Page 103 of Sliding Into Love
They were interrupted by Jimmy teasing Laura, who giggled and swatted at him, and Jimmy immediately picked her up and spun her around before planting a big, sloppy kiss right on Laura’s lips. At that moment, Ivy was struck by the similarities between Ethan and Jimmy. The way she caught Jimmy looking at Laura when Laura wasn't watching, the same look she’d seen on Ethan’s face when she caught him looking at her. Warmth spread from deep inside Ivy, and she smiled even wider, glancing between Ethan and his father. Ivy saw Laura eyeing Jimmy the way she knew she stared at Ethan, and Ivy had to look away from the private moment. Swinging her gaze back to Ethan, she saw he’d been swarmed by fans and was somehow wrangling them all at once while still managing to hold a conversation with Jase and Derek, probably about the game.
Eventually, though, Derek, Jimmy, and Ethan had to return to the dugout, and all the others made their way down into the stadium.
Because Laura was Laura, she’d arranged for Jase and Janna to take part in all the usual activities. Dizzy bat race, t-shirt cannons, joining the mascots to pass out various junk food to fans between innings, everything. Everyone's energy ran high, fresh off last night’s win. Derek did a bouncing dance while he squatted down behind home plate, and even Ethan was acting a little cocky, showing off on the mound.
And it drove Ivywild. She couldn’t stop staring.
“Keep it in your pants, Johnson,” Lily sang at Ivy over her extra-large stadium cup of tepid beer.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ivy answered primly, sipping her warming beer.
Lily and Ivy watched the kids and Jimmy rolling around in giant hamster balls and bouncing off each other, trying to cross the finish line.
“I see you making googly eyes at Sasquatch over there,” Lily said, gesturing with her cup. “I’d tell you to jump on that, but he looks kinda busy.” Ethan was on second, glancing between Harkness and the Tornadoes’ pitcher.
“Yeah,” Ivy sighed. “Later, though.” She raised her eyebrows at Lily, who cackled loudly enough that two older men in Hawks hats in the row ahead of them turned around to stare.
“She’s gonna get it later!” Lily called, wiggling her hips suggestively in her seat and pointing at Ivy.
The old men blushed and whipped back around.
“Bet they never had a good fu—” Lily sniped under her breath.
“Okay, you have had enough of this.” Ivy leaned over to take Lily’s cup and deposited it in her cup holder.
Lily blew a big, wet raspberry at Ivy, and then stood to dance wildly to the music blasting over the speakers, pulling Ivy up to dance too. Ivy was leaning against the green railing in front of the dugout watching Lily’s antics when her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Come to my hotel room and keep the uniform on.
You like that, huh?
After the game, you’ll see how much I like it.
Ivy gulped, wishing she hadn’t finished Lily’s extra-large beer. Heat pulsed through her, and she crossed and uncrossed her legs, trying to ignore the empty ache between them.
Game three was another win for the Hawks, though the Tornadoes managed to snag a few runs, and the Hawks returned to the hotel in high spirits. Ivy kissed her kids and sent them with Lily, who gave her a knowing smirk. Her rideshare delivered her to the hotel as the final stragglers of the team piled into the elevator. From the corner of her eye, Ivy saw Ethan rise from a chair before stalking over to her. Damp waves clung to the sides of his neck, and he’d changed into street clothes. When he reached her side, Ivy had to fight the urge to climb him like a tree at the look in his eyes.
The next elevator arrived, and Ivy and Ethan were alone until an arm shoved through the closing doors. Derek and Isaac burst through the doors, looking nearly as desperate as Ivy. An awkward silence settled over the elevator as all four inhabitants avoided looking at each other.
Until Derek snorted. Ivy bit her lip, trying not to dissolve into punch-drunk giggles as she met her brother’s gaze. His warm brown eyes sparkled with amusement, and Ivy rolled her eyes heavenward as she mouthedshut up.Behind her, Ethan was so close, his chest pressed into Ivy’s back with every breath, and her breath hitched in anticipation.
And of course, they all got out on the same floor, but Derek’s and Isaac’s rooms were on opposite ends of the hallway.
Outside his room, Ethan took Ivy’s hands in his, pulling her close, and deftly shifting her hands to hold both of her wrists in one hand while he unlocked the door with his keycard. Once they were finallyinside his room, Ethan backed Ivy into the wall, still holding her wrists and pinning her hands up by her shoulders. His body invaded her space, heat rolling off him as he slammed into her and claimed her mouth. At some point, Ivy was too lost to have noticed when Ethan managed to slide his free hand between them, making fast work of her belt. When his hand slipped beneath the white fabric, Ethan growled, and Ivy gasped.
“No underwearandyou’re this wet?” He kissed and bit his way down her throat. “You’re going to kill me, Ivy. How am I supposed to focus on a game when you look like this?”
“Like what?” Ivy’s eyes rolled back at the sensation of his fingers stroking inside her and his thumb strumming her clit, and her voice was more breath than words.
“Fuckable,”he snarled into her ear.
Ivy gasped Ethan’s name as he continued to work her with his hand, the wet noises of his fingers moving inside her the only sound other than their breathing.
Withdrawing his hand from her pants and making her whimper at the loss, Ethan roughly turned Ivy so her front pressed against the wall. One hand still pinned both of hers above her head, and from the sounds behind her, he was undoing his jeans. Ethan shoved Ivy’s pants down past her knees and spread her legs further apart.
And then Ivy felt him nudge against her entrance, and without meaning to, she rocked back against him, trying to fuck herself on him, her need like a live wire inside her, sparking more and more with every touch.
“Fuck, Ivy,” Ethan hissed in her ear as he rammed his hips forward until he was fully sheathed inside her. His hand slid beneath her jersey, rolling a nipple between his fingers, but he didn’t move.
