The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,73

was over and that I needed to get back to work, so I did just that.

There was no sign of Logan once practice ended. He wasn’t in the locker room or in the trainer’s facility. I wondered briefly how his foot was before slinging my bag over my shoulder and heading out alone, the rest of the guys still showering and getting dressed.

The sun was starting to set, but Coach Carter was still working with the pitching staff. When he saw me, he shouted my name and started jogging over. “Hey.”

“Hey, Coach.”

“Don’t get pissed, but Chance told me a little about what’s going on between you and Logan.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t pissed at all. Actually, I felt relieved that someone in an authoritative position knew what was happening. That way, if shit hit the fan, it wouldn’t just be my word against his.

“Is he messing with your girl?”

I nodded. “A little bit, yeah.”

Coach Carter cleared his throat. “You gotta stay out of it. Let me know if he does anything else. This is the kind of shit that tears teams apart from the inside out and can get you into real trouble with the big dogs.”

“I know. You’re right.” I knew he was talking about the department that made all of the regulations for athletes across the nation. There were rules that each athlete at every school was required to follow, and if anyone was reported for breaking one of them, whether it was a valid claim or not, a case was usually opened.

“By the way, Logan’s out for a week,” he said, telling me all I needed to know without saying another damn word.

Logan wouldn’t be cleared to travel with us for our next series of away games. Which meant that he’d be here, alone, with Christina, while I was in another state.

A Problem of the Sake Variety

Christina

Stretching my arms over my head, I glared at the cell phone alarm blaring from my nightstand, hoping that my eye contact alone would make it stop. Cole was already moving toward it, taking all his body heat and warmth with him. I snuggled deeper into the covers and pulled them up to my chin.

The horrible beeping stopped, and Cole was back, his body wrapping around mine like a human shield. “I hit snooze. We have ten more minutes.”

“Ten more minutes of sleep?” I asked as I scooted my butt deeper against him, realizing that not all of his parts were asleep.

“Well, I was thinking sleep,” he said before reaching around and palming the outside of my panties. “But not anymore.”

His fingers rubbed me from the outside, alternating between making little circles and moving up and down. I moaned, and I swore he grew even firmer behind me as his lips pressed against my shoulder before his tongue followed.

I turned around, making sure to maintain skin contact as I found his mouth, our tongues touching, tentatively at first. We deepened the kiss, and both started grinding in unison, thin cotton separating our most intimate parts. I needed him inside of me. Craved it actually.

I must have said the words out loud because Cole said something like, “Your wish is my command,” before taking his boxer briefs off and reaching for my panties, which I knew were already wet.

He rustled around. Then, the sound of the condom wrapper tearing filled my ears, and I knew what was coming next. His hand became a barrier between us, his fist separating our parts from touching as he rolled the condom onto himself.

“I can’t go slow. We don’t have time.”

“I don’t care,” I said because I didn’t. All I cared about was having him in me and feeling that connection.

We lay there, facing each other on our sides as he worked to get inside of me. We hadn’t done it that way before, and I gasped once he was all the way in, loving the way the pressure and the angle felt inside of me. Cole tossed the covers off before he reached for my leg and threw it over his hip, the grinding continuing.

“Is that okay?”

“Yes. It’s amazing,” I breathed out as I continued to work my hips.

“You feel so good, Christina. So fucking good,” he said before pushing my body down so I was on my back.

He took over. He fucked me hard and fast, like he couldn’t get deep enough, and I welcomed it, loving the way our bodies slapped together in the dark.

He picked up speed, and I knew that meant only one