? Making love after or before the lesson.

Anger built up inside of me where curiosity was moments before. I glanced up to see her dancing with Smith. Several of the guys stood on the side of the floor, pointing at themselves. Did everyone think they were going to take Terra for a spin around the dance floor?

Hell no.

Dancing was too intimate. The music changed to something soft, and I finished my beer, chunked the bottle and walked out to grab her hand.

"My turn," I grumbled roughly and pulled her against me.

"Danny." Her eyes widened a little. "I didn't know you were here."

"I'm aware." I paused as someone tapped on my shoulder. One of the younger guys smiled like I was going to move back and let him in. "Fuck off or I'll break your teeth. Period."

"Shit, McAdams. I was just kidding with you." He flipped me off and walked off the floor.

I turned and pulled her back into my arms. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing?" Her innocence was almost endearing.

"With every swinging cock on our team? You're the goddamn owner, Terra. Your dad would be sick to know that you were rubbing your tits all over everyone in hopes of winning their respect." My voice was hard, and everything had a hint of red on it. I regretted the comment the minute it escaped from my lips.

She slapped me. Hard. "Don't you ever talk about him or me like that again. I have no clue who the fuck you are, but tell Danny I miss him."

I went after her, not waiting for the pain of her hitting me to register. "That's it." I spun her around and leaned in, pulling her over my shoulder and carrying her to the front of the bar. I tried hard not to pay attention to how good her thick ass felt in my hand as I gripped her cheek and walked out into the cool night air.

"Put. Me. Down. Now."

"Anything you want, princess." I put her down and reached out to grab the side of her neck to pull her close.

She pounded my chest with her fists before losing the battle. I pressed my lips to hers and used my free hand to grip the top of her ass as I lost myself in the smell and taste of her. She fought for a second, but that was about it.

"Fuck, you taste good." I licked her lips and went in for another long kiss, consuming her and forcing my tongue into her hot, wet mouth. I took my time, not giving a shit who was going by us. Her soft moans drove desire deeper into my stomach than I could ever in my life remember experiencing it before. "I have to have you. Come home with me."

"No. Not a chance." She pulled back, her cheeks pink, her lipstick a mess.

I moved my hand from her ass to the small of her back, pressing into force her tightly against me. "It's not a request, Terra. We can go back to hating each other tomorrow, but tonight you're mine. Period."

"I'm not ready." She pressed her hands against my chest, and for a moment, I lamented in wanting her virginity to myself, assuming she still had it.

"I don't care." I cupped her cheek before sliding my fingers into her hair. I leaned in and brushed my nose against hers, creating a memory that would have me erect in seconds. "I want to taste your pussy again, Terra. I wanna feel you come. Hear it. Drink it."

Her eyes fluttered closed as she wrapped her arms around my neck and rolled her hips, grinding against me. "Just tonight."

"Just tonight, baby. Then tomorrow it's whatever you want." I turned to the valet. "Get my bike. Fucking now."

"Yes, Sir!" He jumped up and ran down to the parking lot as I turned to face her again. "My house."

"Fine." She moved in for another long kiss and I gave her what she was after. The wicked little bitch sucked on my tongue in slow, solid pulls until the world spun around me. There was no one that could suck a dick like she could. Every cell in my body was on fire to watch her do it again, and again, and again.

"Sir, your bike."

I moved back and gripped her hand. "Come on."

"A bike? No way, Danny." She pulled back from me as I got on.

"Get on. Now." I barked at her and extended the helmet. "I'd never hurt you."

"No?" Her tone told me I already had a million times.

"Not on purpose." I winked. "Come with me, Terra. I know you wanna."

She snatched the helmet and got on the back, wrapping her arms around me, and cupping my dick the whole way back to the house. She was lucky I didn't explode in her hands.

Chapter 16

Terra

I was terrified at what tomorrow might hold when we reached his house, but I forced myself into a place of calm that I didn't realize existed. It was sick, but if I looked from the end of my life backward, making love to Danny McAdams was on my top three list of things to do. I wanted to know what it felt like to be fully adored by him, and I knew with his passion, love making was the key.

He pulled the bike up to the large white brick house and turned it off. He cupped my hands over his dick and lifted up, rubbing himself against my fingers as a moan raced through me. He was bigger than I remembered, but it had been seven years.

After helping me off the bike, he took our helmets and gripped my hand. "You know how many times I've dreamt of having you wet and shaking beneath me?"

"Are we getting in a pool?" I offered a silly smile, feeling like I was seriously over my fucking head. "I didn't bring a suit."

He ignored me and opened the door, pulling me in. "I have condoms in the bathroom. You on the pill?"

"Stop talking to me like you don't know me." I reached out and grabbed him, pulling him close. "Like I'm some quick fuck on your Friday night. I'm not."

"No. You're not." He pulled me close and walked us backward down a hall as we tore at each other's clothes and took turns dominating our kiss. "You're my girl from the good days."

"Today's not good." I whimpered and he pressed his hand against my chest and forced my back to the wall. I was in a pair of skimpy white panties and a bra. I shouldn't have been there. He would own me in no time if I wasn't careful. I had to figure out a way to stay in control.

His dark blue eyes moved down the front of my body. "I love the way you look. Your titties have gotten bigger, but so has your ass." A naughty smile played at the side of his perfect mouth.

"Thank you for the reminder." I gripped his wrist and tried to move him, but he wouldn't budge.

"Stop. You're not in control right now, baby girl. I am. Relax. I'm going to touch and taste every inch of you, Terra."

"Then turn me away when I beg for your dick?" My tone turned hard as memories raced through me.

He spun me around, pressing my front against the wall as he crashed against me. His strong chest felt warm against my back, his dick finding it's place wedge between my ass cheeks. "No. I'm not going to deny you a fucking thing tonight. I'm not a boy with pipe dreams of white picket fences and saving myself for my girl in marriage. I'm a man with needs, and you're going to fill every last one of them tonight."

I didn't know the man behind me, but I wanted to. The air was thick and so damn hard to breathe. I nodded, agreeing with him as he rolled his hips and covered my body with his.

"You want me in your ass first?" He licked up the side of my neck. The smell of his cologne mixed with the scent of beer was intoxicating. He was hard as a rock and a bit angry from what I could tell. Why? Because he'd promised himself the same things I had? That I wouldn't find myself trapped in a room half-naked with him. Wet and aching. Needy and willing to give it all for a night of pleasure.

"In my mouth." I yelped as he thrust against me and moved back.

"Good. I've always liked you on your knees." He walked to the bedroom and stopped to take his underwear off. His ass was as perfect as I remembered it. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him. I worked on my bra as I walked down the hallway, tossing it behind me and freeing my breasts as I walked into the room.

He was perched on the side of the bed, his cock thick and hard. He stroked it and watched me. "You know how long I've waited to feel you again?"

"As long as I've waited to feel you." I moved between his legs and slid my hands up his thighs. "This is a huge mistake."

"Hell, yeah, it is." He leaned down and held my face as he kissed me like he loved me. "Just make sure you swallow like a good girl for me."

I smiled. "Asshole."

"Your asshole for the night." He reached back and pressed his hands to the bed, lifting his hips a little as I worked my tongue over him, memorizing every sound that ripped from his lips. I moved down and sucked one of his balls into my mouth as he gyrated his hips, fucking himself against the tight squeeze of my hand. I kept after him until I heard his voice hitch.

"Fuck, Terra. I'm gonna come, baby. Put your mouth on me." He pulled me up and gripped my hair at the back of my head. "Breathe through your nose, baby."

I didn't need his coaching, but the sound of his voice as I deep-throated him had me close to orgasm myself. I let out a sound of appreciation as he filled my mouth with his hot release. After drinking him down, I licked up the long length of his dick and took my time enjoying him.

"Shit." He dropped back on the bed, and I stood up.

"Good?" I crawled up on the bed to hover over him.

His blue eyes were glossy but filled with lust. "So far beyond good. Come here, Ter."

He hadn't called me by the nickname him and Niki gave me years ago. Not even in the last few months we were together before I left. The endearment of it weakened me.

"Taste me?" I continued to crawl up his chest until I sat down just below his chin.

"Fuck, yes. Take these panties off." He pulled at them as I moved up on the bed. He had a little bit of trouble getting them over the thick curve of my ass, but the groan that left me reminded me that he loved my body type. I didn't have to worry about how I might look, which left me fully open to just enjoying the moment.

I moved up to straddle his face and reached up to grab the headboard as he wrapped his hands around the underside of my thighs and pressed his palms to my ass. "Fuck I love the way you fill up my hands, baby." He pulled me down and buried his face in my pussy, licking and sucking as I rolled my hips and taking full advantage of how good it felt to be with him again.

He knew just where to touch me, how to brush his teeth over my clit, but not bite me. I shook with the building up of my release as I moaned loudly. His strong fingers spread my ass open, and he pressed his thick middle finger inside of me, lighting up every pleasure point I had. Where he'd never been inside my womb, he'd had his share of fun playing around with my ass. I wanted penetration with either or both from him. That was something we never seemed to get to. Maybe tonight would change all of that.

"I can taste how close you are. Let go." He pulled me back into his mouth and fingered me hard and fast. I arched my back and lifted my ass in the air, breathless at how quickly he could make me come. A scream ripped from my lips as he took me over the edge. His mumbled words and moans skittered across my clit, intensifying the delicious feel of him working my body like the playboy he had become.

"Stop. Danny. Fuck." I pulled away from him and rolled over onto my back, my lungs screaming for air.

"No way, Ter. We're just getting started." He got off the bed and gripped my legs, just under my knees as he pulled me close to him. "I want deep inside of you tonight."

"Yeah. I want that too." I pulled my legs up, bending them before dropping them open to let him look at me.

Love and lust mixed in his gaze as he dragged his finger down my folds, playing with my tight entrance. He pressed the soft pad of his thumb into my pussy, and I convulsed in lust.

"Feels so good to see laid out, wanting me the way I want you. I'm going to fuck you until you can't walk tonight." He reached for his cock, grabbing it and rubbing the thick swollen head over my clit before tapping the sensitive bundle of nerves. "You've let someone else inside of you, haven't you?"

There was no condemnation, just a question.

"No." I reached down and stroked him as worry raced across me. What was I doing? Giving up my virginity just because it was Daniel? I'd waited twenty-seven years to experience this on my wedding night. Where I prayed like hell he was the one, I wasn't so sure anymore.

Actually... I was quite sure of the opposite.

"Wait. You're still a virgin?" he moved back with shock on his face. "How? You're the most beautiful woman around here? Paul didn't fuck you? Why not?"

The crudeness of it hit me the wrong way. "Because I didn't let him." I got off the bed and gathered my things. "What the hell was I thinking?"

"Ter."

"It's Terra, and I'm your goddamn boss." I pointed a finger at him. "This was a horrible mistake. What did I think would happen?"

"What did you want to happen?" He put his hands on his hips as his attitude reared its ugly head again. "Cause I'm pretty sure you wanted me to fuck you."

"Sickly enough. Yes." I got dressed on my way to the front door.

"Terra. Stop. What happened? I'm thrilled that you're a virgin."

I walked out and pulled my heels on in the driveway. "Why? So you could collect my virginity with every other slut you slept with? Yours was supposed to be mine."

"And if I could go back, it would be." He let out an aggravated sound. "Get back in here and let me make love to you."

"You mean fuck me."

"Yes. Fuck you." He stepped out of the house, and something inside of me tightened. I didn't want to be a notch on his belt. I wanted to sleep with him so he would love me again. How sick was I?

"Don't. Give me the keys to something I can take home. Now."

"Terra. Don't do this."

"I can't undo it, Danny. I don't need this shit in my life. I'm confused, and this is making it worse." My voice broke. "Please. For old time’s sake. Just give me a fucking car to go home in."

"Okay. Yeah. Sure." He walked back into the house as I cried into my hands. I didn't realize he'd come back out until his arms were around me. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have gone that far." He kissed the top of my head and handed over the keys. "Forgive me."

I took them and turned, walking to the car as my shoulders shook from my sobs. Why had I run to him for comfort? He'd stopped handing that out a long time ago.

Tonight was no different.

Chapter 17

Daniel

"What the fuck just happened?" I walked back into the house at a complete loss. How I had Terra in my arms one minute and gone the next was beyond me. Liquor. I needed liquor.

After pouring me a glass of Wild Turkey, I took the bottle and my glass and dropped down on the couch as anger burned through me. Why the fuck had I brought up Paul? Why did I make her virginity seem like such a big damn deal?

I set the bottle down and reached for the phone. I needed to talk to her. We couldn't end things like that. We were meant to be together. My heart and head were finally in agreement on something in my shitty life. They always had been. It was her. Always her.

Leaning back, I tossed the phone on the couch beside me and closed my eyes. I'd fucked up. I could figure out a way to make it up to her somehow, but it wasn't going to be easy.

She was still a fucking virgin. Realization rolled over me and I groaned as my body hardened again. Holy shit. She's waited for me.

"Calm down, Captain Cockdar." I breathed in deeply and held it. Whether it was for me or not, she hadn't slept with another man. Not in the traditional sense. Mine. Her virginity was mine. She was mine.

I’ll win her over again just like I had in high school. Being a good guy with a naughty side, only this time my actions wouldn't take us to the edge and leave us dangling over. If I got her naked again, I was sinking into her tight little pussy and busting her cherry. There was nothing I wouldn't do to leave my mark on her.

The only thing I regretted was not saving myself for her. She deserved it.

Or did she? I laughed out loud as I reclined on the couch by myself. Memories of my first time caused me to laugh again. It had been pathetic. I'd been pathetic. Squirting two seconds after I got into the poor girl. Probably the worst lay she ever had.

Maybe it was a good thing Terra didn't have to experience that. I shivered at the thought.

"Why are you bringing this up yet again?" My mom had her hands on her hips with her back to me as I walked into her kitchen from the garage. The drive over hadn't been too bad, but anytime on the bike was good times.

"Because baby. I think that Peanut is old enough to learn about death." My dad had the 'I know I'm right' expression on his face. He manufactured and wore it well. My parents rarely fought, and they weren't then, but it was cute to see them disagreeing.

