Perfection. I didn’t want to move. Delilah’s ass was pressed against me, and my hand was cupping her soft breast. My face was pressed against her neck, and every breath I took was all-consumingly Delilah. Nothing better than this. I planted my lips at the base of her neck and plucked one of her nipples.
She shifted against me, snuggling deeper, and I caught the smile on her face. The sun was barely peeking through the blinds, and she looked gorgeous in the early morning light.
I felt renewed. It was as if a decade had passed between standing in the field yesterday, so caught up in my past, and lying in a king-sized bed, on soft sheets, with Delilah. The guilt and bitterness that had consumed me weren’t magically gone because I’d experienced the heaven of Delilah’s body, but this was my easiest morning in ten years.
“Morning, buttercup.” I felt her giggle as I rumbled the words against her smooth skin and rubbed the scruff along my jaw on her shoulder and neck. She squirmed and slowly rolled over, hooking one of her legs over my waist and her arm around my shoulders.
She gave me a sleepy smile and leaned forward, kissing up my chest toward my jaw. When she reached my lips, she whispered against them, “Morning, handsome. Are you hungry?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Didn’t mean it like that. I never wake up this late and I’m starving.”
Her stomach rumbled on cue. The lazy morning I’d pictured would have to wait until after breakfast; I needed to get my girl fed. I wrapped my arms around her, and I slid us out of bed and stood in one movement as she squealed and laughed.
A deep, guttural groan escaped my lips as she slowly slid down my body, caressing my skin with hers. Seriously. Nothing fucking better. She left my arms and crossed to the dresser on the opposite wall. “You don’t need clothes,” I joked.
“I need some bacon, and frying bacon naked is never a good idea.”
I searched the floor for my jeans and found them thrown into a corner. As I approached, my phone started ringing in the pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
Zeke calling.
“It’s my agent. I’ll meet you in the kitchen?” I glanced over my shoulder at Delilah, catching her lifting her gaze from my ass. I smirked and winked. She blushed and warmth spread through my chest.
I watched her leave the room before I picked up the phone, cradling it between my shoulder and ear as I pulled on my jeans. “Hey, man. Tell me you’ve got some news, because if you don’t, you interrupted a really good morning for nothing.”
“A chat with me is never for nothing. I always bring a little sparkle to your day?”
“Sparkle?”
Zeke chuckled. “Why is it a good morning? How’s your mom?”
“None of your business. She’s a fighter and keeping her spirits up. If you have good news, I bet it would raise her spirits even more.”
A distinct clicking sounded through the line, and I knew Zeke was clicking the end of his pen. Normally it didn’t bother me but right now, as he was keeping me on edge, it was grinding my nerves. I opened my mouth to speak, but his words stopped me and froze me in my tracks.
“You have four offers on the table, and I know I could use these for leverage and get more. I know—”
I cut him off. “If one of those is from the Rattlers, the others don’t matter.”
Zeke sighed. “I understand where you’re coming from with family. I get it, I respect it. I don’t know if this is the best career move for you. I will say the Rattlers are making unprecedented moves this off-season, and they have a shot at making a run for it. You have to think about the future.”
“I am thinking about the future. I need to be closer to home. Do I have an offer or not? If not, you’re keeping me from something that means more than any of this.”
“You have an offer.”
“Details.”
He listed the terms of the offer. It was more than I’d thought they would offer. The Rattlers have a center fielder. I was better, but they still had a center fielder in the middle of his contract. Every term I wanted was there, including the most important one—a no-trade clause.
I cleared my throat and squeezed my eyes shut. “Take it.” My voice was hoarse with the unexpected emotion. “Fuck. Thank you, Zeke. Thank you for making it happen. Take it,” I repeated and hung up the phone.
I walked to the kitchen in a slight daze. This was my first time as a free agent, and I was making demands that were a little out there. I was a fantastic player with the reputation and the pedigree to back it up. Still, I knew not all teams would work with my conditions, especially since I only wanted one team. I knew Zeke had powers and skill, it’s why I worked with him, but there had been a fear in the pit of my stomach that it wouldn’t happen and I’d have to choose to walk away from baseball or leave behind not only Mom, but Delilah and Tuck as well.
Delilah looked up with a smile plastered to her face as she heard me approaching. Her hand whipped around and around as she mixed something in a teal bowl. Her smile slowly slipped off her face. “Everything okay?”
I walked toward her without answering. She stopped mixing and turned to face me. I walked into her space, hugging her against me, pressing my face into her neck and inhaling the scent I wouldn’t have to leave. “I’m staying,” I said.
“You’re staying where?”
“I’m signing with the Rattlers. I’m staying home.”
She sucked in a breath and I leaned back, looking at her face. Her small hands framed my face. “That’s amazing, Gunner. Tuck and I will for sure come to a game.”
“Or every home game,” I countered.
She laughed and I attacked her mouth, capturing her lips and laugh with mine. We celebrated on the floor of her kitchen as the batter was forgotten and the bacon burned.
“Let’s go get Tuck,” I said as I scraped the burned pieces of bacon into the trash. We were dressed again, and I was still riding the high of the morning with her and having gotten the news I’d been waiting for. “I want to tell him and see his face when I do. Also swing by Mom’s so she can hear it too.”
I looked up as I brought the pan to the sink. Delilah’s hand was pressing down on the waffle maker, she was biting her lip, and her eyes were shiny.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You want to tell Tuck? You thought about him?”
“Yeah. He’s one of the first people I want to tell.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, only stared at me, taking in all of me. Her gaze flittered around my face and fell to my naked chest, down my jean-clad legs to my bare feet, and back up again. Her eyes were still shiny as she stepped away from the waffle maker and wrapped her arms around my neck, planting a long, wet kiss on my lips. “Let’s go get Tuck.”
I pulled into Colt’s driveway. He was standing in his front yard with his hands in his pockets, but Tucker wasn’t with him. She’d called him on the drive over, letting him know we were picking Tuck up earlier than expected.
“That’s weird,” Delilah murmured as she slipped out of the car. I followed her up the walk toward Colt.