Page 88 of The Strike Zone

“Because…this is going to change things between us. And I’m a thousand percent ready for that. But if you decide you don’t want that at any point, starting right now, I will walk out the door and we can go back to being just friends.”

I could do that. IthinkI could do that. If I moved to Canada, I could do that. No, Canada was too close. England. I’d move to England. Australia?

My thoughts swirled, air lodged in my throat while I waited for her to answer.

“Do you think we’rejustfriends, Parker?”

I shook my head.

“Me either,” she replied softly. “I’ve thought about you all day.”

“You have?”

“Yes. I know things will change, and I’m okay with that.”

“You sure?”

She stepped in closer, her hands running across my chest, I’d never noticed before how tiny they were. “Yes. I want to finish what we started this morning.”

My dick twitched. He knew how she felt.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She peered up at me through fluttering lashes. “Plus, you scored today, it’s only fair that I get to even the field and score too. Or maybe the MVP needs his prize.”

My head fell back with a loud laugh, and just like that, all the tension broke. The air unclogged itself and made way for the insane electricity crackling between us.

“You are so cheesy.”

“Yeah, but I think you like it.”

“I more than like it.”

Scout stepped out of my arms, her fingers slowly working the buttons on her shirt until she eased it over her shoulders, and it billowed to the floor. And she was left wearing only a pair of tiny, black lace panties. Totally different from the white cotton briefs she’d had on this morning.

“Show me how much.”

Saliva pooled in my mouth. My dick was so hard it was almost painful.

Her nipples were the shade of pink her cheeks turned when she was nervous, pale rose and standing to attention—pointing right at me. In less than a second I’d scooped her ass into my hands, carried her over to the bed, and laid her down. As I did, the final golden strands of her hair fell out of the tie, and using the tip of my finger, I brushed it away from her face.

“There you are.”

Even in the minute since we’d been standing near the doors, her pupils had dilated, turning the blue almost navy. Full peachy lips I planned to spend the rest of the night kissing, parted as she gazed up at me, and the goose bumps marking her chest had nothing to do with the AC.

“Hey.”

I didn’t know where to start.

Where to touch her first.

How to make her feel the very best I could.

The pressure of Scout watching me, waiting to see what I would do, was almost more intense than game day against the Yankees. More intense than I’d ever experienced.

Reaching behind, I eased my shirt off. Her gaze tracked the movement. The mattress dipped as I knelt between her legs, while she soaked me in. And I made my decision. Slowly, like unwrapping the present I’d saved for last, I hooked my fingers under the loosened elastic and tugged them down.

I hadn’t seen her properly naked this morning, but now, staring down at her, I was kind of thankful.

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