"Hey, guys." I walked by them and picked up a piece of sausage from a plate my mom had by the stove. "What's the deal with Peanut and death?"

"I think your mom should have let us bring Lyndsay with us to the funeral for Martin. She's not been around death yet, and she's six years old. She needs to understand it." He huffed and picked up his paper. "Or not. Never mind. Forget I said anything." He turned and walked out of the kitchen.

"I would if you would stop bringing it up!" she called after him.

"Mom. It's all good. Lyndsay will learn things as she needs to. After losing Jannie, I don't think she should be put through anything else." I walked over and pulled my mom into a warm hug. "I know she didn't go to the events, but she's a smart little girl. She knew something was up."

"Speaking of." She moved back and ran her hands up my side. "You need to do something fun with her. She misses you."

"I miss her too." I leaned forward and kissed my mom on the forehead before moving back. "Thanks for watching her last night."

"Absolutely. Great job on the game. Your dad yelled at the TV all damn night."

I laughed and walked down the hallway to Lyndsay’s room at my parents’ house. I knocked and poked my head in. "Hi. I'm Jelly. Someone told me there was peanut butter I could be friends with."

She rolled over and giggled as she lay curled up in her sheets. "Daddy. I'm a peanut. Not peanut butter. Get it right."

"Well, I know how to turn peanuts into peanut butter." I walked in and shrugged, feigning innocence. "It's what I do."

"Wait." She sat up and lifted her little hand in the air as blond curls spilled over her shoulder. "How are you going to do this, exactly?"

"Like this?" I jogged to the bed and pounced her, making loud bear noises as I tickled and nibbled at whatever I could get a hold of.

She screamed as loud as she could and thrashed around. "Daddy! Daddy! Okay. You made peanut butter. Stop!"

"Daniel Blandon McAdams. What are you doing to that baby?" My dad appeared in the door behind us.

I whispered in Lyndsay's face. "Sh. Pretend like you're asleep. Snore a little." I dropped down on the bed and the two of us started snoring.

"Yeah. Right. I thought someone needed help. I guess not." My dad turned and Lyndsay shot up, smacking me in the face with her sudden movements.

"No! PawPaw. I need help. This big Jelly guy came to turn my peanuts into peanut butter."

"And I'll do it again." I growled and rolled over to grab her and tickle her some more.

My dad pulled her from me and wrapped his arms around her. "You dad is quite the sugar stealer."

"Oh no. Here we go." I pulled a pillow and covered my face.

"Really? He steals other people's sugar?" Lyndsay's voice grew dim. Dad must have been taking her back to the kitchen.

"Have you asked him about Miss Terra?" My dad chuckled as I groaned.

"Thanks a lot, dad," I called after him and rolled onto my back. I fixed up a few pillows under my head and let out a long sigh.

"That sounds like a man with a lot on his heart." My mom leaned against the door frame with a smile on her face. "Anything I can help with?"

"Can you make Terra Harmon love me again?" I lifted my hands in a heart and chuckled. "I feel like a fourteen-year-old boy around her again."

"Eww... gross. Fourteen was such a bad age for you. Remember you kept getting those abnormally huge zits on your face and your bottom?" She walked in and dropped down on the bed next to me as I gave her a very teenage boy look.

"Mom. Really right now? I'm suffering from heartache and you want to remind me that I was hideous at fourteen?" I was teasing her, but she loved it.

"You still are hideous sometimes." She reached over and brushed her fingers through my hair. "Every time I see you on TV at one of those parties, you're drunk or you have some floozy on your lap. It's not at all who you are, Daniel."

I rolled over and swatted at her playfully. "Go away, Mom. Next, you're going to tell me that I'm getting fat."

"Well-" She broke into laughter as I jerked up and turned to face her. "I'm kidding. You're so perfect it's not even funny." She reached out and touched the side of my face. "I just wish you would settle down. You're thirty and life is more than baseball and making money."

I cupped my hand over hers. "I know it is. I never wanted anything but a family. You know that."

"Then what's holding you back, son?"

I didn't have to think about it. "Terra."

"Really? A relationship that ended seven years ago still plagues you?"

I pulled her hand down from my face and nodded. "Yeah. Absolutely. It's like knowing you were supposed to be with this one person, and yet, you fucked it-"

"Daniel!" She gave me a stern look.

"No F-bombs with your mom, please." My dad appeared in the doorway with a grin on his aging face.

"I'm sorry. I meant to say that messed it up." I gave her a sheepish look. "I messed things up with Terra a long time ago. I did it again last night. I'm not sure how to win this woman back, or if I even should."

"I say no." My father gave his same opinion that we were all used to hearing.

"I say yes." My mom turned around and stuck her tongue out at him. "She's a good girl, honey."

"Nope. I saw the way she was looking at Dan when we were at the funeral. I don't believe that for a minute."

"She's a virgin, dad." I got up and gave him a look. "She's not the whore you think she is, though that might make things a little easier."

"Daniel! Watch your mouth. Jeez."

"Sorry." I moved out into the hallway. I loved them to death, but the truth of the matter was that it didn't matter what my mom or dad thought about her. I loved her and wanted her in my life.

I just had to work hard not to be a possessive caveman around her.

Good luck with that shit.

Chapter 18

Terra

"You know that you didn't have to come down here again so soon. I know it's expensive." I turned as Niki got into my car at a hotel just down from the ballpark. "And I'm a little hurt that you didn't stay with me."

She got in and buckled up, taking her time. "I love you. I'll always be here for you, and I didn't stay with you because Benji loves this hotel. Seeing that he's with me for the weekend, I figured I'd treat him to something fun."

I sat idle in front of the hotel. "So... are we waiting on him? Where is he?"

"Oh no. His best friend's mom already picked him up this morning. They have plans to make dents in the floor in front of a TV with Xbox live on it." She snorted and I smiled.

"Sounds like a good time." I pulled away from the hotel. "I wish you would have given me more heads up. Your text on my phone shocked me a little last night."

"Sorry. I figured you'd try and talk me out of it, or would want to pay for it." She shrugged, looking too cute for her own good. Her long black-brown hair was as straight as a board, but it made her look dangerous, sexy. "And it worked out just fine."

"Yeah. I guess so." I tugged at my seatbelt. "Where too?"

"Let's grab something to eat and go shopping." She pointed out the window. "Let's go to the big mall we always wanted to shop at when we were kids."

I laughed. "Funny how it looks so small now that I've been a few places in the world." I turned into the mall and parked. "Sit down meal or grab something and shop?"

"Oh, grab something and shop for sure." She got out and smoothed her hands down her blouse. "How was the transition from Oakland? Did you and Paul have it out again, or were things over from the last time?"

"I had to see him while I was there, but it wasn't too bad. I think part of him hoped that things would work out between us, but we really weren't suited for each other." I pointed to a pastry shop with a huge selection of treats in the window. "There?"

"Looks fattening. I'm in." She slipped her arm into mine as we made our way over there. "And what's going on with Danny? Any movement forward there?"

I pulled my arm from her and opened the door, holding it for her. "I don't know. I'm not really looking for anything from him, you know?"

"Can I go after him then?" She moved up in line and glanced back at me. The false innocence on her face had a torrent of emotions flooding through me. She was like a sister to me.

"Hell no," I barked at her. "What's wrong with you?"

She laughed and pointed at me. "See there. You do want something to go down between you."

"I hate you sometimes." I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to face the front of the line.

"No, you don't." She pressed her shoulder to mine. "You know he's into you, Ter. He has been since we were kids. Why not just give him a chance?"

"I did. Sort of." I moved up to the counter and ordered three different pastries.

"That for both of us?" She laughed and glanced over at me.

"Heck no. I had a long night. I need sugar and coffee seeing that it's too early to start drinking." I walked over to a small table by the window and sat down. After putting my phone down on the table, I leaned back. I'd almost expected Danny to text me the night before and say something. Fuck, anything.

But no. Nothing. He'd pulled back, and I honestly couldn't blame him. After the hostile reunion we'd had together, it didn't surprise me much that a few kisses and some oral sex hadn't fixed anything.

"So now you have my interest piqued." She sat down and leaned forward. "What happened between the two of you?"

I shrugged, not sure how much I wanted to tell her. She'd been my best friend for the likes of forever, but we weren't girls anymore. "We went dancing last night and ended up back at his place."

"Holy shit!" She slapped her hand to her mouth and glanced around. "Sorry."

"It wasn't that big of a deal." I reached for my phone and put it back in my purse. I'd be eyeballing the damn thing in hopes of him calling the whole meal. "Honestly. We made out and stuff, but once he found out I was still a virgin-"

"You told him?" Her eyes widened. "That must have shocked the hell out of him."

"I guess. It seemed to disturb him more than anything else." I turned and took the tray of treats from one of the cafe workers. "I thought we were walking around with this."

She shook her head side to side. "No fucking way. I want to hear all the delicious details."

Embarrassment swelled in my chest. "There's nothing to tell, Niki. We meant something to each other a long time ago and seeing that we're both single, we got together."

"And fucked?" She leaned closer, whispering far too loud for the small cafe.

"Ugh. Disgusting." An older woman got up from the table beside us.

"No. Well, oral sex, but he stopped things when I mentioned that I hadn't slept with anyone." I waved my hand in front of us. "Forget about it. Seriously. It was just a wakeup call that I was being an idiot. I'm his boss now. Sleeping with someone on the team or even worse, loving them, isn't something I need to do. You know that would never work out."

"I don't believe you're right, but I know how hard-headed you are." She leaned back in her seat and picked up something covered in icing and cherries. "If Brandon was still around, I'd have made a move on him."

"No, you wouldn't." I picked up my miniature cinnamon roll and took a big bite of it. "He's a horrible guy that doesn't deserve any of you."

"I know he doesn't, but I still miss him, Ter. He was my boyfriend from fifth grade through twelfth."

"And he abandoned you and Benji. Fuck him." Anger burned deep inside of me. Niki had been through more than her fair share of storms, and yet she persevered.

"I understand what you're saying, but I'm telling you that if he was here right now, I'd at least take him for a spin in the bedroom. He was amazing with his hands, and the thickness of his cock?" She moaned and closed her eyes as she ate another bite of her breakfast.

"But what about the moralistic issue here? It's not right."

"Fuck right. Right never did anything for me, Ter." She opened her eyes and leaned toward me. "You know how tiring it gets to have men ogling after you, throwing money at you while you strip and yet you're nothing to them."

"You need to quit." I offered her a napkin, hoping like hell that she would at least consider it. "Stripping isn't a profession."

"I'm a good dancer, and it makes more than enough money for me and my son." She licked her fingers. "I'm fine. You don't need to save me. You need to make a decision to work things out with Danny or close the fucking door. Stop playing around with your emotions and his. Give him your virginity and lock the past in place, or find someone else, but do something. Seven years of kinda sorta dating and living a lonely life has to be over. You know I'm right."

And I did know she was, but the need to defend myself roared to life. I tried to push it back down, but it rested on the back of my tongue, threatening to choke me if I didn't say something.

"Danny isn't the man he was."

"You're right." She picked up another pastry. "He's a grown man. He's thirty, Ter. He's looking for a wife and a family for him and Lyndsay. Believe me in this. Whether he knows it or not, he's looking. That baby deserves a momma, and our boy deserves a wife. He's not a bad guy, and we both know that too. The media has a field day with him because he's handsome, successful and an all-around American guy. Everyone wants to be him and every single gal out there wants to sleep with him. It's a fucked-up life for him to live."

I tilted my head to the side and studied her. "Did he pay you to do this? I feel like you should get a stipend from him or something."

She laughed. "No. I'm just speaking from experience. I'm not getting any younger. If I could find a good guy, scratch that if I could find a bad guy that was good to me and Benji? I'd offer him the world and my heart. It's about connecting and meeting people right where they are, not trying to turn them into something they used to be or might become one day. See him where he is right now and reach out, or close the door."

I nodded and shoved the rest of the cinnamon roll in my mouth.

She was right. I needed to step up to the plate or turn in my bat and glove. Something had to give, and it felt like it might be me.

Chapter 19

Daniel

It had been three weeks since the shit went down with Terra, and I knew I needed to resolve it, but ignoring her felt better. Fear held me captive where she was concerned. It was just me I needed to worry about. It was Lyndsay too. I had a little girl to protect from heartache, as if I had a fucking clue how to make that happen.

"You gonna eat that?" Jeremy reached over and poked at the burger on my plate.

"Naw. Go for it." I pushed it across the table and glanced up. The game wasn't set to start until a little later that night, but I wanted to get out of the house, to breathe a little. "You think there's such a thing as true love, or do you think we're all just fucking kidding ourselves."

"This about Terra again?" He took a huge bite out of my burger.

"Maybe." I shrugged and glanced across the road to the field. My favorite burger joint always seemed to be open, and it was so close to the ballpark that I haunted the place often. "My mom and dad have been together forever."

"Yeah. My folks too." He wiped his mouth and picked up his beer. "I don't know, man. I think if you want her, just go after her. Ignoring her and trying to get away from her is a pussy move."

I laughed, loving how honest the guy was. "You're a bastard for taking steroids. You know that?"

"Yeah. I know." He shoved more of my burger into his mouth.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Come back." He licked his fingers. “I'm meeting with Terra or Miss Harmon here in about twenty minutes. Come with me. Plead my case with me."

"No fucking way, man. I'm not asking Terra for a damn thing." I lifted my hands and shook my head. "I fucked up big time the last time I had her close enough to reach out and grab her. I'd only mess things up for you."

"Stop crying and go after her. She's not seeing anyone else." He reached into his back pocket and threw a couple of bills on the table.

"Fuck you too." I leaned back and pulled my phone out as it buzzed. My mom. "Hey, I gotta take this."

"Alright. You going with me over here?"

"Nope. You're on your own." I got up and walked out as I pulled my phone to my ear. "Hey, mom. What's up?"

"Daniel. Your father isn't feeling too good again. I think I'm going to take him to see Dr. Miller on Monday. Can you help me find someone else to keep Lyndsay that day?"

"Of course." Worry raced through the center of my chest. "What's going on with Dad? He overdo it again?"

