Chapter 36

[Ross]

I want everything to be perfect for Vee meeting Rena. Instead, it's one clusterfuck after another.

As the team has a contracted airline, Vee flies separately, and her flight is delayed due to thunderstorms. Then, the team's hotel was changed at the last minute, because of some scheduling mix up, which means Vee will be at a different hotel than mine. And finally, Landon and Harley decide to surprise visit Philadelphia as their colleges are on summer break.

This summer, Landon will remain near Purdue, living in a house with friends, and Harley plans to stay in his apartment as it's a twelve-month rental, but they'll have the freedom to visit me more often. However, this surprise visit means Vee and I need to re-arrange our sleeping arrangement.

And this introduction with my sister.

Rena is cool as far as little sisters go, and being the youngest of three, and the only girl, she's rolled with having unruly older brothers. She jokes she's a spinster, a term I never understand, as she's still young in my opinion. She looks exactly like our mom did with strawberry blond hair, cut just above her shoulder in springy curls. Her eyes are bright blue like mine. Once upon a time, she claimed to have found the One, and then he broke her heart. And she's given almost ten years of her life to help me raise my boys, so I owe her the world.

But with Landon and Harley suddenly present, meeting Vee won't be the quiet, easy affair I wanted it to be between two special women in my life. The boys have safely arrived at Rena's home, and they'll stay here for a week. They've also quickly ditched the house in favor of meeting up with old friends from when we lived here.

"Landon tells me she's not like the other women in your life," Rena states, sitting across from me in her muggy backyard. The heat of the day kicks in after the rainstorm. With my night free before the three-game series, I sip a beer while waiting for Vee's delayed arrival.

"I don't have other women."

Rena lifts a brow. Her eyes are warm, curious. "What makes her special? Special enough you invited her to Philly to meet me?"

I shrug at first, then lean forward and brace my arms on the outdoor table. "She's just different. Harley says Vee reminds him of Patty. In some ways she is like her, but in most ways, she isn't." I pause trying to describe Vee. "She's sweet and funny. Kind. Pretty. Quirky. And she's nothing like any other women I've dated."

Rena gives me a knowing look. She's seen the tabloids and knows the truth. I'm a serial dater who was monogamous with each woman but never called any of them my girlfriend.

My sister once said to me, you could do so much better .

"Vee is that better," I state and smile at how great it is to have someone like Vee in my life.

"How?" Rena lifts her beer after asking, watching over the bottle as she sips.

"What is this, twenty questions?" I chuckle.

"It's grill-my-older-brother to protect his heart."

I huff. "Shouldn't this older brother be protecting yours?"

Rena softly smiles. "Tell me more about her. How did you meet again?"

Oh boy . But, I spend the next hour explaining how Vee and I met, where and when, and then how we saw one another again.

"Happenstance," I explain, then lower my head, a bit bashful when I say. "I think Vee might be a second chance for me."

"She's your happy chance." Rena's mouth curls on one side, pleased by her own assessment, while unknowingly stealing my line.

"Yeah." I agree.

"Then I can't wait to meet her."

Only introductions are on hold as Vee doesn't arrive until almost ten at night, nearly a twelve-hour delay for a two-hour flight .

"I could have driven here faster," she gripes, once she's inside her hotel room, and I'm on my way to meet her despite team curfews before games. A blizzard at two a.m. couldn't keep me away from her.

"I'll make it up to you." My Uber stops outside her hotel, and I cross the lobby for the elevators. My feet move almost faster than I can keep up. I'm that eager to get to her. I feel like I haven't seen her in weeks when it's only been thirty-something hours.

I'm also unsettled being back in Philadelphia. Restless. And I want to be near Vee. She keeps me grounded. She calms me. She's my home plate.

"I don't know that I'd be great company tonight." She sighs, exhaustion in her voice. "Even though I'm wired, I think I'm just going to go to bed."

"Hold that thought," I state, stepping into the elevator and worrying that I'll lose the connection to her. The call does disconnect, and I phone her again as soon as I'm on her floor. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." She sounds disheartened. "I'll just see you tomorrow."

"Or you could see me right now?"

"Ross," she groans.

"Open your door, sweetheart."

"What?"

I pause outside her hotel room, waiting on her to cross the room, and open the barrier in that way I adore. Where she yanks it open wide, like she's been expecting me, like she can't wait to see me.

Because that's exactly how I feel about her. I can't wait to see her.

The door opens with a flourish, and I speak into my phone when our eyes meet. "Hey."

"Hi," she answers through hers before clicking off the device.

I step forward, into her room, and she steps toward me, into my arms. She didn't spend the night at my place last night and my bed was cold without her .

Now, my mouth is warm against hers. Her body is pinned to mine as I lift her straight up, her feet dangling a few inches off the ground while I carry her deeper into the room before setting her back on her feet.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice is filled with renewed energy. "Don't you have a curfew or something?"

"Or something. And that something is you, sweetheart." My mouth is on hers again, sipping and sucking.

"Let me erase your bad day," I murmur against her mouth.

"You don't need to do that."

"I want to." I want her. Good days, bad days. Bad dreams, good ones.

"I'm just wound up," she mumbles against my lips.

