Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

BAILEY

“ W ow, this is such a beautiful city,” Sulley O’Shea expresses with a genuine smile on her pretty face. Sulley has jet-black hair and light blue eyes. She’s tall, probably as tall as Ripley, who stands at six feet. With her paler skin and a smattering of freckles, I’m guessing she’s of Irish descent.

I let out a laugh. “You seem shocked.”

She nods as she takes another bite of her cheesesteak. Taking someone to one of the famous cheesesteak restaurants is the first thing you have to do when they visit Philly. With a mouthful, she says, “I am. I was expecting dirty mayhem, but it’s not like that at all. It’s kind of peaceful, not overrun with people.”

“It’s a city and certain sections are better than others, but in general, no, it’s not overpopulated. I genuinely like it here. Are you sure you’re okay heading out to my friend’s house? We can do something else. Something more touristy, if you want.”

Even though we’ve already done a small handful of touristy things, I think it best to make sure she enjoys some interpersonal connections as well. I know that will help her become more comfortable here than seeing a few more landmarks. There’s time for that if and when she moves here.

It’s a warm spring day which only adds to the beauty of the city. Ripley invited us over to Quincy’s house to sit by the pool. The Cougars are away on a road trip.

Her eyes brighten. “Meeting Arizona Abbott, Ripley St. James, and your sister? Count me in. You guys are my inspiration. I was glued to the television last year during your playoffs. Do you think you guys can win it again?”

“I hope so. Practices start back up this week. Ripley having her baby early means we might get her back this season when we assumed we wouldn’t, at least not to start the season. I know she’s working her ass off to get back into pitching shape.”

Her mother moved out here with her to help her with baby Kaya and to help her get back into pitching shape. Her mother was an Olympic pitcher and coached both Ripley and Arizona throughout high school.

“Awesome. I packed a bathing suit like you said. Ready when you are.”

We climb into my new car and drive twenty-five minutes into the suburbs to Quincy’s palace. That’s exactly what it is. A palace.

Sulley’s eyes practically bug out of her head when we pull in through the front gate. “Holy shmagegies, this place is huge.”

“Quincy had it custom built. It’s got everything you can possibly imagine.” I mean everything . It’s what’s considered a smart house. You can yell any instruction, and the house does it for you.

I let us in and notice that the back glass panels to the pool area are wide open. We walk out and see Arizona, Kam, and June, Ripley’s mother, lying out in bikinis. Ripley is in a T-shirt and shorts holding baby Kaya on a chair in the shade. I immediately grab for Kaya. “Gimme, gimme, gimme.”

Ripley laughs as I take Kaya into my arms and smell her baby scent. I love it so much. Kaya is the spitting image of Ripley, with red curly hair and blue eyes. She’s so adorable. I want to eat her up.

I introduce Sulley to everyone. Kam looks her up and down. “You look like a taller Eve Hewson.” She’s an up-and-coming actress in a handful of movies and television shows.

Sulley answers, “I get that all the time. Thank you. It’s a nice compliment.”

Kam asks, “Did you know that she’s Bono’s daughter?”

Sulley pinches her eyebrows together. “Bono from U2?”

Kam nods. “Yep. His real name is Paul David Hewson.”

“I didn’t. That’s cool.”

Arizona asks Sulley, “I know where you went to college, you can’t turn on a television these days without seeing your awesome plays, but where are you originally from?”

“A small town in Montana. The same one as Vance McCaffrey.”

Kam wiggles her eyebrows. “He’s so hot, in a broody, mysterious kind of way. Did you bang him in high school?”

Sulley scrunches her face. “He’s eight years older than me.”

Kam shrugs. “So?”

“So, when he was a senior in high school, I was ten.”

Kam scrunches her face in disgust. “Oh. Right. Whoops.”

Sulley offers, “He was friendly with my older brother though.”

Her face falls as she says that. Kam must catch it too because she turns her attention to me. “Speaking of banging older men, what’s your current status?”