"I don't know, but you know his father died of a heart attack. I'm just scared." She let out a soft sigh.

"Nothing to be worried about, Mom. He's as healthy as a horse, and he still chews like one too."

She laughed. "Okay. Well, I love you. Good luck tonight at the game. We'll be watching. Or I will. Your father is lying down."

"Alright. Tell him not to watch tonight. His blood pressure always gets so damn bad when he watches." I smiled and glanced up to see Terra getting out of her car. Without thinking about it, I moved across the road and picked up my walk to a jog.

"Be safe, son."

"Alright. Talk to you soon." I slipped my phone in my back pocket and moved up beside her. "Terra."

"Oh! Shit, Danny. You scared me." She pressed her hand to her chest and offered me a shy smile. "You done avoiding me now?"

"I'm sorry." I slipped my hands into my pockets and glanced around, wondering if I could let my guard down just for a fucking second. The world could see me as an asshole bad boy, but I wanted my woman to know there was a different side to me. One that would protect her and love her the way she wanted to be loved. The boy she'd pledged to keep herself pure for was still very much alive inside of me, and he craved her in ways that didn't make sense.

"No. It's okay." She reached up and brushed her hair off her shoulder. "No harm. No foul."

"No, that's not true." I glanced over my shoulder to see Jeremy walking our way. "Have dinner with me on Monday night."

"Um... let me think about it?" She moved around me and extended her hand. "Jeremy. Good to see you again."

I turned and pursed my lips as Jeremy made up an excuse that he'd left his phone in his car. He promised to be right back, winked at me and jogged back toward the players’ parking lot.

She turned and laughed. "You paid him to do that, right?"

"Maybe." I smiled. "It's just a meal. I won’t push anything, but I want to talk about what happened the other night."

"Just the other night?" Her eyes pulled me in deep and my body reacted violently to her. Never in my life had I wanted someone so fucking bad. Crazy how she was just out of reach.

"No." I pulled my hand from my pocket and reached out to touch the side of her face. "Though I haven't stopped thinking about the other night since you walked out pissed at me."

She pulled my hand down carefully and nodded. "You didn't understand seven years ago, Danny. You're not going to understand now."

"What if I want to try to?" I closed the gap between us as I fought against myself. Jeremy needed to hurry the fuck up, or the bastard alpha in me was going to rear his ugly head again.

"I don't need you to." Pain moved across her expression. "I'm happy being single, and I don't need us to heal the wounds of the past."

"Maybe I do." I took a chance and reached out to slide my fingers in her hair. When she didn't protest, I moved closer and pressed my body against hers, loving the softness of her feminine curves. "Maybe I'm the needy one."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop it. Let's just work together and forget everything that-" Her voice caught in her chest.

"Not happening." I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her like I had a million times before. She opened her mouth, and I accepted the invitation and rolled my tongue against hers. We worked each other's mouths until we were both panting and needy.

"I hate you sometimes," she murmured against my lips.

"I hate you all the times." I leaned back down for another quick kiss. "Forgive me for being shocked that a woman like you still had her virginity. I'd forgotten how strong and brave you were. I imagine a million men have tried for it."

"Not that many, but something close to that." She reached up and touched my face. "I'm not dating you, Danny. I'll have dinner with you, but my heart isn't ready for another round where we're concerned." She brushed her thumb over my bottom lip, and I moved forward just a tad, just enough to suck it into my mouth. I gripped her hips tightly and stared down into her face while I rolled my tongue over her finger and sucked on it gently.

The ecstasy on her face let me know that she might not be willing to give me another chance just yet, but her body was primed and more than willing. Could I win her back with lust? It's what drove her my way in the first place.

Seven years ago, for fuck's sake.

"Sorry about that." Jeremy walked up behind me.

I released her and reached up to brush my fingers over my lips. "No problem man. Terra. He's a good guy and just got caught up in some shit. Help me out?"

"I'll do what I can." She glanced between the two of us, her face flushed and beautiful. Jeremy hopefully didn't notice the vein on the side of her sexy neck beating like crazy, but I did. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her. Maybe dinner would help us work through how to make both of our fantasies come true.

Chapter 20

Terra

"Danny might be leaving us tonight." Alan walked into the owner's booth just after the game started and dropped down next to me.

Fear pierced the center of my chest. "What? Why?" I stood up. "He can't just leave. He has a contract."

"No. Not like that." Alan reached up and gripped my wrist, pulling me back down to my seat carefully. "He got a call that his dad isn't doing too well. I guess his mother called earlier from what Joe said. They're thinking about taking him up to the ER."

"Oh no." The horror inside of me grew worse. I turned in my seat to watch Danny move up on the pitcher's mound. "We should just move the rotation and bring in another starter."

"Not happening. You know how committed Danny is."

"Yeah, but how well is he going to be able to keep his head in the game?" I got my answer as he put the first three batters down with ease.

"We just need to be ready should something happen." Alan crossed his legs and glanced over at me. "Some of the press is asking questions about the two of you. What you do is, of course, your business, but you need to be prepared to answer them. A response of silence is more condemnation than just letting them in a little."

"I hate those bastards." I stood again and pressed my hands to the glass. "There's nothing to tell them. Danny and I were together as kids, and we've been working through some of that old shit, but that's it." I shrugged and glanced over my shoulder at Alan. "I don't understand why someone's personal life has to be strung out in front of the world. It's none of their goddamn business."

"I agree, Terra, but we live in a different world than when I was growing up. People nowadays crave reality TV and the media slaughtering various influencers in the limelight. It's fun to watch someone else fuck up their lives. It takes you away from your own messed up existence for a while."

"It sucks." I wrapped my arms around myself and stood stone still for the next few innings. Danny seemed to be doing good until he wasn't.

"Top of the forth and it looks like Daniel McAdams might have lost his Midas touch early tonight folks. I don't think I've seen him walk a batter in more than a year." One of the announcers’ voice filled up the booth.

"Yeah, but nothing compares to three years ago. Remember how horrible he was? It was like he'd given up on everything."

I walked over and turned the volume down, growling loudly. "He lost his sister, you cocks."

Some of the guys around me laughed and agreed. I was slowly but surely winning them over.

I hated to admit it, but my dad knew what he was doing putting me in charge of the team instead of my brother. I belonged there and had all my life. I loved the game, the challenge of meeting new people and breaking down barriers. My thoughts quickly moved to Danny. I knew the dinner would be good for us, but it terrified me to think about letting him into my heart again. As if I had a choice. He was already there.

"Oh shit." Alan jumped up and moved to the window. "Looks like Danny hit the batter with the ball."

"On purpose?" The drama pulled me from my thoughts.

"No. Of course not." One of the older guys moved up beside me.

The scene below was a bit of chaos. The batter tossed his bat and helmet and instead of running or walking to first, he charged the mound. Danny held his own, and the officials and coaches had the two players apart pretty quickly, but the damage was done. Danny flipped off the ump after getting in his face and walked toward the dugout.

"Well, shit." Alan walked to pick up the phone beside the door. "Joe. Put in another pitcher. Did Danny-"

"I'm going down." I walked out without thinking about it. Something was wrong with Daniel, and I wanted to know what. Did he get another call from his mom? I jogged down and took the private entrance into the locker room, assuming that I'd have to go up to the dugout to check on him. That or grab Joe to see what the fuck was going on. I yelped as I bumped right into him. He was in nothing but a tiny towel.

"Terra. What are you doing down here?" His eyes were stormy with too many emotions.

"I came to find out what's going on." I licked my lips and moved back as my heart raced to get out of my chest.

"I fucked up and hit the asshole. He and I have had it out for each other for a long time." He shrugged, pulled the towel off and walked toward the showers. "Coach told me to get out of there."

"What's going on with your dad?" I followed him and let myself covet the sight of his naked ass. It was beyond beautiful, perfectly sculpted.

"He's not doing too well again." He leaned in and started the shower before turning to face me. "Come here."

"What? No." I lifted my hands and took a step back, losing my balance thanks to my heel going down into a drain.

He reached out and caught me, pulling me close to him. "It wasn't a request, angel."

"Who is this guy?" I pressed my hands against the thick muscles of his chest and tried hard to talk myself out of turning around and walking away.

"He's me, Ter. He's who I became when the world beat down my door and there was nothing left to do but turn and face them." He ran his hands over my sides. "Come in the shower with me. No one will be headed this way for another hour or more."

"Someone will check on you, Danny." I took him in, his handsome face almost too much. "Don't ask me to do this with you."

"Why? Because you will?" He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. "I need a release and I'm not going to find it with another woman."

"Why not? There's so many that want to be close to you."

"No. They want my money or my dick, but it's irrelevant." He licked my lips, and I moaned. My body throbbed to feel his thick erection buried deep in some part of me. Fuck, any part at this point.

"Why is that?" I whispered, breathlessly. The man had way too much power over me.

"Because all I want is you." He picked me up and carried me to the shower as he consumed my mouth. My head was spinning with lust as he helped me strip down and pulled me into the shower with him.

I jerked the curtain closed and gave him a look. "You're so fucking corrupt."

"Shhh... you like it." He pulled me against him and ran his strong hands over my back and cupped my ass, kneading it roughly. "I love everything about you. Don't deny me tonight like you did the last time I almost had you trapped beneath me."

"That was your fault." I turned and slid my hands up the wall, arching my back. With any luck, if someone came down to check on Danny, they'd assume he was alone, or he has some random woman in the shower with him.

"You look so fucking good." He moved up and slid his hands up my sides before cupping my breasts and squeezing. The thick press of his dick against my ass was too much.

"Please don't stop." I rolled my hips and whimpered as one of his hands found my clit and pulled on it.

"I want in your ass." He kissed the back of my neck. "Tell me you want me there too."

I nodded and reached back to grab the back of his head. "I want you anywhere. Everywhere."

"And you hate yourself because of it?" He smiled and kissed me as he repositioned.

The pressure of him pressing his thick cock into my ass was almost too much. I turned from him and reached back up the wall, flattening my upper body against it as he groaned low in his chest.

"God, Ter. I've imagined taking you a million times, baby, but this is almost too much." He ran his free hand down my back and pulled out only to force himself back in.

I moaned loudly and reached down to grab his fingers. I pressed them tightly to my clit before forcing him down farther to dip his digits into my aching heat.

"You want me in your pussy?" His voice was rough and deep as he spoke between kisses to the side of my neck.

"Not tonight. I want it to be special." I pressed back and moaned as he forced the full length of his cock inside of me.

"I like that." He rolled his middle finger around my entrance and pressed in a little as he fucked me nice and slow from behind. "Once you let me in, you know I'm not going anywhere right? I'm addicted to everything about you already. You’re sealing the deal by offering up your gift to me-"

"Is it a gift?" I pressed my hips forward, fucking myself against his fingers and mine. "Feels like a curse." I panted loudly as my orgasm rode hard on me. "I need to come."

"Good. Wet my balls with your release, angel. Let me feel it as you remember who owns you." He pumped his finger into my slit and his cock in my ass in fast thrusts.

He covered my mouth with his free hand as I screamed my release against him and thrashed about. What the fuck was I doing naked in the players’ showers? I was the owner of the team. I ignored the logical side of my brain and rolled my hips, massaging his huge shaft in long, slow strokes until he joined me in orgasm.

The sound of him coming woke up every fantasy I could remember having.

Why was I running from him? From us?

Nothing made me feel more alive than him.

Nothing.

Chapter 21

Daniel

A smile touched my lips as I thought about how good Terra was in the shower the weekend before. She had been fearless and beyond hot. We were lucky no one walked in to steal our fun. It seemed to me that the universe was against the two of us getting together and putting a padlock on the closed door of the past, but maybe I was over-thinking it.

"Are you smiling cause of me, daddy?" Lyndsay leaned over the table we sat at in a small coffee shop in town. "Cause you like this new dress Mimi bought me?" She pulled the edge of her dress out and almost toppled over. I reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Be careful, Peanut." I let my eyes move over her pretty little face. The need to protect her from guys like me was almost overwhelming. Martin's last words to me spread like wildfire inside of me.

Terra was his princess, his peanut just like Lyndsay was mine.

"Promise me something." He leaned forward, pressing his forearms to his legs.

"Yeah. Anything." I pulled my hands-free and reached up, gripping the bars above me. He'd been like a father to me most of my life, right alongside my own.

"Don't leave for at least one season after she gets here, okay? I know you two have a past-"

"Martin."

"I'm serious. You walking off the team would be hard for her to come back from, with the players and within herself."

Did he know what we were together? What she meant to me.

"You don't know what you're asking me to do." I pleaded with him with my eyes.

"I do, and I'm sorry for asking, but you're like a son to me, Daniel. Do this thing for me and help my baby transition. She's going to come in screaming and kicking."

"And if I can't?"

"Then I respect that too."

"Daddy?" Lyndsay had moved to my side while I was lost in thought.

I turned and ran my hands down her tiny arms. "Yeah, baby?"

"What are you thinking about? You're being a weirdo today."

I laughed, the spell officially broken. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. "I was actually thinking about this pretty girl that I used to date when I was young."

"Like me?" Lyndsay's eyes widened.

"Well, not as young as you, but a little older." I squeezed her. "She came back into town, and I like seeing her."

"I want to see her." She turned her face up to me. "Is she the girl Mimi showed me pictures of?"

I rolled my eyes and released her. "Back to your side of the table, trouble."

"Trouble! It wasn't me. It was Mimi." She skipped back to her side of the table and got back up in her chair. "Daddy. Was that her? Cause she is very pretty."

I smiled. "Her name is Terra."

She picked up her chocolate milk and took a long drink as she motioned for me with her other hand to keep going. I chuckled, unable to help myself. Little people always made common things seem more precious.

"She has long red hair and really white skin." I wasn't doing Terra a bit of justice, but hopefully, it was good enough for my six-year-old across the table from me.

"Oh yes." She put her glass down and licked her lips. "And really big green eyes."

I nodded as my voice softened. "Yeah. She's beautiful, right?"

"So pretty. Like Ariel from the ocean." She pressed her chin into her hands and continued to lick at her little mouth.

"You're pretty like that too." I pulled my napkin from my lap and leaned over to wipe her mouth carefully. "No, you're beautiful, but you knew that, right, Peanut?"