"I'm here to unwind you, then." Releasing her mouth, I press her away from me and reach for her shirt, lifting it over her head. Spinning her around, I kiss across her shoulders, digging my teeth gently into the tight muscles while my hands massage her lower back.

"Holy shit. That feels incredible."

I hum against her skin, while I unclasp her bra. Still sucking her shoulders, I tug the bra off her and knead her breasts, cupping each swell, pressing them together before plucking her nipples which are instantly erect.

"I love how you respond to my touch." Speaking into her skin, I reach for the button on her jeans, popping the closure at her waist before slipping my hand into her pants, diving directly between her legs.

Sliding my finger over the dampness of her panties, I hum. "So ready for me, sweetheart."

Vee tips back her head, leaning against my shoulder. "The things you do to me, babe. My body can't help but respond."

"I like the sound of that." Her calling me babe. Her admitting I do things to her.

With a quick tug, her jeans are lowered, underwear removed as well. Vee remains facing the bed, while I pull my shirt forward, over my head, then press my warm chest against her back.

Vee hisses. "Your skin is on fire. "

"I'm on fire. For you." I nip her neck hard and her knees buckle, but with one arm around her waist, and my hand between her thighs again, I support her body. Quickly, I find the spot that spirals Vee out of control. Her hips rock back, her ass seeks friction against my hard length.

"You want me, sweetheart?"

"Always."

Damn , I like the sound of that, too.

Working at her clit, I pause to dip into her warmth, soaking my finger with her essence. Sliding back out of her, I circle that trigger point again and again, before breaking rhythm, and diving two fingers into her.

"So full," Vee cries out, arching her back and pressing her ass against me again. She leans forward, hands catching on the edge of the bed.

"Want you like this," I tell her, sliding my hand up her spine, staring at that back I adore.

"Yes."

I release her to kick off my shoes and step out of my pants. With her lush ass aimed at me, and her head turned to watch me, her hair drapes over her opposite shoulder. I'm struck by how pretty she is. Sunshine on a cloudy day. A refreshing sip of water on a hot afternoon. Comfort.

And waiting on me to fill her up.

"All the power," I remind her. While I feel strong being with her, elevated, electric, she's the one with the strength to break me.

Fisting myself, I bring my firm tip to her entrance, sliding through that wetness. Teasing both her and me with where I want to be.

"I'm on the pill," she quickly states. "For feminine reasons."

I don't know what that means but we can discuss it later. For now, I have her permission to slip inside, and my breath catches at first contact. When just my tip breaches her heat.

"Fuck, Vee." I grunt, gliding easily into her, sliding home.

I still and reach around her, flicking her clit. Vee's hips buck .

"I should have fucked you that first night." I kiss her shoulder while rubbing that nub and hanging out inside her. "I wasn't in the right headspace, but I didn't know what I was missing."

I draw back, teasing us both by nearly exiting her body before rushing forward again. My fingertips circle that trigger point on her.

"Want to feel you come around me, Vee." I want her to fucking milk me dry.

"You feel so good," she whimpers, arching back, matching my thrusts. She lifts one leg, bracing her knee on the bed, opening herself up to me.

"Damn, Vee. That just—" I can't speak. Curled over her, working her clit and sliding in and out of her channel, I'm a mess of sensation. Her heat around me. Her sweetness coating me. The sound of us coming together.

"Vee," I warn. "I'm so close." But I won't go over the edge without her. I can't think about baseball, but I'll find something else to hold off my release.

"Yes." Her legs stiffen. Her hips stop rocking but roll like a slow drizzle. She sucks me into her, clenching around me, as she crests and cries out again and again. "Babe. Ross. Yes."

I'm quick to follow, pulling back once before slamming into her, holding still, and letting loose like a fountain.

"Fuck." I grip her hips, bury deep within her, and hold her tight against me. Silver stars dance before my eyes, and I blink several times.

Vee pulls off me, flips for the bed, and lays back. "One more time," she begs, holding out her hands.

I can't. My dick won't last, but her legs are spread, pussy weeping, so I climb over her, wedging myself between her thighs, and using my fingers again, working her with two thick digits while my thumb presses at her clit.

Simultaneously, I rock my hips, simulating what I wish I could do, but I'm forty-seven, not seventeen .

Tipping her head up to kiss me before arching her back and tilting back her head, Vee goes off rather quickly. She lets out a long, low groan as she releases a second time.

"Fuck, that's hot, Vee."

When she slowly subsides, coming back to earth and this bed, I lazily stroke between her thighs before holding my hand over her center.

"What was that?" I tease.

Vee blinks a few times before draping her arm over her eyes. Her lower lip quivers.

"Vee? Sweetheart." I tug at her arm, but she refuses to look at me. A tear escapes her eye. "Talk to me."

"Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed by . . . us. By what you do to me. How you make me feel. The way my body reacts to yours." She sucks in a breath. "And I guess . . . it's just that . . . I'm in my forties, so that means I'm horny."

I chuckle, but not in jest. "Sweetheart, you can be horny all you want with me."

She drops her arm, smacking the bed beside her. "What are you doing with me, Ross?" Her question is asked so seriously, and on the tip of my tongue is an answer.

I'm loving you .

Instead, I say, "I'm horny for you, too."

She huffs. Then chuckles. Then snortles, and we both break into the easy laughter that happens between us.

She overwhelms me too, in all the best ways.