Page 57 of Stetson

The suspense was killing me.

Having to sit throughthisgame was killing me.

We were crushing the Mayflowers. To give them their credit, they’d kept us on our toes for those first games; they’d made us work for it. But they’d burned themselves out. Now, in the final game, they didn’t have the energy to keep up.

Luckily for everyone else, I did.

Things calmed down in the tabloid world after Barrett’s press conference. We had the odd person who didn’t quite understand and of course there was always the handful who refused to accept it no matter what, but we didn’t let it stop us. After Barrett kissed me in front of what was essentially the entire world, I felt unstoppable. Levi offered to split his time between Georgia and New York, but Barrett insisted that he stay with me. He said one way or another, he would be joining us in Atlanta soon enough. I only hoped that it would be on the field, and not in the stands.

Not knowing either way was going to make me combust.

It was the seventh inning stretch, but the last thing I wanted to do was rest. We’d already debriefed, and energy simmered through my veins. I paced in the hallway outside the clubhouse. I think I was the only person in that entire stadium thatdidn’twanta break. The first game of the playoffs started a race, and I didn’t want my feet to stop moving until I crossed the finish line.

On what must have been my hundredth path across the narrow hallway, I crashed face-first into a hard chest. “Easy, tiger.”

I hummed. That low rumble was exactly what I needed. I wrapped my arms around Levi and leaned into his embrace. The soft fabric of his light knit sweater caressed my cheek. “Hi, Daddy.”

He pressed a kiss to my hair. “Why aren’t you inside resting?”

“Because I don’t want to!” I whined, cringing at the tone of my own voice. All it was missing was a foot stomp and it would be a full-blown temper tantrum. “I want to get back out there.”

Levi chuckled, vibrating my cheek. Okay, maybe I could stand to chill out for a second. So long as it was in that precise spot and no one dared to move me. “Well, we can’t all be Energizer bunnies, can we?”

“I’m notthatbad.” But I smiled anyway. I could be, and everyone knew it. I tipped my head back and rested my chin on Levi’s sternum. “Have you heard—mmph.”

Levi silenced me with his mouth. I sighed into the kiss, folding instantly. Damn it, the man was just too good. “I told you that we wouldn’t tell you until after the game, little one.”

That meant that he knew. Another whine. “But?—”

“No buts.” Levi threaded his fingers through the damp hair at my nape. My stomach flipped. It was like he couldn’t resist getting his hands on me, no matter how disgusting I was. “The three of us agreed on this for a reason. You need to be giving it your all out there.”

I scoffed. “We’ve—mm.”

If Levi thought cutting me off with kisses was a way to teach me a lesson, then he had another thing coming. I fisted his sweater in my hands, tugging him closer. For those few moments, we were the only two people in the world. Our lips separated with a smack that rang out in the quiet hallway. “Don’t jinx yourself, Stetson,” he whispered.

My eyes fluttered open to deep brown swirling pools of melted chocolate that I could easily get lost in. “What were we talking about?”

The corner of Levi’s mouth curled upward. He opened his mouth, but a commotion behind us had him changing his tune. “It’s time to kick some ass, baby.” He pressed one more passionate kiss to my lips, and after the hollers and wolf whistles from the rest of the team, he took a step back. “Good luck.”

I hated to see Levi go butdamnI loved watching him leave. Most of the team filtered around me in the tunnel, so I stayed in place and admired how Levi’s jeans hugged his perfect ass and muscular thighs.

“Ready for thisbaby?”

I cringed, a grimy hand clenching the back of my neck. Harrison.

“Ew!” I knocked his grubby fingers away from me. “Call me that again and I’ll carveyouup and display you on my porch for Halloween.”

He walked backward out of the hall, crooking a brow at me. “Promises, promises,little one. Next time you jack off in the showers, make sure the clubhouse is empty first”

That had me taking off after him. “You eavesdropping asshole!”

Harrison’s eyes widened, and I chased him right out of the tunnel and onto the field.

* * *

Those Mayflowers were goingdown.

By the later half of the seventh inning, we’d gotten under their skin. The stress was evident on their faces. We were up by three, and that number didn’t budge until the ninth. I was on the pitcher’s mound, and it was up to me to strike out this batter. Once I did, we were through to the World Series.

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