She nodded and crinkled her nose again. "Only cause you tell me, Daddy."

"Good. Let's get over to Mimi and PawPaw's house. I want to spend a little bit of time with them before I go on my date."

"Can I go?" She bounced in her seat. "Oh, please, Daddy? I want to meet Ariel."

I laughed and stood up to pull a twenty from my wallet. "Not this time, but you'll get to meet Terra soon. I promise."

"Alright. Fine." She got off her chair and balled her little hands into fists. She reminded me so much of Jannie when she pouted. Beautiful and dangerous.

I tossed the twenty on the table and reached down to scoop her up. "No pouting. It makes you too pretty." I munched at her tummy as she thrashed and giggled. An older couple held the door for us, smiling at me as I walked out to the truck with her. She wanted to ride on the back of the bike and asked all the damn time, but she was still way too tiny for that.

"Daddy! Stop. I'm going to tell Mimi!"

"Alright. Fair enough." I put her down on her side of the truck and opened the door before bowing a little. "Princess Lyndsay."

"Dad. I'm Ana today." I helped her into the truck as she gave me a look.

"And tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Tomorrow isn't here yet." She smiled so big I thought it might crack her cute little face.

"Very true." I closed the door and walked to my side, feeling the way I always did when I took a break from life and spent time with Peanut - renewed.

"So." My mom stood at the edge of the living room with her hand on her hip. "Lyndsay just said that you have a date tonight with a princess."

I laughed and shook my head. "And you're the one that showed her said princess's picture from what I heard."

Mom shrugged and walked in to sit next to me. "She wanted to know about when you were a kid, so I told her the stories. Terra is just a big part of those times. It's hard not to include her."

"I get it." I leaned back and reached for her hand. "What's going on with Dad?"

She shrugged and glanced down at our hands. "I don't know. You know he's as stubborn as a mule. He wouldn't go to the doctor today even though he still feels a little weak."

"Did he do something to make him feel out of it?"

She turned her attention back to me. "No. Not that I know of."

"I'm going to go check on him." I stood.

"Just don't baby him. You know he gets crazy about that." She got up and followed me down the hall.

I knocked on their bedroom door and poked my head in the room. "Dad?"

"Yeah. I'm up. Just reading the paper. Come on in, Dan." He sat up on the bed and scooted his butt back against the pillows to prop himself up. He patted the bed beside him. "Where's peanut?"

I walked in and mom followed me. "She's playing with some new dolls mom got her."

My father rolled his eyes. "Dolls. Ugh. We need to get that girl started on throwing a ball or at least catching one."

I smiled and sat down, making room for my mother. "I'm pretty sure she's going to be a little more like Jannie than me, Dad."

"That's not such a bad trade-off." He reached out and patted my hand. "Stop looking worried. I had some spicy food and it fu- jacked up my system. Nothing to be worried about. It wasn't my heart. The EKG machine showed that I was fine."

"Those things don't work all the time." My mom leaned in a little.

"I'm fine, baby. I promise." My dad offered a forced smile. "I am a little thirsty though."

"I'll get you something. Coffee? Water?" She stood back up. "Daniel, you want something too?"

"Water," my dad responded.

"No. Thanks." I turned to face him.

His eyes followed her all the way out of the room. He turned back to me and offered a tired smile. "Look. I'm pretty sure I'm okay, but if something happens to me, you know that your mother is your responsibility."

I nodded, hating this same old talk. "Dad. I think maybe you should just go visit your heart doctor and make sure-"

"No. I said that I'm fine and I am. I just need to know that you're going to take care of your momma and Lyndsay when I do pass. It's going to happen one day."

"Yeah, but not today." I reached out and gripped the top of his hand. "And I'll always take care of them."

His shoulder rolled in a little as he let out a long breath. "I knew you would. You're a good man, son."

"I need something from you too." I moved my eyes back up to focus on him.

"Sure. If I have it, it's yours."

"I love Terra, Dad. I always have." I waited for him to rant and rail on me, but when he didn't, I continued, "and I know her and I have some shit in our pasts, but she's a good woman. So much better than I deserve."

He nodded. "I'm not sure I agree with that, but if you're asking for my blessing, then you have it. Your life is yours to orchestrate, Dan. Do what you think is best, just remember there's a little girl in there that is affected by everything you do."

I nodded. "I know. I think Terra would be a great mother to Lyndsay."

"Maybe so, but go slow with her. Heartache takes time to heal, son. And if you think it's healed just because of seeing each other again, you're wrong. You're just pulling off the old Band-Aids. Give the wound some air and then see where you are."

"Alright. I still think you need to go to the doctor."

He smirked. "That's your opinion, and last time I checked, you were a baseball playboy, not a doctor."

"Does it count that I play a doctor at the bar on occasion?" I lifted my eyebrows as he laughed.

"Daniel! Gross." My mom walked in and gave me a look.

My father and I shared a long laugh, making my confession all worth it.

Chapter 22

Terra

"What are you nervous about?" Niki's voice blared from the phone sitting on my bathroom counter.

"I don't know. I just want the night to go good. You know Danny and I blow up at each other at the drop of a hat." I pulled the straps to a dark blue cotton dress over my shoulders. It barely hit the top of my knees but was conservative. After taking it in the ass from him in the players’ locker room shower the other day, I felt the need to remind him that I wasn't the slut I played on TV, or so it felt.

"So, what? That's a passionate relationship, Terra. People who don't fight have peace, yeah, but how much passion is there? Seriously?"

"I don't know." I reached back and zipped up my dress. "What do you know about Jannie's little girl? I've been here for a few weeks, and I've yet to meet her."

"I'm sure Danny is super protective over her, which is a good thing. No kid needs to be subject to a million hopeful exchanges with potential moms or dads." She sighed. "It's the reason why I haven't dated very often. I don't want Benji getting the hope in his head that some dude I bring home is going to turn into his new daddy." I could hear the strain in her voice and it hurt me.

I picked up the phone and smiled down at her. "He deserves a daddy, Niki, and you deserve a good man.

She shrugged and kept her head down, chin to her chest. "I'm not sure that's in the cards for us."

"Why? That makes no sense to me." I tapped the phone as if I could reach out and touch her. "Hey. Look at me."

She glanced up. "Because. I'm a stripper in New York." She laughed sardonically. "I'm not a prime candidate for winning over a man, and even if I were, there's no way in hell he's taking me home to meet his momma."

"Then quit. You're brilliant and capable of-"

"Okay. Back to you." She smiled and lifted one eyebrow, challenging me. "I'm good where I am, but you... you need a breakthrough with Danny. I think tonight should definitely be the night."

"What night?" I put the phone back down and picked up a tube of lipstick. She wasn't going to give up stripping until some strong, handsome guy made her. Then she might figure out another path for her life. Maybe. Doubtful.

"The night you give up the old V-card, and I want to hear every wicked hot detail when it's over." Her voice grew sexy.

I tried to talk while putting on my lipstick, which didn't go well at all. "I'm pretty sure losing your virginity is only hot to the guy taking it. From what I've heard it's painful and gross."

"The first few minutes are, but you'll move past that. With the experience Danny McAdams has? Oh man, you're most likely in for a treat."

"You're too much." I leaned over and smiled down at her as my hair curtained around my face. A knock at the door caused me to jump. "Shit. He's early."

"Good! Have fun and just go with whatever feels right, but please, for God sakes, don't get in a fight and walk away from each other again. This is date night. Make it a good one!"

I smiled. "Okay. Love you. I'll call tomorrow."

"With dirty details?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Sure. Bye!"

A giggle rolled around in my chest as I half-walked, half-skipped to the front door. Danny was my high school sweetheart, the boy that got away. The very idea of having a real chance with him left me wanting to throw my arms out and spin in a circle. Love was powerful. Scarily so.

"You're early." I pulled the door open and moved back. My heart leaped in my chest at the sight of him. Dark jeans and boots, a black button-down shirt and an expression that told me that tonight was, in fact, the night.

"I would have come this morning if I thought you'd let me." He handed me a bouquet of red, yellow and white roses. "For you."

"Wow." I took them and moved them toward my face as I breathed in deeply. "Do you always try and outdo the boy before you?"

He laughed and walked into the house. "I usually pretend like there was no boy before me."

It was my turn to laugh. I turned and walked to the kitchen. "Hey, how is your dad doing? Did you get to see him today?" I put the roses in a vase and stepped back to admire them.

"I did. He's doing okay." He moved up behind me in the kitchen and slid his hand down my arms as he pressed his chest to my back. "You know he's as stubborn-"

"As a mule. I know. My dad was too." I pressed against him and closed my eyes. "Are we staying together tonight?"

He leaned down and moved my hair off my shoulder before kissing the side of my neck. "I want to. That's completely up to you."

I nodded. "I should get some clothes to sleep over in."

"You don't need clothes." He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and gripped my breasts with one of his hands. "I sleep naked. You should too."

I laughed softly. "We need to go, or we're going to end up sleeping over here instead."

"Somehow I'm not thinking that's a bad idea." He moved back, and I turned and slid my hands up his strong chest.

"Where's Lyndsay tonight?" I was worried about staying over if the little girl was there. I didn't want to give her the wrong impression as my first impression with her.

"She's with my mom and dad. I thought she'd be with us, but dad refuses to go to the heart doc." He cupped the top of my ass and pulled me closer. "Let's try and get through dinner and then go back to my place for the night."

"Or we could change into t-shirts and jeans and have dinner at your place instead." I lifted to my toes, wanting to taste his lips.

He didn't hesitate, but moved in and kissed me with a passion I'd grown used to doing without. I moaned and opened up for him as one naughty fantasy after the next rolled through my mind's eye.

"God, you're hot." I pulled back and licked my lips. "I don't think I could sit through dinner across the table from you and actually have a decent conversation."

He laughed. "Fine. Let's grab some stuff to make dinner at the grocery store and spend the night doing whatever the fuck we wanna do."

I nodded and pulled out of his arms. "Alright. Anything in particular you want?" I picked up my purse and walked to the door, suddenly worried that he might have the bike.

"You namely, but whatever else we have is good to me." He pointed to the bedroom as I glanced back. "Jeans and a t-shirt woman. I have the bike with me."

I smiled and handed him my purse. "Hold that."

He rolled his eyes. "Domesticating me already, I see."

"Never. I like you wild and unruly. Just make sure it's only with me." I walked to the back as his voice carried down the hall with me.

"That's not something you have to worry about, Ter. You're the only woman I want. It's just a struggle to make sure I don't let the caveman side of me out where you're concerned."

I realized his voice wasn't getting any softer. He was following me back to the bedroom.

"I like the caveman." I turned to face him and unzipped my dress. "What are you doing?"

"Watching you. Like I always have." He leaned against the door frame, my purse dangling from his fingers.

It was hard to believe the moment was real. I'd yearned for our friendship and so much more since the moment I lost all of it. How stupid we were to let each other go all those years before. What we had was intense and felt so fucking right it almost stole my breath.

"Don't blink." I offered him a sexy smile. "You might miss something."

"Don't worry. I won't." He ran his hand down his chest as I pulled my dress from the front of my body. The white lace panties and bra I had on didn't leave anything to the imagination.

"You like it?" I ran my hands down my sides, feeling far more beautiful than I did self-conscious in front of him, and that was because of him. He never failed to tell me how beautiful I was when we were younger and all the other guys wanted models. He didn't. He wanted me. Thick hips, big thighs, and breasts I thought were too small.

"It?" He brushed his hand over the growing bulge at the front of his jeans. "You? Fuck yes. You're beyond sexy, Ter. Turn around and let’s see my ass."

I chuckled and turned, glancing over my shoulder. The G-string was probably lost somewhere in my ass, but it didn't matter. As long as he was turned on, that's all I cared about.

"Goddammit, woman."

I yelped as he crashed into me, picking me up and pressing me onto the bed. His big, hard body pressed against the back of mine, and his hands were everywhere. A whimper left me as he pushed up on one arm and ran his fingers over the front of my throat, holding me softly, but reminding me just how dominant he was.

The press of his erected cock against the center of my ass had me wanting to roll my hips, but he was too strong, too big for me to gain any traction.

"Dinner?" I whispered roughly.

"Not a fucking chance."

Tonight was the night, and I was more than ready.

Chapter 23

Daniel

She felt so far beyond good beneath me. I wanted to take things slow for her first time, but there was no way to force myself into obedience. Something wild and unrestrained pulsed deep inside of me. It was something I'd never experienced before, and something told me that I wouldn't ever again.

"You know how long I've waited to feel your body against mine, Terra? How many nights I've fucked myself thinking about you?" I tightened my hold on her throat and pulled a little.

She whimpered, the sound delicious. To have such a strong woman trapped beneath me, yearning for me to make her mine was heady. "As long as I've waited?"

"Exactly." I kissed the side of her face and moved off the bed. "Turn over and watch me."

"Be careful with me tonight." She rolled onto her back and crab-crawled up the bed. The movement made the top of her ample breasts jiggle, and my cock twitched with anticipation.

"I'm gonna try, baby girl." I unbuttoned my shirt slowly as I watched her. "Slip your hand in your panties and fuck yourself a little for me. Get your body primed for what's about to happen. I'm a big guy. Your first time would be a tight fit with a smaller man. Open yourself up for me."

Her eyes widened a little, but the naughty girl from my teenage years quickly took the reins. "I should tell you no."

"But you won't." I pulled my shirt off my arms and reached for the button on my jeans, pausing. "Will you?"

"No. I won't." She slid her hand down into her see through panties and arched her back as a moan ripped through the room around us. I almost felt outta my league, but there was no way in hell I was letting her know that. Tonight was about her feeling safe and loved enough to explore herself and every inch of me. It's a night I'd dreamt about since I watched her walk out of my life. I wasn't missing a second of it.

"Press a finger into that wet, tight pussy for me, Terra." I licked my lips and unbuttoned my jeans as desire built up in the center of my stomach. Delicious waves of pleasure rolled through the center of my body, teasing my cock and stroking my balls from the inside. I'd have to come before making love to her, which wasn't going to be hard to do.