My steakhouse romp with Tanner weeks ago somehow managed to thaw the iciness between us. We’ve gotten back to semi-friendly terms. It’s easier for Harper this way and holding onto anger isn’t really my style. I still don’t stay for dinner, it’s too personal, but we’re able to engage in polite conversation before I go.

June has her eyes closed on the chaise lounge chair but says, “Nothing wrong with banging older men. I preferred them at your age. They know what they’re doing in bed. I’ve seen that fine man. I’m sure Bailey was getting it pretty good.”

Sulley’s eyes widen, but the rest of us are used to the way June St. James talks.

I sarcastically respond, “Thanks for the support, June.”

“Anytime, sweetie.”

Looking at Kam, I answer “We’re friends. It’s gotten back to a cordial place. I’m fine with it as is.”

“Friends with benefits? It’s weird that you went from love to hate to friendship. It sounds like you banged it out to me.”

“Can we please keep things PG in front of Sulley? We just met her.”

Sulley giggles. “I think you guys are a riot. I come from such a conservative town. No one outwardly talks about this stuff. It’s nice that you all are so open.”

Arizona snort-laughs. “If you want open, you’re in the right place, Sulley. I’m married to my brother’s best friend. Ripley had a baby with my brother. Kam bangs everything in sight, both men and women, and then tells us about it in graphic detail. And June is, well, June. In high school, I’d bump into her naked body in their kitchen in the middle of the night letting out her latest bedfellow. She’d simply offer me a high five as she went about her business.”

June giggles as she fixes her red hair into a messy bun. “There’s nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite. I’ve always had one.”

Ripley rolls her eyes, but Kam nods in agreement. “Preach, Mama June.”

I cover Kaya’s ears. “You guys aren’t going to be able to talk like this in front of her for long. Poor baby will be scarred for life. You should see how Kam talks to the girls we coach. I can’t believe I don’t have more parent complaints.”

Kam scoffs. “They don’t complain because we’re undefeated. We’re running a well-oiled machine. I’d take this team on the road to local high schools, and we’d probably kick their asses. ”

I turn to Sulley. “Kam and I coach a softball team for eight-year-olds. One of the players is the little girl I nanny for. Our championship game is tonight. Arizona said you can hang with her during the game and then we can all meet up later.”

Sulley smiles. “Can I come to the game? I want to watch them play. It sounds cute.”

Kam raises her eyebrow. “We’re not cute. We’re a killing machine taking no prisoners on the way to winning the championship and collecting our trophies tonight.”

I remind her, “We get trophies, win or lose.”

Kam’s jaw drops. “Are you kidding me? Second place gets trophies too? What a joke. How will they learn to be competitors in this participation-trophy society?”

I smile at Sulley. “Kam used to toss all second-place trophies.”

Kam shouts. “It’s not like there were a lot of them. I’m a champion. First place or bust. You don’t want these kids living in their parents’ basements at thirty years old, clinging to ninth-place shit-brown ribbons, do you?”

Sulley giggles. “Now I really need to see this team in action.”

Arizona nods. “Cool. I wanted to go anyway. We’ll sit together.”

Actually, Arizona and Sulley being there could be good for the team. I look at the two of them. “Why don’t you two give the pre-game speech? The girls will flip for both of you.”

They both happily agree.

“Listen, bitches, it’s your time to shine. This is war, but we’re not taking any prisoners. It’s kill or be killed in the dog-eat-dog world of Little League softball. Make those fuckers bleed.”

The kids all giggle at Kam. Annoyingly, they freakin’ love how she talks to them in a straightforward manner.

I smile at the absurdity. “Most importantly, have fun. ”

Kam scoffs. “Fun? They can have fun at the afterparty, not during the game.”

I sigh. “Anyway, we brought in two special guests to talk to you tonight.” I motion toward Arizona and Sulley, who have been hiding behind a tree so we could give them their grand entrance. “I give you Arizona Abbott and Sulley O’Shea.”

