32. Wrong Balls

THIRTY-TWO

WRONG BALLS

Garrett

It's been over two months since I saw Dessa in person. Held her in my arms, kissed her sweet lips. Granted, I've loved building an emotional connection with her and not just a physical one. But fuck, I need the physical. My hand can only be a poor substitute for so long. I pull up our spring training schedule.

During the eight weeks of spring training, there are three breaks in our schedule. The perk of spring training being in Arizona is the warm weather. No one wants to play ball in Seattle, or any northern state, in February. The day off in the middle of an away game and a home game will be perfect for Dessa to come visit.

At the start of my career, they told me which games I was playing, and I went, no questions asked. Now because of my status in the league, I've been able to negotiate which games I play and which ones I don't. Not traveling for the away game, I'll get an extra day with Dessa.

First, I make a phone call to Jake. Since I want this to be a surprise, I arrange to get her the necessary days off before purchasing the plane ticket.

I peer at the time on my phone. Dessa should be off work and at home by now. She gave me her work schedule, so it's easier to coordinate phone calls, especially surprise ones with happy endings. I pull up her number and press talk, and it rings a few times before she answers.

"Hey! I was just thinking about you."

"Happy thoughts, I hope."

"The happiest. I just bought a new bra, and I think you'd approve."

"Send me a picture or it didn't happen."

A few seconds later, a picture text pops up on my phone of Dessa wearing a black sheer bra. The outline of her hard nipples is prominent as they push against the fabric.

"Fuck. Tates. You look absolutely amazing."

"You mean my tits look amazing since that's all the picture was?"

"No. I'm picturing you, your whole body, in this picture."

She laughs. "What's up?"

Shit. I had a reason for this phone call, then I got sidetracked with nipples and sheer fabric. "What are you doing in two weeks?"

"Let me check my calendar. Oh, look at that, I'll be washing my hair."

I laugh. "Well, how about this? You come to Arizona, and you can wash your hair here."

"Arizona?"

"Yeah. In two weeks, we have a day off between games. That's the perfect time for you to visit for a long weekend." I cross my fingers she doesn't fight me on this. I need to see her. Touch her. Feel her.

"I'll have to check my work schedule."

I smile. "It's already taken care of."

"What do you mean?"

"I already talked to Jake and convinced him to give you Thursday through Monday off so you can come visit me."

"Wait, I didn't agree with this yet."

"Are you telling me no?"

"No. I mean, I'm not telling you no, but I need to book a plane ticket and a hotel."

"Already taken care of. Check your email. I'll wait." There's rustling, followed by the clacking on the keyboard.

"You bought me a plane ticket. You can't keep buying me plane tickets."

"This is more for selfish reasons than anything. In fact, this is really for me. And you don't need a hotel. I have an apartment."

"Okay. With the airfare and sleeping arrangements taken care of, what am I supposed to do while you're busy?"

"I'll have two days off so I can show you around the city, or I can show you my bed. Either or." She laughs, and it's the most beautiful sound in the world. "Then you can come watch a game."

"So, I get to watch you play with your balls all day?"

Now it's my turn to laugh. "And you can play with them later that night."

"Am I supposed to watch the game by myself? I'm not going to know anyone."

"I'll introduce you to some of the other players' wives and girlfriends."

There's a moment of silence and I pinch my eyes shut at the word "girlfriend." While we've never had the talk, I consider her my girlfriend. There is no way in hell I want to be with anyone else. If I had to guess, she feels the same way.

"Since you have everything mapped out, I can't wait!"

I'm standing in baggage claim waiting for Dessa to come into view on the escalator. Her plane landed eight minutes ago, so I should see her soon. Her sleek black hair glistens as the sun streams in through the atrium. When she glances up, our eyes connect, and I do everything in my power to not shove people out of the way to race up the escalator so I can wrap my arms around her a few seconds early. Instead, I reach down and hold up the sign I made for her. Her gaze wanders from me to my sign before a laugh bubbles out of her. She shakes her head and buries her face in her hand. When she's a few steps off the escalator, I drop my sign to my side. With a hand around her waist, I haul her to me, turn my baseball cap backwards, and press my lips to hers. Since we're in public, I keep it PG.

"I'm so happy you're here. I've missed you so fucking much," I whisper against her lips.

"I missed you too. But you could have done without the sign." She glances down.

"What? You didn't like it? I worked so hard on it." We both stare at the neon green poster board with thick, black lettering that reads "Have you seen my Taters?"

"Oh yeah, I could have definitely done without the sign." She giggles.

"How about you hold this," I pass her the sign, "and I'll take your luggage?"

When we arrive at my apartment to drop off Dessa's belongings, I give her the real greeting I wanted to give her at the airport, which involved me stripping her out of her clothes and burying my face between her legs. I'm pretty sure she forgave me for my sign after the two orgasms I gave her.

After we're dressed again, I take her to my favorite gastro pub in town. We grab a seat on the outside patio. I order a Cubano sandwich, while Dessa orders the black bean and brown rice burger. We share a plate of Korean cauliflower.

"So, on top of your place in Seattle, you also pay for an apartment in Sedona?"

"I do. It's more comfortable than a hotel room for two months. I get my own space with my own things. Plus, two of my buddies are in the same building, so it's nice." The server drops off our drinks. I swallow a gulp of my beer while Dessa sips her Arizona spiked tea.

She crosses her leg over her knee. "What do you do with it for the other ten months of the year?"

"Wilcox, Salter, and I hired someone to handle sublets for us. With all of us being in the same building, it makes it easier."

"That's really smart."

I take a sip of my beer. "Have you talked to Georgia lately?"