"So good," she whined and lifted her hips as her hand pumped in a fast, hard fashion. She had punished her sweet little slit many times from what I could tell. I prayed I would get to see it over and over again as we grew old together.

"I can smell your arousal, angel. You're getting close."

"Yeah. I want it so bad." She lifted one of her legs in the air, giving me a good view of the bottom of her ass.

"Roll onto your knees with your face on the bed, but don't stop fucking yourself, Ter. Long, deep strokes. Slip in two fingers for me. Stretch your pussy open. Make room for this huge cock, baby." I pulled my jeans over my hips and crawled up on the bed as she rolled over and continued to work herself. The view was spectacular, like my own personal porn. The one girl I always wanted to brand with my hands, my teeth, my cock was half-naked and writhing on the bed as she worked herself closer and closer to orgasm.

She cried out, and the sound of her sloppy wet fingers pushing deep inside of her caused me to almost lose my load.

"Fuck, that's the hottest thing I've ever seen." I ran my hands over the thick curves of her ass before snapping her G-string in several places. She yelped, but continued to bob her ass up and down, three of her fingers disappearing into her pretty pink hole.

"Taste me," she whispered roughly as her hips pulled forward. Her movements had my balls clenched tight and my dick leaking precum. She’d milk the shit out of me like she had in the shower the weekend before. Anticipation was sure to kill me if she didn't.

"You read my mind." I moved down and ran my tongue over the bottom of her pussy, licking her fingers as she pulled them out again and again. The musky taste of her filled my mouth, and I wanted more. I groaned and ran my tongue up the back of her ass, taking my time to tease the tight entrance that knew my cock well and would come to love it more and more over time.

She cried out again and jerked forward. "Too much, Danny."

"Not nearly enough." I leaned in and rolled my tongue along her ass, sucking and kissing her most sensitive spots as her fingers pumped her heat. I reached around her leg and pressed one of my fingers to her clit as I continued my assault on her sweet ass.

She jerked up and screamed my name as she bucked against my fingers. Her change in position forced her to press both hands to the bed. "Please fuck me," she cried out.

"Soon, baby." I kept a hand on her clit but used my free one to take up her task of working her entrance open. Pressing two thick fingers inside of her was all she needed. "Come for me, Ter. Let that naughty bitch that used to suck on my sack in the back of the movie theater come to life."

She cried out, her moans so goddamn sexy I thought I might explode without being touched. She'd been so wild when we were kids, so ready to experiment with me and anything I wanted to do.

"I want her for a little while tonight." I leaned down and pressed my mouth back against her ass as I worked her through two more orgasms, each more intense than the last.

"Stop. Please." She pulled from me and clamped her legs tightly as she dropped to the bed.

I moved back and licked at my fingers before rolling her over and spreading her perfect legs. "I will in a minute, baby. Let me have what you're offering."

She whimpered, but reached down and gripped the back of my hair as I lapped at her swollen pink lips, drinking in her come and cleaning her up good.

"I want you inside of me, Danny." She tugged at my hair, and I glanced up.

"You sure?" I moved off the bed and pulled her down with me as I took my cock in my hand. I could barely fit my fingers around the big bastard. He was primed and ready for a long night of slick soft skin milking him to release the goods. "You want this big dick inside of you, Ter? That naughty girl's been craving it for a long fucking time, hasn't she?" I locked eyes with her to force her to talk to me. She needed to stay in the moment and live the memory with me. I brushed the head of my cock down her lips and dipped in a little.

She groaned and arched her back, forcing herself to take my head. "I want you so fucking bad. I always have."

"It's gonna hurt a little, angel. Grip the sheets and know that I would never do anything you didn't want."

"But you'd do everything to me I wanted done?" She locked gazes with me, and the depth of her desire for carnality became so fucking apparent.

"Of course, I would. You might be a strong woman that everyone respects outside of this bedroom." I pressed forward, putting another inch inside of her. "But in here? With me? You're my toy."

"And you're mine." She gripped the bottom of the bed and pulled down, taking half my dick inside of her tight body.

I gripped her thighs and cried out alongside her. "Fuck, Ter. Give me some warning."

She panted, and her eyes grew wide. From the pale color of her skin, I could tell she was hurting. I pulled out and moved up on the bed. "Hold onto my neck, baby. I'll take good care of you. Just don't force yourself on my cock, okay? That'll hurt you this time."

She nodded as tears filled her eyes. "Okay. I'm sorry."

The docile creature beneath me had all my protective instincts roaring to life. I laid down and cradled her body in my arms before pressing back inside of her. I kissed her softly, loving the passion in her moans and whimpers.

"Relax and breath while I make you mine." I pressed in a little more, her pussy so fucking tight it stole my breath. "That's it. Just relax and let me in. It's me, Ter. You want me here with you, right?"

"So bad." She pulled me down for another long kiss. Somewhere in the middle of our tongue battling for dominance, she released herself over to me. I pressed forward and hit home, stealing her first time and coveting it as mine.

It always had been anyway. I'd just failed to claim it before.

Chapter 24

Terra

"You ready for tonight?" Gary patted my back as I stood beside the field. I needed to find my center, and standing on the crimson dirt of my father's favorite field usually helped.

"Of course." I smiled over at our catcher. "Are you?"

"I live for this stuff." Gary smiled and nodded. "It's going to be damn weird not coming here every day pretty soon."

"Retirement is going to be good to you though." I reached out and brushed something off his uniform. "How is the rest of the team doing? Everyone got their head in the game or do we have some jitters going on down there?" I motioned toward the locker room.

"No, we've done this a few times before." He winked and turned to jog out to home plate. "This one is for your dad tonight."

"He'll love that," I called after him and watched as several other players jogged out on the field.

Danny was the last to leave the dugout. He winked at me but didn't say anything.

"Good luck," I called after him as worry crowded my thoughts. We'd been seeing each other for about two weeks at that point, but hadn't said anything to the team. He'd been preoccupied with his dad and Lyndsay, which was fine by me, but it made getting together a lot harder than I wanted it to be. His mood slid down into a rather rough place over the last few days, but it was once again because of his dad.

I knew the feeling myself. My father meant the world to me.

"And still does," I mumbled and walked toward the stands. Oakland was just arriving, and their players were filling up the dugout on the other side of the stadium, leaving me to feel a little off. Having been the GM for them for quite a few years, I forced myself to stop. I needed to go speak to their coaches and some of the players. It would be insanely rude not to.

"Where are you going?" Danny called out across the field as I walked behind Gary over to Oakland's side of the field.

"Just to say hi." I smiled and kept going, ignoring the look of disapproval on Danny's handsome face.

"Terra!" One of the younger guys on the team barreled out of the bullpen and picked me up in a bear hug.

"Hey, Vince. How are you?" I laughed and pushed at his chest. "Put me down. I'm supposed to be all dignified now."

A group of them surrounded me, and something about it felt like coming home. It wasn't that I didn't love the team behind me or Washington State, but Oakland provided a safe-harbor when I needed one most. It was something I couldn't ignore.

I spend a few minutes shaking hands and giving hugs before talking to the coaches. I'd yet to see Paul, but it was probably a good thing. Where I didn't want to ask about him, curiosity got the better of me.

"Did you guys trade Paul Thompson and I just missed it?" I smiled up at the head coach.

"I'm right here. Had to grab something from the locker room." His voice caused my stomach to tighten, in a bad way.

I turned and forced a smile. "Hey. I was wondering why you weren't with the other guys."

"Were you now?" His eyes moved across my face and down my body. "What are you doing after the game? Want to grab a beer and catch up?"

"No. She doesn't." Danny's voice surprised me a little. He moved up to my side and wrapped a possessive arm around my shoulders.

"That's funny, McAdams." A cocky grin spread across Paul's handsome face. "I don't think it was you I asked out."

"She's taken, Thompson. Find someone else to try your tricks on." Danny's face was a mask of challenge.

I almost felt small between the two of them. Something about Danny stepping up as my man left my heart racing, my body wet and aching for his. "Hey. It's all good. No beers for me tonight. Good to see you, Paul."

"You too, beautiful." He turned his attention back to me, but I ignored it.

I pulled from Danny's hold and walked back across the field. "You don't have anything to worry about, Danny." I glanced over at him to find him stewing in anger.

"No? You want me to go cuddle up to every girl that's waxed my cock while you're watching? That sound fun to you?" He voice was deep and hateful.

"What?" I pursed my lips and looked around. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I never slept with Paul."

"Right. As if I believe that shit." He turned and walked to the mound, almost stomping.

I held my tears back. He was going through a lot, and he was overreacting. It was part of his persona and every alpha male asshole to do it. I let out a slow breath and ascended the stairs to the owners’ box. For some reason, a small group of reporters was standing outside the door, in the middle of the fucking aisle where people were trying to get by to get to their seats.

"Miss Harmon. Todd Dangle from News Channel Two. Can you please speak to the recent discovery that another one of your players has popped positive for HGH?" He shoved a microphone in my face, catching me off-guard.

"How did you guys get in here?" I reached for the door and moved into the box, closing it hard behind me. "What the fuck was that?"

Alan turned from watching the field. "What was what?"

"The media is right outside our door." I walked into the room and grabbed a bottle of water. "It's like there's no rest for the weary."

"That sounds about right." He reached out and rubbed the top of my back as I came to stand beside him. "They're all hyped up because Jackson popped positive for HGH this week."

"Why wasn't I informed of that?" Tension wrapped around the inside of my chest. First Danny was being a cock, then the media decided it was okay to pound down my door in the middle of our paying crowd of visitors and now I wasn't being kept in the loop on the happenings with the team? What. The. Fuck.

"Because you have a lot going on." He let out a long sigh. "You father wasn't kept up to speed on that shit either, Terra. It's my job to handle the players."

"Then handle them," I barked and lifted my water to my lips, drinking deeply. "Where are they getting the steroids from?"

"No clue, but we're investigating."

"We should move faster. This is getting ridiculous. Fans are going to start getting upset and stop buying tickets. That's how this works. We're an American tradition. A wholesome, happy, safe place to bring your family and your kids for an afternoon of fun. If people start to feel like our guys are toked up on an illegal substance, it's going to affect all of us."

"I know. I'm on it. Just avoid the media as best you can until we get a few things cleared up." He pressed his hands to the glass. "And if you need to hide out for a while, feel free to. I can help take care of everything."

Something about the way he spoke left me uneasy. If I wanted to hide out for a while? Was that a joke? And where would I go? In the locker room to get fucked against the shower wall like a teenage girl with nothing to lose?

I glared down at the field as anger burned deep in my belly. How dare Danny come over to the Oakland side of the field and remind me and Paul that I was off the market. Like I didn't know that. Like I wasn't mature enough to stay committed to one man.

I wasn't the slut. He was.

"Wow." One of the older guys walked into the box behind me, his voice stealing me from my thoughts. "What the hell is going on with the media out there?"

I bit my tongue and let Alan explain it. Obviously, he knew more than I did.

The game started, and thankfully, I calmed down a little. We were doing well until the top of the third when once again, Danny hit a batter. This time, it was Paul.

This time, it was on purpose.

Chapter 25

Daniel

"What the fuck was that?" Paul Thompson pulled off his batting helmet as he screamed and chucked his bat.

Where I hadn't planned on smacking him with the ball, the fact that I had was pretty damn cool. He charged the mound, and I dropped my glove, punching him one good time in the face before he tackled me to the ground.

"You think she's yours, McAdams? You're fucking wrong." He popped me in the face before I could roll us over and move up to sit on his chest. I hit him several times before Rick pulled me off of him.

"Have you two lost your damn minds?" Rick screamed.

I jerked away from him and walked to the dugout as the crowd booed. I wasn't sure who they were booing at, nor did I care. I was furious at Terra for going over to talk to Paul before the game. What was she thinking?

Was she trying to make me jealous? Cause I was.

"Great way to set me up for a win, dear," I mumbled sarcastically and pulled at my clothes. I'd take a shower and head out. I was going to catch all sorts of hell for my actions, but it wouldn't be tonight. I couldn't hold back my aggression for much longer, and letting it out on Joe, Rick or Terra would be less than smart.

I jerked my locker open to grab a pair of boxers and realized that I had a zillion missed calls on my phone. I slammed the door, not caring who they were from. Probably an unknown number. Whoever the fuck it was, it could wait.

After getting in the shower, I pressed my hands to the wall beside me and leaned against the cold tiles. There were too many moving parts in my life, and I seemed to be half-ass attentive to all of them. Something had to give.

Sadly enough, it seemed like that was going to be me.

"Danny?" Terra's voice filled up the locker room, and I stifled a curse. Of course, she was going to come give me grief over it. I'd been a total dick before the game and now was her turn to get in a bit of payback.

"I'm in the shower. I'll be out shortly," I barked, hating the tone of my voice. She didn't deserve me being a dick, but I couldn't force that part of me back in its shell.

"Alright. Sure." She sounded hurt, but it was getting to be a tone I was used to. Fuck me for being such an ass. I finished washing up and dried off before wrapping a towel tightly around my waist. I walked out to find her sitting on one of the benches, her face filled with either concern or disappointment.

I put my back to her and opened my locker. "What do you want, Terra?" I knew using her full name was another asshole move. The score kept rising for me.

"Did you mean to hit Paul?" Whether there was a hint of anger in her voice or not, I somehow wanted to believe there was.

"Why do you care?" I glanced over my shoulder as if she were a ball boy or someone less important. What the fuck was wrong with me.

"Because I own this team, Daniel." She shot back at me. She was damn good at that.

I turned to face her. "Then remember that next time a rival team comes to our field. Don't run over there and high-five and hug every swinging dick on their team. It looks like shit if you didn't know."

She paled. "What did you say to me?"

"You heard me. Don't think I didn't see the way you looked for Paul. You think I'm stupid?"

"I think you're being stupid." She got up and walked toward me, her face coloring pink. "What's gotten into you? Where is the Danny I slept beside a few days ago?"

"Maybe he's still in the bed. Go wake him up." I turned back to my locker and pulled out my phone. "And who the fuck keeps calling me?"

"No. We're not doing this." She gripped my shoulder. "Turn around and talk to me."

