Page 90 of The Battery
“Show me.” With my right hand, I placed his on his dick.
Furiously, he jerked himself off to the rhythm I had set with my hips. “Show me,” I demanded as I felt climax approaching. “Show me how much you love me.”
That seemed to do it for him. With a shout, Cody came in an eye-popping arc, come springing from his body as if pressurized. It arced all the way up to the pillows and my shock accompanied my pleasure. I came at the sight, roaring and screaming into his neck as I emptied myself inside his body. My hips bucked wildly, almost uncontrolled as I pushed everything I had into the moment. Pleasure encompassed me like summer heat, every inch of my skin alive.
Cody had his left hand craned back to hold onto my head, pulling my face closer into his neck as we came together. Our breathing synced, as if we could trade off our pleasure.
We collapsed onto the bed in an awkward jumble. Where I was once cold only moments ago, I now felt like it was mid-August on the field. I wanted to open a window.
Eventually our breathing slowed. I stayed inside him until I could come back to my senses.
We stayed quiet for a period, though I’m not sure how long. Well, maybe. It was long enough that the thought of exploring more almost got me hard again.
But we had all day for that.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Leo
Turbulence harangued usthe entire flight back from Austin as if the Lone Stars had summoned weather demons to curse the trip. The only saving grace was knowing they were right behind us in their own jet, likely experiencing the same bumpy hell.
I had been flying my entire baseball career. Didn’t care at takeoff. Didn’t care at landing. The white-knuckle grip I had on the armrest while the giant metal can in the sky shook revealed my thoughts on in-flight issues.
Cody, bless his soul, blatantly ignored the chink in my armor. He pretended I was still that implacable, stalwart guardian, unfazed by a little jarring in the air. I bided the hours-long flight by reviewing every highlight reel I could get my hands on. Not only did I review the mishaps of our last game, I also watched endless clips of the Lone Stars in an effort to divine their weakness.
To clinch the pennant and secure out spot in the World Series, we needed to win four of the six game series. We traveled to Austin for the first two, where we lost the first and won the second. I was not surprised that they won the first, their home field advantage taking full effect, the roaring Texan fans drowning out everything like a swarm of bees. They won by four runs and that night in the hotel, I studied their pitchers like it was the only thing that mattered.
I had been distracted, though. After lights out, Cody sneaked his way into my room under the pretense that he needed to “help you get to sleep,” as he put it. Not that I could reject him. Itwas a welcomed distraction from the replays on my tablet. We found a balance between hard and soft. A sort of quiet intensity, as I came to think of it. The simplicity of lovemaking with the intensity of… well,fucking.
We won the second game by an impressive five runs. It was enough to humiliate them, though I considered it a double-edged sword. Now they would come after us twice as hard in game three to prove a point. It was a night game, and everyone left as soon as it was done.
Now, somewhere over the heartland at midnight, the majority of the team slept while I sat next to Cody as we reviewed some replays together. We should have been sleeping. Once we got back to Lexington, I wanted to take full advantage of the only day we had off—ahead of us was three back-to-back games, then it was a return to Austin.
Ifwe had to head back to Austin. We had three games in Lexington. If we won all three, that put us at four, which would mean…
I could hear the echo of Uncle Andy in my ear. Encouraging words, telling me how proud he was of not only the game, but my life.
Four pennants, I thought as I stared through the tablet resting on my lap. Cody had fallen asleep, his head resting on my shoulder. We were in our usual spot, tucked in the back corner. But really? I think people had figured it out. I didn’t care. Emma, our PR lady, hadn’t said anything. Yet.
The plane hit a particularly wicked air pocket and I hissed from momentary fright. Cody jolted awake and blinked away the sleep in his eyes. “Did… did you just scream like a little girl?”
I elbowed him. “Not funny,” I said, then readjusted the tablet on my lap that had shifted from my jump. “Go back to sleep.”
He looked around the cabin, then dropped his head onto my shoulder, eyes shutting.
What world am I in?
Six months ago I was scheming to transfer out of the Brawlers on a singular mission to win a pennant for my uncle. Since then, I lost a loved one and gained a new one. A simple thing to say, yet it carried the weight of my lifetime. Did I change or did the world around me change? I didn’tfeeldifferent, exactly, but being around Cody had unlocked something that I didn’t realize had been caged. Would I have found something like this in Brooklyn if I could go back in time with these experiences? Did another love await me in that city that I had missed out on?
I peeked down at Cody, who had already begun to snore lightly.
Does it matter if there was someone else?I had someone right here.
Fuck it.
I lifted my arm and draped it around Cody’s shoulders to pull him closer. A teammate had gotten up to hit the head and paused at the sight. One of the Assholes—Shoji. I had caught Cody a number of times texting the man during off hours. They had gone from bitter rivals to frenemies. His constant, playful ribbing was good for Cody. Friendly competition had always been more desirable than hated rivalry.
Shoji held up his hand like he was grabbing something, then made a crude, stroking gesture while pushing his tongue into his cheek. With my free hand, I gave him the bird. He cracked a smile, smacked me on the shoulder, then continued on to the bathroom.
