36. Ronan

Ronan

She loves me.

"Heads up, Sin!"

I turn at Rhett's shout, just in time to reach up and catch the ball about to smack me in the face. "What kind of aim is that, man?" I call out.

"Fuck off, bro. If you weren't too busy moonin" about Willow, you'd have heard Coach say we're about to take infield," he replies good-naturedly.

Sure enough, I glance around to see everyone's shifted in position, and I'm the dumbass off in la-la land.

"Shit. Sorry, Darling."

Having two days without a game isn't a common occurrence during the season, especially this close to All-Star break. After taking yesterday completely off, we need a solid practice today to make sure we're ready to kick some ass tomorrow.

It's a glorious fucking day, made all the better by the knowledge that somewhere in the stadium is the woman I made love to last night. The woman who finally confessed her love for me.

"It's fine, man. I'd probably be distracted, too, if a woman like Willow was warmin" my bed each night."

I glower at Rhett. "Careful." Of course, he doesn't know the shitty truth that I actually haven't had Willow in my bed each night — or ever. Last night was the first time she set foot in my bedroom, for fuck's sake. But there's not a chance in hell I'm letting the guys know that. I'd rather they didn't talk about her like that at all.

"Sorry. We all love Willow. You're alright, too, I guess," he continues with an unrepentant wink. "Just sayin', she's out of your league. Willow Lawson is —"

"Willow Lawson is what?" Her sharply amused voice reaches us, and I turn to see her striding across the field, one of her camera guys trailing after. "Hey, baby," she murmurs, surprising me by kissing my cheek. Then she turns, arms crossed, and stares at Rhett. "You were saying?"

He has the decency to look bashful, and I just grin as I wait for my woman to tear him a new one.

"Nothing bad, Wills. Just tellin' our boy Sin he better treat you right or he's in deep shit."

Willow's face softens. "Aww, Rhett. You big teddy bear. Thanks, but I can handle my relationship myself." She leans into my side, one hand coming up to rest on my chest. "If Ronan messes up, I'll just withhold orgasms till he makes it right."

The guys' raucous laughter surrounds us as she pivots on one foot and looks up at me, her eyes sultry with desire. "That backward hat and your ass in those pants is doing something to me, Ronan Sinclair," she murmurs for my ears only. "You're a distraction, looking this good."

I kiss her quickly, my eyes on Coach, who's probably not loving the fact that my attention isn't on practice but on the woman in my arms. "You're one to talk, Cherry. Get your beautiful self away from me before I decide the team can practice without me while I go taste your sweet pussy in your office."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" she teases, backing away with a wink. Without letting me respond, she turns back to the guys and waves her camera guy over. "Ignore us, we just need some B-roll for socials."

Willow moves to walk away, but I grab her hand, pulling her back in for one more kiss. "I'll see you after practice?" She nods, and I get in a tap on her ass as she leaves, earning a smirk over her shoulder.

"You're a lucky man, Sin," Rhett calls out as we move back into position to continue practice.

I just grin. "Trust me, I know."

When practice finishes, I follow the guys through the dugout into the locker room. We're all hot and sweaty, even with it being a light practice. Summer has come to Vancouver, that's for sure.

"Sin, what's the plan for tonight? You wining and dining our Willow?" Monty calls out from his shower stall as I walk into my own.

"No, I gotta get home. My mom was pretty sick the other day. She's feeling a bit better, but not great, so I gotta take over kid duty."

"You need a babysitter? My younger sister loves kids. She just moved back to town to finish her degree to be a kindergarten teacher," Kai shouts over the general chatter and spray of water.

"Thanks, man," I reply, quickly showering off. It's not just because of Mom and Peyton that I'm in a hurry. I want to stop by Willow's office for a minute to give her something before I go. "If you think she'd be interested, that would be awesome."

"Evie's here?" Rhett says sharply, and I look over to see him staring at Kai. "She's in town?"

There's something about his tone of voice, but I don't have time to wonder what it is. Wrapping my towel around my waist, I hustle back into the main locker room and over to my locker. Pulling on my underwear so I can drop my towel, I tune out the conversations, thinking ahead to not just my gift for Willow, but to home, where I'm hoping Peyton hasn't tired my mom out yet. I'll definitely be texting Kai later to get his sister's info.

Between wanting to take Willow out for "wining and dining," as Monty called it, plus to allow my mom a break every now and then, I need some help.

Once dressed, I tug on my hat, grab my bag and the gift bag for Willow, and make my way up to the executive floors. The halls are quiet, with most of the staff having left for the day. Coach kept us here for an extended stretching session after practice, seeing as tomorrow is game day.

I walk swiftly to Willow's office, relieved to see the light on and the door open. She waited for me. Knocking softly on the frame, I grin when she looks up with a smile.

"Hey, I was starting to wonder how long Coach would keep you guys," she says, pushing away from her desk and coming around to meet me as I step in and close the door behind me, turning the lock. Her eyes drop to my hand when I do so, and the corner of her lips tip up in a knowing smirk.

I hug her with one arm, keeping the other behind my back. "Yeah, he worked us hard, then had us do a long cooldown. Need to be ready for tomorrow."

"You'll dominate the Eagles," she says confidently. "Their star pitcher is out with a shoulder injury, and they don't have the roster of talent we've got."

I lean in and kiss the tip of her nose. "Well, if you say we're gonna win, then, of course, we will." I pull my arm out from behind my back. "Especially if you're wearing this."

Willow takes the bag, looking from it to me. "Wearing…" Her face is a mixture of curiosity and happiness. She knows what's in the bag, and her reaction is already better than I could have imagined.

I shrug. "Now that everyone knows, I thought maybe you'd wear my name."

She lifts the jersey out with a look of wonder. "Ronan," she murmurs, looking at my last name written across the back. Her eyes meet mine. "I've never worn a player's jersey before. Just generic team shirts, never a specific player."

Well, fuck. Now I've got a hard-on.

"Good," I growl, cradling her face in my hands. I kiss her again, and her arms come around my neck, the jersey still clutched in one hand. "Because my name is the only name you should ever wear."

She pulls it on over her shirt, and holy shit, that does something to me. "Goddamn, woman. You look good in that."

She pulls her hair out from the collar as I rub my hand over my jaw, still trying to process the sheer perfection of what stands before me. My dick is painfully hard just from seeing her wear my name.

This is why I locked the door.

I push her backward until she's leaning against her desk and tangle my hand in her hair while I ravage her lips. Teeth grazing, tongues tangling, I push my hips into hers so she can tell just what it does to me seeing her in my jersey. Tearing away from her lips is hard, but I need more. "I need you," I growl, dropping to my knees. "Fuck, I need your pussy on my mouth while you wear my name, Cherry."

I look up at her for permission and see her nod. Spinning my cap around to the back, her eyes darken as I give her a wolfish grin. Then, I'm yanking down her pants and pressing my face into her sweet pussy.

Her tight grip on my shoulders is almost amusing. As if I would want to move even an inch from where I am right now.

And when she comes just minutes later, her hands gripping my shoulders and her breathless moans filling my ears, I know. She's mine. And I'm hers. And someday, it won't be my name on that jersey she's wearing.

It'll be our name.