The girls all scream like they’re rock stars as they approach our huddle. Four of the girls are so starstruck that they start crying.

Arizona smiles. “I’ve seen a few of your games this season. You guys are even better than mine and Ripley’s team when we were your age.” The girls all gasp. “Ripley has been my teammate since we were five. Kam and Bailey since we were eighteen. Trusting your teammates is very important. Make sure you all love and support each other no matter what. Mistakes are part of the game at every level. It’s how a team supports one another, and moves on, that separates the good and the great teams.”

Sulley nods in agreement. “Arizona is right. Being a good teammate is important. Loving what you do is important too. Make sure you have fun out there.”

Kam tries to interrupt, but I cover her mouth. The girls all giggle.

I place my hand in the middle, and the team follows suit. “Hiss on three. One, two, three,” They all collectively hiss. Hissing was my compromise with Kam because she can’t stand the name snakelets and the only substitutions she could come up with were perverted and completely inappropriate for this group.

We’re in the last inning. This is the tightest game of the season. We’re only up by one run. The other team brought a few new players tonight. I can’t know for sure, but I think some of them are a few years older than they’re supposed to be in this league. I’ve been hearing our parents chirping about it in the stands all night. I had to go over at some point and tell them to simmer down since the girls were feeding off that negative energy.

Our pitcher has thrown a good game, but she’s getting tired. The bases are loaded and there’s only one out. I call a timeout and walk toward the mound as I motion for the entire infield to join us. I look at our pitcher. “You’re looking a little tired, Stacey. You’ve pitched a great game. Maybe it’s time for me to bring in someone else.”

She takes a breath and then shakes her head. “I want to finish, Coach Bails. I can do it.”

I nod. “Alright. This batter is their best one. She’s been hitting line drives all night. Can you keep the ball low in the zone? We want to induce a ground ball. You don’t have to try to strike her out. Trust your team behind you.”

She nods. “I’ll try.”

I look at Andie, who we moved over to shortstop when Sapphire was struggling earlier this season. “You and Harper pinch the middle. Let’s see if we can’t induce a double play.”

They look at each other with uncertainty. We haven’t turned one the entire season. They’ve tried three times, but the runner at first base always beat it out.

“This batter isn’t fast. I think this is our best chance to win the game. Stacey is gassed. We don’t want them to score a run and have to go to extra innings. We need this. I believe in you both.”

They pound their gloves and nod. Harper says, “We’ll do it.”

I walk back to the dugout. Kam looks at me. “Why aren’t we playing shallow? The play is at home.”

I shake my head. “Stacey only has enough left for one batter. This girl hits too hard. It will get through if we play up. I’m having Andie and Harper pinch the middle. I told Stacey to throw low. I’m going for broke on your double play.”

She twists her lips. “It’s risky.”

“It’s our best shot.”

One of the parents sitting in the stands yells, “You guys need to come in. The play is at home.”

Kam narrows her eyes at him and shouts back, “Shut up, Norman. You’re not the coach. Spare all of us and put on some deodorant for once. ”

The parents all chuckle. He’s definitely the overly sweaty, smelly dad.

Five pitches later, there are two strikes and three balls on the batter. A full count. That makes this next pitch the payoff pitch. One of the fathers on the other team even yells about it. I turn and look at Tanner after the man shouts it. His eyes meet mine, and he gives me a small smirk in acknowledgment of the term. God, I miss him. I miss his kisses. I miss the way his body feels on mine. I miss being in his arms. His scent. All of him. I can see in his face that he’s feeling the same. In fact, I see it every time I’m with him. He doesn’t bother to hide it.

Kam mumbles, “Stop ogling Tanner and focus.”

I snap my head back to the game. “Sorry.” I shout, “Come on, Stacey, you’ve got this. No free rides.” Walking this girl would tie the game and put the winning run at third.

