Page 77 of The Battery
I hadn’t realized it until he said that. I had been interviewed plenty of times with the Mariners, but this was my first time with the majors. “I guess so, yeah. And interviewed by Christopher freaking Bellamy. I mean wow.”
“Get used to it, Hill,” Rome said. He motioned for the batting coach to join him elsewhere.
Everyone slowly drained toward the dugout. Leo and I lingered to walk at the tail end.
“Gonna stay in the bullpen tonight?” Leo asked me.
“Was thinking about it. The Assholes aren’t really, I dunno,assholesanymore.”
“’Bout time.”
My eyes drifted to the mound, and I slowed my pace even more. Leo noticed my shift and stopped us completely. “What is it?”
Fear.That’s what. I swallowed. It wasn’t the time to give fuel to my nightmare of being struck again, though the odds were infinitesimally small.
Still.
“Nothing,” I said and pulled my eyes from the mound. “It’s just… I haven’t been back out on the field since it happened.” My brow dimmed and I scratched the back of my head. “It’s funny, actually. I popped back out here no problem. Walked around without issues. Gave my first big interview without being nervous. They even asked me about getting hit. And then… then I saw the mound…”
To my surprise, Leo slung his arm over my shoulders. It was more of a bro move than amorous, true, but the proximity to him helped guide me from the field.
“Did you know I used to be terrified of getting into cars?” Leo said.
After the story he told me, I couldn’t blame him. “I can imagine, yeah.”
“Had no problem beingaroundthem. Getting in them? A different story.”
“So what did you do to fix it?”
Leo shook his head in his usual way, dismissive with a flare of condescension. Typical.
“How I fix things is different from how you fix things.” I saw something twinkle in his eye as he spoke, however. Did he have something planned? “We still have time. You’re not pitching tomorrow.”
“Feels like it,” I said as I hazarded one final glance at the mound before we drained into the dugout.
“Just focus on recovery, Hill,” Leo said. I sensed a “because I’ve got the rest,” lingering in the air, unspoken.
Whatdidhe have planned?
*
We made out at the top of the stairs like a couple of teenagers on a front porch. Leo was gentle with me, though I could tell how much he wanted to unleash his desire upon me. He pushed me, carefully, against the wall and held me there with a soft touch I knew he wanted to be firm. His mouth opened fully as our tongues danced. Both of his hands were on my ass while he had me backed into the wall, pinning me in place. My stretches and regular PT allowed me to finally lift both arms over my head. Finally—finally—I could wrap my arms around his neck.
“Which room?” I tried to ask between kisses. The ferocity of his engagement increased with every passing moment. Every time, a new threshold was reached before he somehow used his sixth sense to realize my pain tolerance was at its end.
“Leo,” I said, “which—”
His left hand was at my throat in a delicate hold. His thumb extended to push my chin up to look at him. He squeezed lightly and my entire body shivered. I melted into his control. Two fingers crawled over my jaw, up my chin, and sank into my mouth. Reflexively, I sucked them in. Leo’s right hand gripped my ass harder.
Then his fingers were out of my mouth, plunging down my shorts and hooked up into my ass. I gasped.
“We go,” he said in a heady, deep voice, “where I say we go.” He stepped back and, by extension, I moved with him.
He walked me down the hall toward my room, pushing me with his hand and wiggling his fingers every other step. A hadto stop to catch my breath halfway there. In the doorway, he forced my shorts and boxers to the floor, my cock springing free. He stood fully behind me now, face plunged into my neck as his right hand gripped my cock and pulled slowly.
Then he pushed me into the room. With the same gentle force, he had me face my bed where he shoved me down until my chest was on the mattress, legs and ass at an angle along the floor. He pressed his waist into my ass as he leaned over the back of me, elbows on either side to keep his weight off.
His lips were in my ear. “You okay?” he asked in a light tone completely at odds with his actions just a moment ago.