"As my lover or the owner of my team?" I pulled from her and half-snarled over my shoulder. The phone thing plus Paul was fucking my emotions ten ways to Sunday.

"As your girlfriend," she barked.

"Is that what you are?" I pulled the phone to my ear and lifted my finger. "Be quiet for a minute. Someone keeps trying to call me over and over. Probably an ex-girlfriend that just wants to check in."

"You're an asshole." She turned and walked toward the door.

"You knew this," I called after her and turned my back to the door before plopping down.

My mom's voice filled up the line, her tone frantic. "Daniel. We're at the ER again. Your father's not doing too good. Please come up here when the game is over." The call dropped. Next one. "Daniel. It's mom. Just wanted you to know that Lyndsay is with Joan next door to the house. They're hooking your dad up to a bunch of machines. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm a little scared. Say a prayer for us, son. Please?"

Message after message of her growing more frantic.

My stomach turned upside down and it was all I could do to make it to the nearest trashcan to lose my lunch. I wiped my mouth and got dressed as fast as I could. Baseball was my whole world for so many years, but nothing was more important than my family, though I'd almost let it become that way.

I jogged down the long stairs to the parking lot and stopped short at the sound of Terra crying. Fuck. I needed to tell her that I was sorry and that I loved her.

"Hey. He's an asshole. Lots of players are assholes." Paul.

What the fuck was Paul doing on our side of the field? In our tunnel?

"No. He's a good man. He's just going through a lot. I don't need your help, Paul. Please. Seriously."

"I know you don't, kitten, but I'm not going anywhere."

Kitten?!? Rage filled my insides. No fucking way this dude was on my side of the field and now calling my woman kitten. Oh hell no.

"I'm good. Seriously." Terra screamed as I jogged down the hall and crashed into Paul again.

"You sorry mother fucker." I punched him several times before head butting him. He held his own for a little while, but finally curled onto his side and spit blood across the floor.

Terra was frantic. "Stop it! For God sakes, Danny. Stop!"

I got up as she knelt beside him, talking softly to him. Almost lovingly from what I could tell.

"I'm leaving. Make sure he knows that I was your first." I turned and spit blood behind me before walking out into the cool night air. The minute it slammed into me, I knew I'd made a grave mistake. Tears blurred my vision, but I choked them back down.

It wasn't my fault that the world was caving in. I was holding on as best as I could, and doing a rather shitty job of it.

A million regrets raced through my head as I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital. I parked the bike on the side and jogged into the ER to find my mom teary-eyed and sitting alone in a corner of the waiting room.

"Daniel!" She jumped up and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around me and crying softly.

"How is he? What's going on?" I gripped her tightly and glanced around.

She moved back and whipped her eyes. "It's okay. He's stabilized, but I'm pretty sure he had a mini-heart attack."

I let out a painful sigh. "We told him to come up here and get checked out. What was so damn hard about that?"

"What happened to your face?" She reached up and touch my lip where it was busted.

"Ouch!" I jerked back. "Damn, Mom."

"Don't you talk to me like that." She put her hands on her hips and tried to be hard, but she quickly crumbled into tears again.

"I'm sorry. I got in a fight." I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. I held her until my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Terra.

"How is your dad?"

I sent a one-word reply and turned my phone off. Okay.

I'd fucked things up, but tonight wasn't the night to figure them out. My mom and dad needed me too much to remain selfishly focused on anything but them.

And knowing me... Ter would always come first.

Chapter 26

Terra

"Paul. Are you okay?" I glanced up to watch Danny storm off. What the hell was going on with him? It was almost like he'd become a different man than the one I'd fallen in love with.

"Yeah. That guy is an animal." He pulled himself up and coughed, spraying blood on the floor in front of us. "You need to stay away from him, Terra."

"Okay. Let's get you some help." I reached for him, but he pulled away.

"No. I'm fine. Take care of yourself. Seriously." He turned and walked back down the long tunnel that leads to the stadium.

"I will." I pressed my back to the wall and lifted my hands to cover my face. A long sob left me as I slid to the ground. My father would have been so disappointed in me for letting my personal life interfere with his team. It was the one thing I knew he would have wanted from me as the new owner. To be strong and not fall in the face of trial, tribulation or Danny McAdams.

"Terra?" Joe's voice surprised me.

"Yeah. Sorry." I pushed up from the floor and wiped at my eyes. "Pretend I'm not crying?"

My father's oldest friend walked over and reached for me. His hands were strong and warm as he held my shoulders. "I was going to check on Daniel seeing that he's been a loose cannon lately, but the locker room was empty."

"He's gone." I shrugged, feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. "You should have taken the team from Daddy."

He chuckled. "Not a chance kiddo." He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. "Your father has loved this place since we were kids. We used to come out here and pay them to let us mow." He laughed, but the sound fell flat. "I miss him so goddamn much. You might be the only one who knows how big the hole in my life is now that he's gone."

I held him tightly and nodded. "I do. I just wish I could make better decisions."

"We all want to do that, kiddo. Hindsight is truly twenty-twenty. If we were given the end from the beginning then we can make the right choices all the time and live purely tranquil lives, you know?"

I glanced up and smiled through my tears. "But then we would be gods."

"And what fun is there in that?" He smiled and moved back to wipe the tears off my cheek. "McAdams loved your dad too, Terra. He's gone through a lot lately, and I think that's the only reason I haven't kicked his ass off the team. He's close to Jeremy Denning, so the kid getting popped for steroids hit Daniel harder than he'd want anyone to know." He released me fully. "He was almost a mentor to the kid."

"I know." I wiped away my tears. "I'm sure we have a lawsuit of some sort coming from Oakland, or at least Paul Thompson. Danny just beat him to a bloody pulp down here a few minutes ago. You just missed the show."

Joe glanced at the ceiling and let out a long sigh. "Fucking guy is going to have to pull himself together."

"I wish I could help with that, but I don't know what to do." I crossed my arms over my chest.

He tilted his head back down as his face filled with sorrow. "Maybe just talk to him about everything. He's not going to bring anything up to you or anyone else. Guys don't do that." He smiled sadly. "Ask me about the night your father died."

The tension in the air grew so thick that I almost couldn't catch my breath.

"What happened the night my dad died, Joe?" I reached out and took one of his hands in mine. I could remember a time when his hand dwarfed mine when he would toss me to my dad in the air, and my dad would toss me back.

"He wanted to go home, but Danny pushed him to come to Ruska's and hang out with the team."

"Oh, no." I lifted my free hand and pressed it to my lips. The pressure and pain Danny had to be carrying around left me feeling ill.

"Yeah." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I told Martin it would be good to see the guys outside of the field. He needed to reconnect with them. So, he finally agreed thanks to Danny's request and my prodding."

"Joe. You know it's not your fault that my father died. That's ridiculous."

"I know that’s what you believe, but I can't shake that it is partly my fault."

"No." I squeezed his hand and stepped closer. "Someone hit you guys going fifty miles per hour. We're lucky you both didn't die when the car rolled."

"I sometimes wish I would have." He glanced up and locked eyes with me. "I'm not taking up for Danny, Terra because he's being an idiot, but I am telling you that there's a lot going on inside that kid. Step up and help him out, or move back and let someone else do it."

He pulled me into a tight hug as I took quick breaths through my nose. It felt almost like the world was closing in around me, and the only person I wanted to comfort me was the one that kept striking out to hurt me.

It was because he was hurting, but it didn't matter. I was defenseless against him.

"Come on. We got a ballgame to win." He moved back and offered me his arm. "Let's go pull this one out of the shitter for your father."

"You know he could care less if we win or not." I slipped my arm into Joe's. "He used to say that as long as we were all-"

"Having fun?" He finished my sentence and laughed. "Try again. That was a cute thing to say to a sweet little girl. Your father was a tiger, a fighter, a winner. Much like the pitcher you've given your heart too."

I smiled and released him. "Thanks for everything. I don't look at you with an ounce of blame, nor does my dad, Joe. We both love you, and I'm grateful that you're here to be the glue during this transition."

"Me too, kiddo." He leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Now, get upstairs where you belong unless you plan on picking up a bat or a glove and helping an old fella out?"

I laughed. "Not a chance."

He walked away, and a part of my heart healed. Maybe Danny was hurting too much to be the man I needed or even wanted him to be right now. He had so much going on in his life. I just needed to figure out what part I was supposed to play, or if the season for us to be together was officially over. The thought of living without him caused my heart to shrink in my chest.

So maybe just backing off a little to let him heal was the answer. It sounded like a good idea in my head, but I knew myself far too well. There was no way I could let the idea of us go and still remain owner of the team. Having him in my face all the time would do me in.

"Stop it," I mumbled and made my way to get a hot dog. I didn't have to make any decisions right then, and it was probably best that I didn't.

I pulled out my phone and texted Danny, asking about his Dad. We were friends before we were lovers, and if nothing else, I was his boss. I could ask how his dad was doing seeing that I was genuinely interested.

I got a one word answer back and my heart dropped.

"Okay."

It was good to hear that his father was okay, but I knew one thing for sure... we weren't.

Chapter 27

Daniel

I paced the floor in the cafeteria until my feet hurt. Dropping down at a table, I pulled out my phone and called the only person I wanted to talk to - Lance. We'd been friends my whole life, and he was the only guy that shot straight with me. Without a sibling in my life, I needed him. Especially now.

"Danny?" His voice was thick with sleep.

"Hey man." I pressed my forehead against my hand and closed my eyes. "I'm at the ER with my dad. I just needed to hear a friendly voice."

"Fuck, dude. What happened?" He seemed to wake up fast.

"I don't know. He's been having some chest pains lately and refused to have it checked out." I sat up and glanced around to find a scattered handful of people that looked about like I felt. "He had a mild or minor heart attack tonight."

"Did you find out on the field?"

"No. I'd come down into the locker room after getting in a fight on the mound."

"Oh shit. You played Oakland tonight, didn't you?" He yawned loudly. If it were anyone but him, I'd have felt like shit for calling so late in the night.

"Yeah, man. That bastard that used to date your sister charged me because I accidentally hit him in the hip with a fastball." I smiled, feeling a bit of warmth for the first time that night.

"Accidentally? Something tells me that's a fucking lie." He chuckled. "He deserved it. He badgered Terra a million times to get into her pants. I should have gone down there and beat his ass myself."

Guilt swam through me. I'd taken Terra's virginity and turned into an asshole shortly thereafter. She probably hated me for it.

"You doing okay up there in the big apple?" I walked to the small cafeteria at the end of the room. Coffee would be helpful for my long night ahead.

"Yeah. I miss you guys and the rain, but it's a good life." He cleared his throat. "We just got this new surgeon in that's a total prick. I'm thinking about dragging his ass out behind the hospital and putting a hurting on him."

I laughed and fixed myself a cup of coffee. Light brown. Like dessert. It was the way Terra drank it, and somehow, she talked me into loving the girly ass drink myself when we were younger. Pressing my hand to my heart, I took a shallow breath.

"Hey. I fucked things up with Terra pretty bad. I just wanted you to hear it from me."

"Oh yeah? Sounds like the good old days. Give me the juicy deals, but leave out the juicy parts."

I smiled. He's been saying the same thing most of our lives. "I don't know, Lance. I love her with everything inside of me, but everything feels so fucked up right now. With losing Martin and having to raise Lyndsay to my dad having chest pains and the guys in the club getting popped for HGH. Just feels like nothing is going right."

"So why can't what you have with Terra be that one thing, Danny? She's a rock that you could lean on."

"That's not fair, and you know it." I paid for the coffee and walked back to my seat amid a million empty ones. "She's trying to figure out who she is in this new ownership position and deal with me, and let's not forget how badly she is hurting from losing your dad."

"She's much stronger than you're giving her credit for. Just don't hurt her or make her feel unprotected and you'll be fine."

The image of her glancing up at me from the floor in the hallway brushed by my mind's eye. The horror on her beautiful face as she screamed for me to leave Paul alone was enough to scar me for life. Maybe she still had feelings for the guy?

"You think she still wants something between her and Paul?" I could ask Lance. He was my best friend and the closest thing I had to a brother.

"Not in the slightest. I think you're looking for something to come in between you guys."

I snorted. "No way. That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard."

"Is it? You've spent so many years running from love and now it's right in front of you? That's a scary feeling, Danny."

"No shit." I reached up and ran my hands through my hair as a nurse walked into the cafeteria, her eyes wide as if she were freaking out. "Let me call you right back."

"Alright. Just real quick."

I stood as she headed my way. "Make it fast."

"Do you think I need to fly down and take care of Terra? Does she need me there? Did I leave too much for her to deal with?"

"No, and I'm here if you did. Later man." I dropped the call and slipped my phone in my back pocket as the nurse stopped in front of me.

"Daniel McAdams?"

"Yeah. What's up?" My pulse spiked. Something was wrong by the look on her face and the fact that she was breathing hard. Had she come running down to the cafeteria to find me?

"Your father has had a massive heart attack and a possible stroke. You need to come help us with your mother. She's not taking the situation very well." She turned and motioned for me to follow her.

"Wait. What? I thought it was a minor heart attack." I jogged after her, and she picked up her walk to a jog.

I turned the corner as my mother flailed in one of the large male nurse’s arms, screaming as she lost her shit completely. "I want to see him. Let me see him. Please."

"Mom?" I ran over to her and took her from the nurse as she wrapped her arms around me and sagged into my arms.

"Please Danny? Please. Tell them to let us see him one more time. Please." She moved back and hit my chest with her fists as tears poured from her eyes.

"One more time?" My heart almost stopped in my chest as I turned to watch one of the doctors hit my dad with an electronic bolt to the chest. His limp body convulsed and dropped to the bed below, motionless.

"Oh shit." I pulled my mom in again and cupped the back of her head as I held her tightly, not letting her see what they were up to. I watched in horror as they tried a few more times.

The young doctor trying to help glanced up and locked eyes with me through the glass, and I knew.

He didn't make it.

"We need to go home okay, mom? We'll come back-"

"No!" She screamed and pulled back to turn around.

I grabbed her arms and manhandled her to the front door as my voice broke. "We'll come in tomorrow morning and see dad, okay?"

