Page 87 of The Strike Zone

I was much less annoyed, because it appeared that during my time dreaming about what I was going to do to Scout later, everyone had gotten dressed. Or mostly dressed. My mouth was open, ready to tell Tanner to hurry up when Coach walked into the locker room, wearing a scowl.

“What are you all still doing here? The coaches are waiting, get a move on.”

Fuckingfinally.Someone talking sense.

Two minutes after I arrived back at my room, cleaned my teeth, and took a piss, I was standing in front of the connecting door.

I’d always figured the first time Scout and I had sex would be following a proper date, where I’d picked her up at her place, taken her to dinner in the best restaurant New York had to offer, and walked her home. A world away from right now, yet a connecting door during an away series did seem kind of appropriate, if unconventional.

The performance anxiety attempting to creep into my brain, however, was all new and it would absolutely not do.

I was not about to fuck it up.

This was my dream girl, the one I’d thought about virtually nonstop for the past twelve months. And assuming I didn’t fuck this up, it meant that I’d get to take her on a proper date another time. I’d take her on all the dates.

I could only pray she hadn’t fallen asleep, given how long I’d taken to get here.

It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours had passed since I’d found her sitting outside her room and rescued her from that seagull. If I ever met him again, I’d take him out for a fish dinner, or set him up with a hotel suite of his own—for that seagull had done more for my sex life in five minutes than I’d managed in a year.

Here goes nothing.

My knuckles had barely brushed the door before it was opened. Every single worry I’d had about her falling asleep vanished as I laid eyes on her.

It might have been midnight, and time for bed, but from her fresh face, and wide-awake expression, I’d hasten to bet she wasn’t planning to sleep for hours. That and her pajama pants were missing, revealing the stretch of smooth, golden legs I’d had my face between at the start of the day.

And I planned to finish my day between them too.

A smirk curved her lip. “If it isn’t tonight’s MVP, powering his team to victory.”

Reaching out, I tugged on one of the buttons of her shirt. “Hey, I think your lucky jammies can take the credit.”

“I told you they worked.”

“I never doubted you,” I replied as Scout stepped back for me to follow. “It looks significantly different in here without bird shit everywhere. Smells better too.” I leaned closer, slowly, my nose gently brushing along her jawline to breathe her in. From the angle her neck tilted, I could see the frantic hammering of her pulse. “On second thought, that’s you.”

“I smell good?”

“You smell edible.”

“Yeah?”

Craning back, my gaze locked into hers and I nodded slowly, pausing only to soak her in. I knew for a fact she had no clue how momentous this moment was for me. A million thoughts spun in my head. I wasn’t about to rush it, and I wasn’t about to rushher.

“Parker, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m perfect.”

“Then why are you just standing there?”

“Because…”

“Because?”

“Because…” I reached for her hand, suddenly overcome with what we were about to do. I’d had sex a thousand times, but this wasn’tsex.

This wasScout.

I didn’t want to tell her I’d paused because she looked so perfect to me I almost couldn’t cope. That now I knew what she looked like when she came, the scent of her arousal, the taste of her, I would never experience anything better. And it fucking terrified me.

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