Page 14 of Crew
“Tough game.” He sighed.
I huffed. “Yeah.”
“At least you’ve got something else to focus on tonight.” He winked.
I hesitated for a second, my fingers tightening around my chest pad in my hands. We were acting reckless and I needed to shut things down and keep my distance. But then Singleton leaned back, stretching his arms over his head and exposing his washboard abs. My resolve cracked like a cheap bat, and the little tease knew exactly what he was doing.
“I’m up for it if you are,” he whispered.
My pulse jumped, and I had to work not to answer too fast. Not to make it obvious how badly I wanted to say yes.
I dragged my gaze away from him, forcing my expression to stay neutral. “I’ll think about it,” I muttered, even though we both knew I already had decided. Then I pushed to my feet and headed for the showers, not trusting myself to look back.
When I came out, he was still at his locker. His eyes followed me as I moved through the room, heat simmering just beneath the surface. We were playing with fire, and we both knew it.
But neither of us seemed willing to stop.
6
Knox
Once everyone showered,we loaded onto the bus and headed to Anaheim. When I’d gotten the call from my agent, it felt as though I was on top of the world, but playing with the Rockies and losing five out of six games proved just how difficult the majors could be.
My teammates were silent for most of the hour drive, spending the time on their phones or listening to something on their headphones. When we got to the hotel, no one wanted to stay downstairs for a drink. Instead, we all took our keys from the travel coordinator and went straight to the elevators.
As a group of us rode up together, I realized I didn’t have Stratton’s number and, therefore, didn’t have a way to make plans for getting together later. And I sure as hell couldn’t say anything with the other guys around without raising suspicion. Stratton was wound tight about anyone finding out he was bi, and I wasn’t going to do anything to make him question what we were doing.
We reached the tenth floor, and several of us, including Stratton, stepped out. Knowing it was my only opportunity to communicate withhim, I glanced at the envelope with my key inside and pointed to my left. “1024. Looks like I’m this way, guys.”
I began walking down the hall as the others figured out what direction they needed to go. Before I turned the corner, I looked back and saw Stratton walking beside Neal a few feet behind, following in my direction. Stratton gave me a barely noticeable head nod, and I could only hope that meant he’d heard me.
Inside my hotel room, I kicked off my shoes and opened my suitcase to grab a pair of black joggers since I didn’t want to lounge around in my jeans for the rest of the evening. I changed, grabbed the complimentary bottle of water on the dresser, and made myself comfortable on the bed.
I turned on the TV and scrolled through the guide, looking for something interesting to watch. When nothing else caught my attention, I flipped over to SportsCenter to catch the scores throughout the league.
The minutes passed, and before I realized it, I’d been sitting in my room for an hour, and there was still no sign of Stratton. I thought back on what we’d said in the locker room, and while I’d told him I was down with another hook up, he hadn’t given me an answer one way or another. For all I knew, he’d decided he didn’t want to see me.
Although we had eaten dinner in the clubhouse after the game, I was still a bit hungry and was considering ordering room service when I heard a knock on my door. Glancing through the peephole, I saw Stratton standing on the other side, his head turning left and right, watching his surroundings.
I pulled the door open, and he rushed inside. The guy needed to chill a bit. Even if one of our teammates saw him, we could easily come up with an excuse for why he’d dropped by my room. Plenty of the guys hung out together, and no one questioned it. But maybe he thought because they all knew I was gay, they’d assume that was the only reason he’d be friends with me. I didn’t think that would actually be the case, but I could see it from his perspective too. Since he was so concerned about anyone finding out, he likely let that cloud hisjudgment.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming by tonight.”
He stayed close to the door and shrugged. “I wasn’t sure until about five minutes ago.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I rubbed a hand over my face. “This is supposed to be fun, not cause you stress every time we get together. If you want to put a?—”
He crossed the room and wrapped his large hand around my neck. “You’re right. I was overthinking everything, which was dumb. You’ve already agreed to keep this quiet, so we might as well have a good time together.”
I smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Stratton pressed his lips to mine. His tongue claimed mine while my hands slid over the hard muscles of his chest and abs until I reached the bulge behind the zipper of his jeans.
I gave him a gentle squeeze. “I need you naked now.”
“Someone’s in a hurry.” He trailed kisses down my neck.
“I’m fucking horny, and you kept me waiting.”