"Mr. McAdams?" The doctor walked out with a needle in his hand as my mom lost her shit again. "You need some help?"

"What is that?" I held onto her as my world crumbled around me. I searched in my mind for the last thing my father and I had talked about. Terra. He'd given his blessing on my girl. Or was it something else?

"Just something to calm her down. I'll get a wheelchair and help you get her into the car."

"No! No!" My mom reached behind her and knocked the needle from the doctor’s hand, sending it flying. "Don't take him away from me. I'm nothing without him." She turned and grabbed me by the shoulders hard. "He's everything to me, Daniel. Don't let them take him."

I choked on a sob and held onto her. "They're not taking him anywhere, momma."

"Here, Mrs. McAdams. It's going to be okay." The doctor got the needle into her arm and she slumped against me as I cried in the hallway.

"It's alright mom. I'm right here." I helped her down into the chair and stepped back as my insides melted. "Fuck." I turned and walked down the hallway, gripping my head and trying to make sense of what was happening.

I stopped by the window to watch them pull a blanket over my dad's limp body.

"Mr. McAdams. Can I-"

"No! Leave me the fuck alone for a minute." I pressed my fist to my mouth as another sob ripped my heart open. How the hell were we going to survive without my dad? Why me? Why us?

I glanced over at my mom as she laid slumped over, her eyes closed but her crying could be heard down the hallway.

Why her?

Chapter 28

Terra

I hadn't seen Danny in a few days, and he wouldn't return my call. It was driving me nuts. I finally decided to call my brother as I drove out to Danny's place. I had to see him. I didn't care what kind of fool I looked like.

"Terra. How are you? You holding up okay?" My brother sounded far too concerned for a normal Thursday afternoon.

"Yeah. I'm worried about Danny. Have you heard from him in the last two days? We have a game on Saturday that he's supposed to pitch." I rolled the window up and tried to not sound as fucked up as I was.

"I'm not sure if he's going to be there. I talked to him yesterday and he lost his dad Tuesday night really late.

I swerved to the side of the road as the air was sucked from the car. "What? Lost his dad where?"

"His dad died at the hospital."

"Oh, my God." I put the car in park as a million emotions raped my insides. "Why didn't he call me?"

"He's pretty fucked up about it right now, Ter. You know he and his father were close. Just like you and Daddy were."

I leaned back and closed my eyes as tears burned me. "I should have known. I would have gone to the hospital with him. He needed me, Lance. Why didn't he call?"

"He's a hard shell to crack, Sis. You know this. You've been trying for years. Just go to him and help him out. I'll be flying in later tomorrow."

"Do you know what the arrangements are?"

"Not really. I would assume they're having a small family gathering this weekend. His dad wanted to be cremated, so there isn't really going to be a funeral."

I pulled back on the road, driving even faster than before. "Just because you're cremated doesn't mean you don't have a funeral."

"I realize that, but he and his mom aren't interested. After losing Jannie, I think they both swore they would do a simple celebration of life for everyone else in the family."

I could understand that. "I'm going to try and find him. I'll call you later."

"Sounds good. I'll grab a cab at the airport. Dad's house still ours?"

"Yeah. I kept the staff and stuff, but I rarely go out there. I'm sure they'll be happy to see someone."

"Okay. Be safe and good luck. He's pretty fucking broken."

"Thanks, Lance. See you soon." I dropped the call and tossed the phone in my passenger seat as I turned a corner a little too fast and almost hit an oncoming car. I screamed and hit the breaks. "Slow the fuck down, Terra. No one needs another tragedy in their lives. Period."

After catching my breath, I pulled back onto the road and concentrated on slowing my racing heart as I made my way over to Danny's house.

I was sure he'd had plenty of memories of other women in his bed to suffice for a lifetime. I parked in front of the house, grateful to see his bike and his truck in the driveway. I took a shaky breath and got out of the car. The last time I'd seen him a few days before, we'd been in the middle of a full-on fight. I didn't want to upset him in the middle of his grief, but there was no damn way I was standing on the sidelines while he was hurting.

Reaching up with a shaky hand, I knocked on the door and held my breath.

A cute little blond with Jannie's big eyes and innocent face opened the door. "Hi. Do you have our pizza?"

I smiled and knelt. "I don't, but I can surely order you one if you're hungry."

She tilted her head to the side and reached out to touch my cheek with her tiny hand. "I know you."

"Do you?" I glanced up as Danny jogged to the door in a pair of shorts and nothing else.

"Lyndsay! What did I tell you about answering the door, Peanut? Someone could snatch you up." He scooped her up and held her tightly as he opened the door further. "Terra."

"I do know her!" Lyndsay slid down the front of her daddy and moved to me, hugging my legs and looking up at me. "Mimi said you were going to be the queen in my daddy's castle."

"I like the sound of that." I picked her up and put her on my hip, feeling almost too comfortable with her. "Can I come in for a few minutes?"

"Yeah. I'd like that." He moved back and closed the door behind us. "Lyndsay. Go grab your new teddy bear that Mimi got you and come show Miss Terra, okay?"

I put her down and smiled as she took a shallow breath and looked up at me as if I were something special. "You’re so much prettier out of the pictures."

"Peanut. Go do what I said." Danny reached out and ran his hand down my forearm to grip my hand tightly. "I'm so fucking sorry for what happened on Tuesday."

"Danny." I moved closer but didn't slip into his arms like I wanted to. "I just heard about your dad."

"I don't know what to say about that." He looked so tired, so beaten by life. "I left the game after getting in that fight with you and Paul and-" His voice broke as his face crumbled.

"Baby." I closed the gap between us and pulled him into my arms as he wrapped me in an almost too-tight hug. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"My mom is so fucked up right now. She's not even talking, Ter." He pressed his face against my neck.

I held him as his large body shook against me. "She'll get better. We'll help her too, okay?" I kissed the side of his face as Lyndsay walked around the corner holding a little teddy bear.

Her eyes were red and tears were streaking down her cheeks. "What's wrong with my daddy?"

"He's just tired, sweetheart. Go sit on the couch for me, and I'll put him to bed and make us something delicious to snack on while we play with your dolls, okay?" I smiled and offered her every ounce of calm I had.

"Okay." She walked over and wrapped her arms around Danny, leaning in to kiss his leg. "Get some sleep, daddy. I'll spend some time with Terra. We need to do some girl things, okay?"

He chuckled and moved back to wipe his eyes. "I like the sound of that." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head before standing back up and touching my cheek. "Thanks for coming. I certainly don't deserve you being here."

"Hush." I pulled his hand down and gripped it tightly before turning and leading him down a long hallway to his bedroom.

"The last one at the end." He moved behind me slowly, his breathing labored. "I thought losing Jannie was the worst thing I could suffer, but I'm not so sure that's true anymore, Ter."

"We're going to get through this." I waited until he stepped into the room to close the door. It was decorated in dark blues and silvers. It reminded me of the harbor, Danny's favorite place to go on date nights when we were kids.

"Are we?" He reached for me and pulled me close to him. "Stay with me tonight. Please? I don't want to sleep alone."

"Then I'll stay." I ran my hands up his back and held him against my chest. "Get some sleep now and I'll take care of your Peanut."

He leaned in and brushed his nose against mine. "Did you know that even though I'm a horrible asshole from hell that I love you so much? That you're all I think about, Ter? Did you know?"

"I do now," I whispered and cupped his face as I moved in for a long, loving kiss. The feeling of his body against mine, his pain becoming mine, our hearts reaching for the others was simply right. No matter what was or would be, he belonged to me and me to him.

We would figure things out. No matter how long it took or how hard it was.

He kissed me again and turned, walking to the bed. "Thank you for being you."

"No problem." I walked to the door, wanting to turn around and watch him strip off his shorts, but it wasn't the right time for lust. It was all about love. I opened the door and stopped, needing him to know.

"You okay?" He whispered from the darkness.

"I am now." I glanced over my shoulder. "I love you too. I always have."

He chuckled. "How could you not? I played hard to get and you fell for it."

My turn to laugh. "Get some rest, baby. I'll be here when you get up."

All the shit from the last week was gone. Obliterated in a moment. We didn't have to cling to the should have's and would have's and should have done's. He was broken and I was too. Maybe together we could rediscover ourselves and find healing.

Something told me that was the new path we were on.

I couldn't wait to take the next step.

Chapter 29

Daniel

"Thank you for being there for me, Ter." I ran my hands down her arms as we stood in front of one of the private jets the club owned. "You fed me and my baby girl, loved on us, cleaned up after us. What can I do to pay you back?"

"Make love to me again?" She moved closer, her eyes filled with desire. "I need to feel you against me."

"Inside of you?" I closed the gap and slipped my hand into her hair as I pulled her down for a long, hot kiss. The sounds of the other players oohing and ahhing were almost too much. I nipped at her lips and moved back. "Come on my flight with me."

"No. I need to talk with Joe about a few things." She ran her hand down my chest and cupped my dick, hiding her tight grip on me with her body. "But this is mine tonight."

"Baby. That's yours every night." I leaned in to taste her one more time before turning and walking to the players’ plane. Fucking her in the middle of the air would have been a serious treat, but it simply wasn't meant to be. I needed her as much as she needed me for sure. After the last two days of moving around like a zombie, the intensity of a long fuck with my girl was in order.

"Hey man. You dating the boss lady now?" Rodriguez motioned for me to come sit by him.

"She's always been mine, man. You didn't know?" I sat down and buckled up. Jeremy walked onto the plane next, surprising me a little. "Hey, man. They let riff-raff like you in here?"

"Fuck yeah. About damn time too." He sat down across the aisle from me. "I was starting to lose my celebrity status and shit. I was actually having to try with women. I didn't spend all those years playing ball and busting my ass to have to come up with a pickup line." He sat down and smiled over at us. "Hey. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Danny."

"Thanks, man." I glanced around as the guys took turns giving their condolences to me over my dad's death. It was still painful as fuck, and I probably shouldn't have been leaving town, but the family gathering was over, and my mom was visiting her sister in Oregon with Lyndsay. It was a good time to get back with the team and try and pull my life back together.

"So, you and Terra have been a thing since back in the day?" Rodriguez asked.

"Oh yeah. She was my first girlfriend."

"And your first lover?" Jeremy wagged his eyebrows and let out a cat-call.

Everyone laughed and joined in the fun. I nodded, letting them think what they wanted to. In my mind, the memory had been re-grafted to include her. She was everything to me and should have been my first. That was good enough.

"Take a picture of the man on the mound tonight, folks. It's hot and heavy and he's not even breaking a sweat." The announcer's voice was loud over the speakers in Oakland, but I loved it.

The pitcher’s mound was where I'd lived most of my life. It's where I sorted out my mistakes and found the best parts of myself. Not smiling in front of a camera or pretending to be the cocky asshole I'd become over the years thanks to the life I'd lived. It was just me and the ball. The way life was meant to be for a simple guy like me.

I reared back and put the ball into Gary's glove, putting the third batter in the bottom of the eighth down. We were going to win the game if I had anything to do about it.

The crowd in the stands grew silent as I walked back to the dugout.

"Great job, McAdams. You in for one more tonight, or are you ready for us to bring in the relief pitcher?" Joe patted my back and reached over like he was going to call down to the bullpen to get Jeremy up and ready.

"Give me a second to think about it." I moved down into the dugout and put my glove up before standing near the opening on the far left. I'd put a lot of batters down and been given more accolades than I could remember. A smile touched my lips as my mind went back to the first night Terra and I found the courage to sneak into the baseball field after it closed.

"Your dad is going to fucking kill us, you wild thing." I reached for her hand as she took off toward the crimson dirt.

"No. He'll understand." She spun around and jerked my hand, pulling me close to her. "Kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am." I leaned down and closed my eyes as she stepped up and kissed me instead. The girl was so fucking forward, and yet I loved it. It made me feel alive like I was the only guy in the world she saw.

"You know one day you're going to play in a place like this." She leaned back a little as her long red hair billowed in the wind around us.

I clasped my hands together as I held her, my arm wrapped tightly around her waist. "And where will you be, baby?"

"Up there." She pointed to the owners’ box and laughed. "Serving drinks and flirting with the rich guys."

"The old rich guys." I pulled her back up and kissed her again. We couldn't have been more then fifteen. "You like old guy balls? Pretty nasty, Ter. Even for you."

"Maybe?" She smiled and the world seemed brighter.

I released her and pretended to gag as she jogged toward the pitcher’s mound and got into position. "Do you think you'll ever grow tired of me? Like, find someone with bigger boobs or maybe a prettier smile?"

She was so unsure of herself, but I made it my job to remind her of what I saw in her, not the fucked up lies she told herself. "No, baby. There's no one for me but you."

She yelped as I pulled her back into my arms and we stumbled, rolling onto the soft green grass. I positioned myself between her legs and leaned down to kiss her again.

"Are you sure about that?" She pushed at my chest, denying me the warmth of her lips.

"I'm an ass-man." I wagged my eyebrows. "Keep that ass and we'll always be in business."

"Daniel?" Joe moved up behind me. "We've got one more batter and we're at the top of the ninth."

"Send in Jeremy. He needs a redeeming moment." I glanced over at our head coach and smiled. "I've already got mine."

"I would agree with that." He patted me on the back and picked up the phone, calling down to the bullpen and telling Rick to send in a relief pitcher. I dropped down on the bench and leaned back, taking in the moment.

Terra and I were going to be fine, and before I knew it, we'd be married. I'd make sure to take things as slow as she wanted me to up to an extent. Lyndsay needed a brother or a sister, and I was ready for another baby in my life.

I stood back up as Jeremy jogged out to the mound. He put the first two batters down, no problem. Paul Thompson was up last. He glanced over at me in the dugout and gave me a look.

I just smiled. I had nothing left to do or say where the bastard was concerned. He didn't end up with my girl, and he was shit out of chances. I wasn't letting her go again. Not ever.

It felt good knowing that I didn't have a damn thing left to prove to him or anyone else.

I could simply be me. For the first time in a long time.

Chapter 30

Terra

"Dude. Danny. Thank you so much for letting me take that last round." Jeremy bobbed around on his feet as Danny and I sat with Joe in the hotel restaurant later that night. It was late, and I was beat beyond belief, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to have dinner with Joe.