She nods as she steps onto the pitching rubber. She winds up and throws the pitch. It’s coming in low. The batter swings and hits a hard ground ball. It’s heading toward the left side of second base. I don’t think Andie can get there, but she proves me wrong. She lays out for the ball, and it skips right into her glove. From the ground, she tosses it up to Harper at second base who secures the first out, plants her left foot, and then throws as hard as her little body is capable of toward first base. So hard that she falls to the ground afterward.

It's a bang-bang play at first. All eyes move to the umpire who signals the final out. Kam gasps. “Holy shit, it worked. Fucking A, they did it.”

Kam and I are hugging, screaming, and jumping up and down in excitement. The girls all start running over to Harper. The parents are all yelling in both shock and happiness.

Kam and I run out to the girls. Harper leaps into my arms and hugs me. “This is the best day of my life, Bails. Thank you. I love you.”

I start crying as I hug her back. “I love you too. I’m so proud of you. All your hard work has paid off.”

Kam rubs her head. “Harper, you’re a stud.”

She then hugs Andie. “That play was next level, kiddo. I don’t know if I could have made it. Way to get it done.”

Andie has a huge grin on her face as she’s lifted onto Kam’s shoulders. I’m proud of Kam for how far she’s come with these kids this season. It doesn’t come naturally to her, but she found a way to connect with them, albeit unconventional, and it worked.

We briefly join the team pizza party. All the parents express their extreme gratitude for all our time this season. We then head home to get dressed for our night out.

Sulley is dressed and waiting in our living room. I’m looking in my mirror applying my makeup when Kam walks in and asks, “Can we talk?”

I nod. “Of course.”

She plops down on my bed. “I see the way you’re always looking at Tanner and the way he looks at you.”

Tears threaten my eyes. “I know. I’m trying not to, but I can’t help it. It’s hard to explain. I miss the closeness to him. I feel so empty without him.”

She blows out a breath. “I’m not stupid. I know you’re eventually going to end up back in his bed. It’s only a matter of time.”

I’m silent. I’m not sure she’s wrong.

She nods once. “At least you’re not in denial or lying to me. Thank you for that.” She leans back on her hands. “Can I give you a few rules of casual sex that I think would be best for you? I’m not sure you’re capable of it, but if you’re going to do this, I need to at least do everything I can to safeguard your heart from being broken again.”

“Okay. Tell me.”

TANNER

It’s one in the morning and I’m too wired to sleep. I’m still not over what I watched tonight. Harper blows my mind. She’s got more work ethic at eight than most adults ever have. Proud isn’t a big enough word for what I’m feeling for my special little girl.

We all celebrated at a local pizza parlor after the game. Harper then went to Fallon’s. The Windsors are hosting a huge team party at their house next week.

Kam and Bailey only stayed at the celebration for a short time. They said they had plans. It means she’ll be out and about with a line of men wanting to get into her pants.

I hate that the season is over. I won’t get to see Bailey as much. With her own season starting back up again soon, she won’t be able to coach the Snakelets in their summer league, and she won’t be at the house as much. I feel...empty without her.

She’s such a bright, shining light. There’s a dimness and an ache in my chest when she isn’t around. It’s confusing for me. I’ve never been emotionally reliant on anyone, not even Fallon.

I consider going downstairs to pour myself a glass of whiskey, thinking that maybe it will settle me down enough to fall asleep, but then I remember Bailey’s words to me. I don’t want to turn into a man who’s reliant on booze. I’ve cut back a ton since that conversation, trying to only be a social drinker, not a solo drinker.

I can’t get our night in the restaurant bathroom out of my mind. It was so hot. That might have been the hottest sex of my life. I’m not addicted to alcohol. I’m addicted to Bailey Hart.

I’m happily running through each detail of that night when I hear my front door open and then close. What the hell ?

In only my boxer briefs, I get out of bed and quietly tiptoe toward the staircase. As I approach the top of the stairs, I see Bailey at the bottom of them pacing. She doesn’t see me at first. She’s mumbling to herself about whether or not she should come upstairs.

