Go Away, Darling - Alexis Anne Page 0,39
back with me. I don’t want to be alone.” He pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine, eyes screwed shut. “I hate myself for asking you this, by the way.”
“Don’t hate yourself.” Did I want to go? Was I ready to be alone with him when we were so adamant things stay friendly in public? Could I cross these lines back and forth as we danced with the future?
That was what scared me most. I knew what I felt with Chris was impossible to ignore. That I wanted to get swept away in it all.
But I didn’t know if I could go back. Tomorrow, when the dust settled and reality set back in, would I be able to navigate the minefield of feelings that involved a relationship with a professional athlete while being a protective mother?
“Don’t say yes.” He kissed me again. “Be stronger than me.”
His hand slid along the small of my back and I sizzled everywhere. “Oh…”
“Nope. Don’t do that,” he growled.
“You’re the one who keeps kissing me.” And I was the one who’d lived on a shelf for far too long. Chris was the first guy I’d really kissed in ages, let alone anything more. My body screamed to be allowed to feel and to react.
It wanted.
I wanted.
“It’s the adrenaline. And the fact that you’re the vision of a wet t-shirt contest.” His hand grazed up my side, then moved away from touching my breast and instead moved to cup my face. “I’m really glad you were here to see this.”
My insides flipped and turned as he paced away from me once again, breathing heavy.
“Where are you going?” I felt more than empty when he walked away. Like someone filled me up to overflowing, then flipped open a trap door and everything rushed out.
His eyes went wide and he waved his hand between us. “I need space or I’m going to maul you. You’re too damn sexy, Liv.” Then he muttered under his breath. “Too damn sexy.”
It made me smile. And my silly heart did backflips because I had my own adrenaline coursing through my veins. I hadn’t done anything like this in years, and to do it with and for someone I had so many feelings for? I was so mixed up and confused and hot.
I reached for him. He moved away, staring at my hand. “What are you doing?”
“I want to kiss you.”
“Nope. We’ve kissed and now we’re done. We should get back to the locker room.”
I blocked the door, confusing myself, but my body seemed to have taken over control of the ship. “Take me to your hotel.”
He jerked away, looking around the room like a second door might magically appear. I grabbed his soaking wet shirt and hauled him against me. “We need to celebrate. Take me to your room, Chris. Or I’m walking out that door and going to Beau’s.”
His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened in a way that made my shiver. “Tell me you mean it. Say you want me.”
It was like taking a step off a cliff into nothing but air. “I want you, Chris. Desperately.”
His hands came crashing in around my face as he kissed me with such ferocity it made everything else disappear.
12
The relief and the ecstasy
Chris
I booked a hotel room so I wouldn’t have to worry about travel or driving, no matter the outcome of the game. If we won it would be a late night and a busy following day. More interviews, more celebrations, appearances. Eventually a parade. If we lost, it would mean getting good rest and reporting to the field ready to help in any way possible.
But we won. Oh my god, we fucking won. I was the starting pitcher for a World Series winning game. Every boy who picks up a ball and a mitt dreams of winning everything. We imagine being the guy who brings it home, knowing it’s probably not going to happen.
It did happen, though. I lived it and now I got to celebrate it with the woman I was falling head over goddamned heels for. I was the luckiest son of a bitch who ever lived. Ever.
And to do it with my family and Trent in the crowd, with Liv right there on the field and Linc up in the stands. I had everyone I cared about surrounding me on the biggest day of my life. It was beyond special. And it seemed to only be getting better (as if that were possible.)
She came at me the minute