Page 29 of Wild Pitch
I nodded, and shit, how the hell was I ready to go again?
“I see that,” Luc said. Hid fingertips dusted the tight bud my nipple made under the T-shirt. “But not tonight, Ky. As much as I’d love you strapped to that cross and spread-eagled for me, I’m not ready to play until I know your lists of hell yeses and hard passes.”
I yawned and looked down at my watch. Luc’s gaze followed mine, his eyes widening in surprise as we both realized that it was well past three in the morning.
“Shit, I completely lost track of time,” I said.
“Same, let’s go to bed,” Luc said, turning the lights off in the room and shutting the door behind us.
When we got back to his bedroom, Luc turned back the covers and brought me into the bathroom, where he pulled an unopened toothbrush out of the closet for me.
“Do you always keep a toothbrush for your overnight guests?”
“Kylie, you’re the first overnight guest I’ve had here. The toothbrush is thanks to my dentist.”
I nodded, finding more relief in his response than I wanted. I brushed my teeth and used the bathroom once Luc gave me some privacy.
Before getting into bed, I realized that I hadn’t told my Dad not to wait up. Ugh.
“Luc?” As I left the bathroom, I asked, “Have you seen my phone?”
He gestured to the bedside table where he had plugged it into the charger.
“I grabbed it while I was downstairs getting a glass of water.”
Surprised once more at his attentiveness, I nodded and picked up the phone to check, and I found a single text from my father.
Dad: Heading to bed. You know how to reach me if you need me.
Me: Sorry, it’s so late. I’ll be home in the morning.
“Was someone waiting up for you?” Luc asked.
“I thought my dad might be. My mom works overnight, but tonight she’s home. They don’t always have time together, as they aren’t often on the same schedule. Looks like he went to bed hours ago.”
“And now he thinks a serial killer has abducted you…”
“Nah, I share my location with him. He’d know exactly where to find me if I didn’t come home in the morning. Just in case you’re hiding some strange criminal tendencies.”
Luc got into bed and patted the spot beside me, “I’ve shown you the biggest secret I’ve got, and it’s in the spare bedroom.”
“Yeah, that’snotsomething I’ll be telling my family about.”
“You don’t talk about your mom much? Are you two close?”
I crawled into bed, Luc pulling me into a spoon.
“Yes and no. She’s a great mom, but because she works nights, we often miss out on a lot of normal time with her. There were benefits while we were growing up; she could always drop us off at school and never miss a field trip, but she was oftenexhausted. My father is physically around more. How about your family?”
“Hmm, not sure where to start. What did your Google search show you, aside from my ex-wife? What did you find out?”
“Your brother plays baseball,” I said, turning in his arms and pressing him onto his back. I placed my cheek against his chest and traced the outline of his tattoos as the light from the bathroom shimmered in the bedroom.
“Yes. Jack plays in LA. My family is from Southern California, and he was fortunate enough to finish his career close to home. Or what we expect to be the end of his career.”
“Are you two close?” I asked, wanting to understand the dynamic of the two brothers.
“Yeah, he’s my best friend,” Luc said, a hint of pride in his voice. “The rest of the family can be a bit tough to handle. My father passed away when we were in high school, and my mother raised us with my grandparents’ help. That help came with a price.”