I can’t help but smile. She’s so adorable.

“Hey, stranger.”

Her head snaps toward me. “Hi. Sorry. Did I wake you?”

I shake my head. “I was up. What are you doing here?”

She nervously chews at her lower lip. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” Her fingers fidget with the bottom of her skirt. “I just miss you.”

“I miss you too.” I motion for her to come upstairs. “Come here. Let me hold you.”

She hesitates briefly before eventually walking up the stairs. She’s in a short skirt with a very small, revealing tube top. She looks like sex on a stick.

I pull her into my arms, and she immediately relaxes into me. “I don’t know what to do, Tanner. I can’t shake you. There’s this ache in my body without you.”

“I know. I feel the same.” I tilt her chin up so we’re looking at each other. “For now, can I kiss you? I miss your lips and your taste so fucking much.”

She nods, and my lips immediately find hers. As soon as my tongue touches hers, she mumbles into my mouth, “I don’t want to want you, but I do. I need you.”

I lift her legs to wrap them around me and then push her against the wall. Her skirt is naturally lifted so that my cock can press against her pussy with only the thin threads of our underwear between us. She’s so warm. I’m realizing how cold I’ve been without her. Like a chill I can’t shake.

Our kiss turns frantic as we practically swallow each other whole. It’s been so long since I’ve kissed these beautiful lips.

I lower my boxers enough to free my cock, desperate to be inside her. When I push her panties to the side, she grabs my wrist and breaks the kiss. “Condom. I can’t do it bare with you anymore. It’s too intense.”

My jaw tightens. Does this mean she’s been with others? I don’t like that at all, but I won’t argue with her right now. We both need this. I wordlessly move us toward my bedroom.

Rummaging around my drawer until I find a condom, I take one out and start to place her on the bed so I can sheath myself.

Her arms squeeze tightly around my neck. “No, not on the bed. The wall is fine.”

“Why are you cheapening this?”

“Just fuck me, Tanner.” Her big brown eyes meet mine with so much need written all over them. “Fuck away the pain that’s been here since we broke up.”

Because I can’t deny her and I want her beyond measure, I sheath myself and then fuck her hard against the wall until she comes.

Once I do the same, I gently place her feet on the ground but keep my body pressed to hers. I don’t want the contact to end, but she gently pushes me away, immediately fixes her panties, and then pulls down her skirt. “I’m going to head out.”

“What? No. Stay with me. In my arms.”

She shakes her head. “No. I can’t.”

“It’s the middle of the night. Just stay. Please.”

She shakes her head. “No, Tanner. I want to be with you…physically. For now. I can’t do anything else and risk my heart breaking all over again. If you find someone else, this ends. If I find someone else, it ends. It’s physical. That’s it. It’s in no way, shape, or form any other kind of relationship. No movies, no dinners, no in-depth conversations, and definitely no sleepovers.”

“Is this about Champ? ”

She rolls her eyes. “Champ is just a good friend. Do you honestly think I’d be here right now if he and I were more? Would I have let you fuck me in that bathroom if he and I were together?”

I shake my head. I know she wouldn’t.

I run my fingers through my hair, pulling at the ends. “So you just want to be…fuck buddies?”

She winces. “I’m not a huge fan of that term, but yes. We can never be more than that, so it’s a purely physical relationship or none at all. The boundary needs to be crystal clear this time. It’s up to you. I’ve told you what I want.”

This is so unlike her. “Are you sure this is really what you want?”

She swallows. “In an ideal world, no. In the world we live in, yes. It’s all I can handle. I have to protect myself as best I can. And this is what you said you wanted, right? So it shouldn’t matter to you.”

I’m silent, feeling so conflicted about it. Of course I want her, but like this? Then I think about what I’ve put her through. How could I possibly ask her for more?

I whisper, “Okay.”

She nods and pats my chest. “Great. I’ll be in touch. Thanks for tonight. It’s just what I needed. I’ll see you when I’m back on duty with Harper.”

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?