She cuts a piece of cauliflower in half with her fork. "She texted me to say it was over between her and Tony. I didn't want to pry for details. I figured if she wanted me to know, she'd tell me." She stabs the cauliflower with her fork and puts it in her mouth.

"I get that. Fucking Tony. I can't believe he did that." I sit up and rest my elbows on the table. "I mean, I can. I just figured he would have grown up by now. You can't play puppet master with people's lives. Even though he likes to try." I pluck a piece of cauliflower off the plate and pop it in my mouth.

"Maybe when I'm back in Harbor Highlands, I'll call Georgia to check on her and see how she's doing. Invite her over for drinks or something."

"I bet she could use a friend right now." I reach over and place my hand on her thigh, running my thumb back and forth over the thin fabric of her leggings.

"Yeah. She doesn't have anyone. We can bond over how much of an asshole Tony is." She half smiles. "We could make little voodoo dolls or something."

"Remind me not to piss you off." I squeeze her leg and wink. The server delivers the rest of our meal, and we chat about my spring training schedule.

When we're finished, Dessa leans against her chair. "That was so good. You might have to roll me out of here." She rests a hand on her stomach.

"But you have to carry me out of here first."

She laughs. "Like I could carry you. What is that?" She points off into the distance. "The tall fence."

I follow her finger. "That's a batting cage."

She turns to me, brows pinched together. "They still have those?"

"They do. Want to go hit some balls?"

Her eyes light up. "Yes!"

I pay for our meal, and we stroll around the block to Strike Zone. The setup for these batting cages is a little different from most. They have different tiers from beginner to expert. We opted for the expert with a sliding net, so we can either have a pitcher behind a net or use a pitching machine. Since this is for fun, I opt to pitch the balls to Dessa. Once I'm in position behind the net, I tilt my head at Dessa on the plate. Her feet are too close together, and her hand position is wrong. I drop my arm to my side. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to hit the ball."

"No. You're not. Your stance is all wrong."

The bat drops to her side. "What's wrong with my stance?"

"Everything." I toss the ball to the ground and jog toward her. I position myself behind her. "For one, your feet are too close together." I rest my hand on her hip and slide it down the side of her thigh until I reach the back of her knee. With her help, I slide her foot out. "Your feet need to be about shoulder width apart." I slowly drag my hand up her side.

She glances over her shoulder and wiggles her ass against my dick. "Like that?"

A guttural groan escapes me. My head falls back as I stare up into the sky, willing all the blood in my body to head north again. "Yeah, something like that."

She twists to face me, and her head bumps into the brim of my hat. I lift it and turn it backwards.

Her tongue peeks out, wetting her bottom lip. "I don't know why, but it's hot when you wear your cap like that."

I lean in, my mouth centimeters away from the shell of her ear. "Does it turn you on?" She slowly nods. "Trust me, if there weren't other people around, I'd take care of that, but in the meantime, we need to fix your grip."

Her mouth drops open as if she's offended. "What's wrong with my grip?"

"You're choking the bat."

"I thought it liked to be choked." She smirks.

I lean in so only she can hear. "No, that's you."

She laughs. "I can't deny that I like your hand on my throat."

My dick twitches. Fuck, all it takes is one sentence for her to turn me on. I clear my throat. I'm getting distracted from the task at hand. Her presence is a distraction. The best fucking distraction. I correctly position her grip on the bat and stroll behind the pitching net.

With her knees bent, her perfectly round ass sticks out. There's determination on her face, and it's the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen. I step to the side of the net and throw her an underhand pitch. With all her might, she swings the bat and hits nothing but air.

"You were close, but a little high!"

"Maybe your pitch was low!" She kicks at the dirt, planting her foot before perfecting her stance. This time she does it without needing my help.

Again, I throw the ball, and she swings. Crack. The ball sails over my head before hitting the net and falling to the dirt.

She drops the bat and jumps up and down. "I did it! Did you see that?!"

"You're a pro! We'll sign you tomorrow!" I toss her a few more balls, and she's about fifty-fifty with her batting average.

Once she's done, we switch spots, but I opt to use the pitching machine instead. Dessa stands on the other side of the fence behind me.

"I like the view from back here."

I glance over my shoulder. "Are you looking at my butt?"

She tilts her head and taps her lips as if she's considering her answer. "It's a nice butt."

"I see how it is." I pop my hip and stick out my butt even more. "You're only with me so you can look at my butt. "

"Among other things. But this is certainly a perk. It ranks high up there with the orgasms."

I draw even more attention to my ass by rubbing small circles over one cheek with my hand while also giving her air kisses. "I never took you for an ass woman."

A giggle bubbles out of her. "This whole performance solidifies yours is the only one I want."

I drop the bat and spin around. I slam my palm against the stop button for the pitching machine before stalking to the opening of the fence. Her brows shoot to her hairline as I cup her face in my palms. "Good answer." My lips are on hers. Firm. Hot. Demanding. If we were alone, it would last much longer. "I'm definitely hot for your ass." My hand slides down her back until I'm cupping her curvaceous ass.

She wraps her arms around my waist, mimicking my pose with a hand on each ass cheek. She shrugs. "It's only fair."

"You're not wrong." I stare into her deep brown eyes. Three words dangle on the tip of my tongue. I just need to spit them out. I've known she's the only woman for me since we were teenagers. If I were granted an additional minute for every thought of her, time would stretch into eternity.

"Are we just going to stand here all night, holding each other's butts, or are we going to hit some balls?"

Her words pull me from my thoughts and slap me back to reality. "You can definitely play with my balls."

She giggles, and with both hands she shoves at my chest, pushing me away.

"You're welcome to stroke my bat as well." She picks up a baseball and throws it at me. I catch it and toss it up in the air. "Wrong balls."