"Anytime, man." Danny reached out and popped the guy in the stomach. "Now, take your wild ass on and let us old people eat dinner with Terra."

"Good save," I mumbled and gave Joe a grin. "He wanted to call me old too."

"I think you're right." Joe winked.

"Hey. I'm right fucking here. Jeez." Danny turned and smiled at me. "What did you and Joe catch up on during the flight over here?"

I glanced over at my father's oldest friend. "I think you can tell Danny about it."

"It's highly confidential." Joe leaned back in his chair and picked up his glass of wine. "But I seriously think the HGH is being administered by Alan."

"Danes?" Danny's voice rose. "No way. He's been with us as long as you have, Joe."

Joe motioned for him to pipe down a little. I reached over and slid my hand along Danny's thigh, squeezing softly. "There's a lot of evidence pointing to him, baby."

"Wow." Danny reached up and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "That's a shocker for sure."

"Well, keep it to yourself. We're not done with the investigation, but another guy was popped for HGH last week while you were going through your family's loss. We traced it back and realized that Alan was helping the guys with various supplements.

"Fuck that." Danny shook his head.

"We'll figure it out and take care of it." I stood and stretched. "I'm headed to bed. I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Let me walk you to your room." Danny stood up and extended his hand to Joe. "Thanks for giving me another chance, Coach."

"Thanks for apologizing and being the kind of man your father would be proud of. I know Martin thought you hung the moon and stars at night too." He stood and smiled at me. "You two take care of each other. Life's too hard to have strife."

I nodded. "And the night ends when the wise man speaks." I waved and walked toward the elevator with Danny beside me.

"I thought it was when the fat lady sings."

"I like to be original." I got into the elevator and reached for him. "Are you just walking me to my room?"

"That's the start of the plan." He leaned against me and licked my lips. "I'm thinking we have some ground to make up. I haven't heard you moan since the night you gave yourself over to me."

"I know. It's a shame. I don't have my virginity to entice you anymore." I ran my hands down his sides and stifled the need to grind against him. He was everything I wanted in my life and my bed.

"Baby, you don't need anything to entice me with but your sexy body and that seductive voice." He leaned in and rolled his hips as he kissed me, running his thick erection down my center.

"God, that feels good," I mumbled against his lips.

"That's nothing. Wait until I get you naked, Ter." He moved back as the door opened and reached for my hand, pulling me out with him. "And to think I almost fucked things up with you."

"I don't know if that's entirely right." I tucked myself against his side as he wrapped an arm around me. We walked to my hotel room door and I moved in front of him.

"Then tell me what's wrong with it." He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed my breasts softly as he nipped at the side of my neck. Chill bumps covered my skin as my nipples budded tightly.

"You'd have to do a lot more than beat up an asshole I used to date and scream in my face to get rid of me. I've known that you were supposed to be mine all my life. A few seconds of you being a dick isn't going to change that." I got the door opened and walked in.

"Noted." He pulled his shirt over his head and walked toward me aggressively as I turned and reached for him again.

"Be easy with me. I've only been with one man, and only one time." I helped him get my shirt off and worked on my bra as he worked on his jeans and then mine.

"We should remedy that. A body like this should be fucked daily." He tugged my jeans down and leaned in, flicking his tongue over the wet spot at the front of my panties. "Hell, yeah. I want you in my mouth."

"I know the feeling." I slid my hand into his hair and draped a leg over his shoulder. "Let's sixty-nine like we used to."

He glanced up as a smile covered his handsome face. "There's my dirty girl."

"Who said she went anywhere?" I moved my panties to the side and used my grip on his hair to pull him closer to my pussy.

"Not me," he whispered roughly and leaned in to roll his tongue through my folds. He pulled back. "On the bed on your back. I wanna fuck your mouth for a little while."

"Yes." I pulled my leg down and got up on the bed, laying on my back before pulling my panties down my legs. "Let's not fight anymore, okay? I don't want to live a life that you're not in."

"Agreed, angel." He got up on the bed and stretching out on top of me, making love to my mouth for a few seconds before turning and repositioning. He pulled his boxers off with ease, freeing his thick, swollen cock from its hold.

I reached up and stroked him before guiding him down toward my mouth. The delicious flavor on him on my tongue combined with his long, deep thrusts was enough to leave me aching for penetration, but the minute he spread his mouth over my pussy, all bets were off.

A moan left me but got trapped behind his thick shaft as he pressed it deep into my throat. I reached around him and gripped his ass as my eyes fluttered closed. Heaven couldn't be far away. Pleasure danced along my nerve endings and heat built up in my lower back and stomach.

He lifted up on his arms and moaned. "I'm going to come, Ter. Suck hard like you know how to baby. Take that dick and abuse it."

I did just as he asked and tightened my lips around his huge shaft, sucking him off like my life depended on it.

"That's it. Drink it, baby. All of it." He cried out as he rocked against my mouth, fucking me like he owned me.

I drank him down and dug my nails into his perfect ass until he turned over and dropped on his back. "Come here and I'll finish you off too, baby."

"No. I want your dick." I got up and moved to sit on top of him, reverse cowgirl. I wasn't sure what the fuck I was doing, but I knew he loved my ass, and I wanted to feel him moving inside of me.

"Do whatever you want with him." He gripped my ass with both hands and pulled me down as I leaned forward and positioned myself to take him. "Fuck."

I gripped his thighs and bounced carefully backward, trying not to take too much at a time. I was still learning my body and my limits. He was a big guy, but he was the only guy I'd ever make love to as far as I was concerned. All I needed was to make him fit a few more times and my body would grow accustomed to him.

"You should see how goddamn good this looks, Ter." He pulled my ass apart and groaned as he thrust upward, putting a few more inches in me.

"You feel so good." I reached behind me and pressed my hands into his chest as I rolled my hips and watched his body drive into mine with a strong intensity. My breasts bounced with each thrust, and as he always did, he made me feel beautiful.

"A couple more inches, baby and you're home." He slid his hand into my hair and gripped it hard, pulling a little. His other hand clamped onto my hip. "I'm going to find your spot. Just let me know if I hurt you."

"I will." I whimpered at the submissive position he had me in. I was completely bent to his will as he lifted his hips and rolled them, massaging my pussy as if there were anywhere left for him to go.

We groaned in tandem as another inch disappeared inside of me. "So tight, Ter. Breath and free up a hand to rub on your clit for me. Pinch the sweet little bundle of nerves for me, Terra and come on my dick. It'll feel so good, baby, and loosen you up to fully take me in."

I reached forward and pulled on my clit as he pulled out and slammed back inside of me. Heat burned the center of my stomach, and something deep inside of me almost purred with delight. He'd found whatever spot he was after.

"That's it." I moved forward, pulling against the hold he hand on my hair and lifting up to massage the full length of his cock. "We need a condom."

"It's me, baby. Not some guy you don't know. I want my body inside of yours. Period." He released my hair and sat up, flipping us over and putting me on my hands and knees. He pressed himself back inside of me and reached around to work my pussy how he wanted it worked.

I buckled under the explosion of pleasure and wet his hand and the bed as I released in deliciously long waves. My cries were only outdone by his deep voice and naughty words, urging me on into a beautiful depravity that I didn't know existed.

"I'll pull out, but I've gotta come, Ter." He slid his hand up my back and worked my pussy hard and fast, my ass bouncing against his lower stomach as he grunted and cursed.

I didn't want him to release anywhere but inside of me. If I ended up pregnant, we would deal with it together. I loved him and he loved me. We would find a life together no doubt. It was just a matter of time.

"That's it. Lift up and milk my dick, baby. I'll pull out."

"No, don't." I lifted up and pumped my hips, forcing his huge dick in and out of my sloppy wet slit. It felt so wrong and yet so right at the same time.

"Okay, angel. Move." He gripped my ass and locked up.

I glanced back at him, falling in love all over again as he watched me with pure bliss. "No," I whispered and slid back down his shaft, taking him over the edge and enjoying every fucking minute of it.

He might have stolen my first, but I was going to hit a grand slam every night with him for the rest of our lives.

Epilogue

Daniel

"It's opening day, man. I'm beyond excited. You?" Jeremy popped my butt and walked onto the field. We had a quick warm up before moving down to the bullpen. I would be opening the game that day, and excited wasn't really the word I was looking for.

"I'm just hoping like hell that everything goes okay. You know?" I rolled my shoulders and turned my attention up to the owner's box. My girl was already up there, the smile on her face enough to have every cell in my body teaming with desire. We'd been together for nine months, and every day had been better than the last.

Our GM, Alan was the one behind the HGH bullshit. Once Joe found out, he and Terra got him out of the club so fast it had everyone's head spinning. Jeremy and all the other players who got wrapped up in the shit were back on the team and their names cleared. My mother and Lyndsay were up in the stands, both of them healing from the loss of my dad just like I was. It would take a lot longer than nine months, but we'd get through it like we always did. Together. Terra had played a huge role in helping us move forward, both my mother and Lyndsay falling in love with my beautiful redhead vixen.

"You playing this one for your dad?" Jeremy glanced over his shoulder as he stopped by the first base.

"No. I played my guts out for him last season." I blew a kiss up toward Terra. "I'm playing for the woman that's going to be wearing my ring soon."

"Oh shit." He put his hands on my chest, stopping me. "You're going to do it here? On opening day?"

"Yeah. Why not?" I smiled and moved past him. After giving Gary a quick nod as he knelt behind home plate, I got on the pitcher's mound. The old guy was going to retire the year before, but like most of us, he just couldn't give it up yet. For the love of the game, we'd all grow old on the crimson dirt and deep green grass.

"In front of fucking everyone?" Jeremy yelled from the sideline.

"Hell yeah," I yelled back and got into position. I put a fastball in Gary's glove and a few of the early fans let off a collective holler. I got ready to throw another, but Gary stood and nodded to someone walking up behind me.

I turned to find Joe, our head coach doing a less than attractive mall-walk my way. "Hey. Everything is in place. We'll call her down here shortly. You got the ring?"

A laugh bubbled up inside of me. "Yeah, Joe. I got it. I swear you guys are more nervous than I am. What the hell?"

He lifted his eyebrow, giving me his famous warning look. "Her father was my best friend. She grew up on the sidelines of this field. We're all going to be watching you, Danny. She's our daughter, our sister, our leader."

"This is true." I turned and took a shaky breath. No pressure.

After warming up a little more, the announcer's voice filled the stadium. "Good Evening folks. We're going to get things started tonight with a surprise guest who will be throwing out the honorary first pitch to kick off our season."

The crowd went wild, and I turned to glance up at Terra. The poor thing had no clue that we'd all worked to set her up. I glanced around in a circle to find the guys on the team standing stone still with goofy smiles on their faces. I shook my head and turned my attention back up toward my girl as she pressed her hands to the glass on the other side of the owner's box.

"Miss Terra Harmon, could you make your way down to the field? We usually have our guest on the field ready to go, but tonight is a surprise for the Owner of your favorite baseball team here in Seattle." The crowd went nuts as Terra walked out of the box and gave me a look. The announcer continued. "Terra is also the daughter of the late Martin Harmon, the best owner Seattle has ever seen. We're all behind Terra as she carries on her father's legacy."

The crowd got louder, and the players behind me lifted up their own accolade to Terra.

A smile crept up my lips as she walked toward me, her hand on her hip, her long red hair flying behind her. "You knew about this."

"Me?" I reached out and pulled her against me, leaning down to kiss her in a romantic fashion. No need to leave the crowd speculating about our relationship as they had for the last nine months. I was about to take the final lap around the bases and ask her to be mine forever.

"Danny," she whispered softly against my lips as I kissed her again.

"You okay with me catching the ball?"

"For my pitch?" She rolled her shoulders, almost mimicking my moments from earlier. We'd been together too long. I chuckled at the thought.

"Yeah. I want to catch the ball." I touched her cheek and smiled. "Fuck you're beautiful. You doing anything later tonight?"

"You." She took the ball from me and got into position. "Get ready for the heat, McAdams."

"Please?" I turned and jogged over to Gary.

The older man stood and offered me his glove.

"No. I got this. Just wish me luck." I moved into position and lifted my glove.

"You don't need it boy. That girl has loved you for as long as I've known you both. About damn time you stopped acting like a fool and finally bought the ring.

"Shh, Gary. I'm trying to concentrate. Jeez." I gave him a wink and nodded at Terra. "Let's see whatcha got, Miss Harmon."

She threw the ball and the power of it almost knocked me back. Hot.

The crowd went wild again, and she walked toward me, waving and smiling up at them. I stayed in a squatting position, letting the ball roll behind me while she wasn't looking.

"Get up. That's it right?" She stopped in front of me.

"What do we have here?" I pulled my hand from the glove and moved to my knee. "A ring for my girl?"

"Danny. What are you doing right now?" She reached down and ran her fingers through the hair on the side of my head. I wanted to lean into her touch, but a crowd full of fans were watching.

"I've loved you for all of my life. Since I was pretending to be your brother's best friend in sixth grade just to spend the night."

She laughed. "He was pretty nerdy back then."

"Pretty?" I lifted the ring. "You trusted me with your future, your heart and your body, baby. Let me spend the rest of my life showing you how much that means to me. I want you to be my wife, to stand beside me forever, Terra. Come be my partner and let's build a big family together."

"Yes." She reached for me as I stood and pulled me in close, kissing me deep and long. The stadium erupted, and joy filled my heart as someone tugged on my pants’ leg.

"Peanut." I bent down and picked up my daughter, holding her between me and Terra. We shared a group hug and Terra kissed me one more time before walking off the field with Lyndsay.

It had been a long nine months, but a good one, and now life was going to get better. No more stealing anything.

She agreed to be mine.

Forever.

The End

Want More?

Check out Love Me Last!

Get your copy HERE!

Insider Group

Join my Insider Group and keep in touch…

Also get a FREE novel

Get it HERE

About the Author

Hey there. I'm Weston.

I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.

You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.

Amazon KU

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

The Parker’s Wicked Playground

We Belong Together

Copyright © 2019 by Weston & Ali Parker

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.

First Edition.

Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art