Page 48 of Game On

The game against the current number one team in the state is intense. You can definitely tell it’s playoff season because it seems like Alec and the team have to fight for each point they score. Then, our pitcher loses it in the first few innings, so he has to be pulled early. It’s still a close game though. We have to win here. Losing at home just plain sucks. Trust me.

Sloan only leaves once to get us some snacks. When he comes back, I pat my leg for him to sit. Amazingly enough, this draws a laugh out of Hayes. Sloan, too, laughs, but he tells me to get my pretty ass up. When I do, his arms surround me again, holding our popcorn in one hand and a drink in the other. He also got Hayes a drink, which he hands off to him while I take the water from his hand and gulp some down.

Alec is up to bat. He gets called out on strikes, but the last pitch was a great one. He should have no shame about that. When he’s coming off the field, I clap for him. He looks up and locks eyes with me. When he sees I’m on Sloan’s lap, his shoulders bunch. Sloan’s hands come around me tighter. Without another look, Alec slips into the dugout, and Sloan kisses the back of my neck, making all my nerve endings fire. “I think we just made big man jealous. I wonder how jealous we can make him.” His hand, half hidden by the popcorn box, rides up my thigh until he’s only millimeters away from my inseam.

“Sloan,” I say, my voice hard yet breathless at the same time.

His body hardens underneath me. “I need another truth, Daddy’s girl.”

I clamp down on my jaw. I want to wiggle, but at the same time, I don’t want him to know how much this is affecting me. If he were just a little higher.

“Would you enjoy it if I touched you right now?”

I let out a breath. “What kind of question is that?”

“You’re stalling.”

“I don’t want to play, Sloan.”

“I’ll answer the same question. Okay? I would enjoy the fuck out of it if I touched you right now.”

I draw in a shaky breath. I didn’t think voyeurism would be my thing, but to think that anyone could see us right now, it’s both frightening and exhilarating. In fact, Hayes can probably hear us, and he’s so fucking tall that he can probably see everything. “What about bro code?”

Sloan kisses my neck again, his soft lips a whisper against my skin. “The Ballers have their own set of codes.”

I know exactly what that means. Just like I thought. They share girls because they can. Because they all want whatever scrap the Ballers give them…and I’m becoming the same.

I stand, the popcorn in Sloan’s hand goes flying all over the people in front of us. The girl snaps her head around. Her lips twist. “Bitch.”

Sloan stands, his chest moving against my back. He steps out around me. “Watch your mouth.”

The girl’s eyes go wide. She stutters out an apology. The whole thing is just so messed up, I need to leave. I start down the aisle. “Tessa,” Sloan says.

I keep pushing. Ryan’s hand snakes out and grabs my wrist before I can leave. “You’re watching Alec. Sit here or not, but you’re not leaving. We support our teammates.”

I yank my hand from his grip. Dawn and David came in earlier. They’re sitting down a little ways and to our left. I’ll sit the rest of the game with them. It’s almost over anyway. When I slide in next to Dawn, she puts an arm around me. “What’s up?”

She’s been too busy with David to even notice I’d sat on Sloan Ivy’s lap pretty much the entire game. That’s fine though. I need someone like her to keep me away from all that.

RHS wins the game. Barely. Tomorrow, they have another game that’s only about twenty minutes away, and I’ll be expected to go.

I sit with Dawn and David to chat while everyone else leaves the stands. Sloan lingers at the fence near the entrance, but finally, he leaves, too, after slamming his fist into the chainlink. Afterward, my phone blows up. One text from him, another from Alec. Sloan’s text is just a GIF of a puppy with sad eyes. I just shake my head and look at Alec’s next.I won. Do I get a congratulatory kiss?

I tell Dawn and David I have to head out, letting them think it has something to do with the recruits and the Ballers, when really, it has something to do with just one Baller.You really think you deserve it?

You tell me. I’ll meet you at your car if yes.

I walk the block toward where I parked my car on the street. I’m sure Alec knows I can’t park in the lot. When I get there, there’s a note under my windshield wiper. It reads, “I think your answer would have been yes.”

I swallow. It’s from Sloan, obviously. I recognize his writing and from the fact that he’s the only one I’ve been having a back and forth with lately about answering questions. He asked me if I would have liked it if he touched me. The answer is yes. Maybe too much. Probably exactly as much as when Alec touched me. Is that crazy? Do I like both of them?

I see Alec come around the building and start his walk toward me. I get out of the car and lean against the door, my hands crossed in front of my chest. While he was in the locker room, I concocted a plan. My mom has yoga this evening. Afterward, her and some friends go to happy hour, which has often turned into longer than an hour since my dad left. The house is my own tonight, and I want company.

Alec drops his bag in the back as soon as he gets there. Then, he leans against the door alongside me. “Well?”

I turn my head. “Do you want to go to my house? I thought we could swim, work out your sore muscles.”

“There are other ways I’d like to work out my sore muscles.”

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