Bonus Excerpt

The Strike Out

Want a first peek into Parker and Scout's book?

The Strike Zone – Book 4 in The New York Lions Series is coming April 15.

PARKER

"Fucking Reeves -"

"Did you see her? She looked right at me. She looked right at me and waved -"

"I'm not getting goddamn friend zoned. It's official, she's single. I'm making a move -"

"She definitely waved. I'm telling you, I'm finally in. I'm getting closer - "

"What's my first move gonna be?"

"I said I'd catch her a ball, and I did. Who needs more than that?"

"Do you think she saw my homer? I haven't hit like that since the middle of last season. She'll have seen, right? I couldn't tell where she was sitting -"

"I'm gonna ask her out -"

I stopped dead. Tanner stopped next to me. The pair of us were standing in the middle of the corridor heading to the locker rooms, which wasn't the best place to stay after a game seeing as it was a thoroughfare of players, staff, coaches and sports journalists all rushing around. I pulled him to the side before we got taken out by someone not looking where they were going. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened.

"What?"

"What?"

"What are you talking about?" We asked in sync, both looking more confused than we probably should do.

I held my hand up before he started talking again. "What were you talking about just then? Who are you asking out?"

"Millie. Who are you talking about?"

"Scout." I sighed.

Scout was all I ever seemed to talk about right now.

Think about.

Dream about.

I was almost at the point where I was boring myself, let alone everyone else.

Nah, who was I kidding? I'd never get bored of talking about Scout Davison.

Tanner held his mouth in a straight line and gave one single under standing nod. "Okay, bud. You go first."

Dropping a hand on his shoulder, I squeezed in gratitude.

He knew the seriousness of this situation, because he was living it too and pining over Millie who wanted nothing to do with him. Not speaking to Scout had almost been bearable in the offseason when I'd been at home with the boys, but now the season had started I'd be seeing Scout every damn day, and I had no plans to go through the same torture of last year.

I was not about to sit on my ass again while another dude swooped in and snatched her up.

I was the only one who'd be doing any swooping.

Me, Parker King, catcher for The New York Lions.

"Thanks man. Okay, how do I make a move? I don't want to be friendzoned or whatever the fuck Reeves called it." My stomach curled into itself as a thought occurred to me. "Shit. What if I'm already there?"

I waited in silence as Tanner pulled his cell out and began scrolling, instead of giving me an answer. I was still waiting thirty seconds later. Did he not realize I wasn't asking a rhetorical question and did actually require a response?

"Duuude?" I tried again, making no attempt to keep the whine from my tone, "do you think she saw my homer? Tan?"

I was about to slap the cell from his hands when he finally looked up, and a wide smile split his face.

"What?"

"I don't think you're in the friendzone yet. You're definitely still in the strike zone." He snickered, holding his cell out. "She saw your homer."

The screen was open at the New York Lions TikTok channel – which Scout was in charge of. I found myself staring at a looped close-up video of me smashing the ball through the air, far into left field and the stands, running around each base and jogging into the dugout. The last five seconds was in slow motion, my mouth curved up on the right and looking every ounce as smug as I felt. The smugness returned tenfold as I read the text over the top.

KING OF THE FIELD ??

"Check out the one underneath."

I scrolled down to find a video of Ace and me warming up. My smile grew. It wasn't us just throwing and catching, or going over strategy. No sir. Those groin stretches the PTs had us doing on the daily were paying off in more ways than one, and I didn't mind in the slightest that a close-up of my ass was there for the world to see. Not if Scout had videoed it.

The social media team usually had cameras set up along the field to capture the games, and always stayed close by. But today I hadn't been aware of seeing any of them. Or rather I hadn't spotted Scout. Normally I knew when she was near, as though I had a sixth sense for anything concerning Scout Davison, but today I'd been too focused on making sure Ace had a better Opening Day than last year.

And I had. We'd annihilated The Braves.

But if these two videos were anything to go by, Scout's attention had been on more than the game. Especially as – from scrolling through the rest of today's posts – no one else had two made of them.

"She's into me, right?" I glanced back up at Tanner. "Do you think that's what this means?"

Whatever Tanner was about to say died on his lips and his eyes widened. There was absolutely no way he could have been any more obvious when I turned around to see what he was looking at, and found Scout walking toward us, a laptop clasped to her chest as she typed away on her phone .

Fuck. She looked so pretty.

I hadn't seen her properly since last season – because I wasn't counting the ice-skating fiasco from Christmas when she'd been with Rangers Douche and I also wasn't counting the week she flew down to spring training, when I mostly hid every time she was near, just in case she was still with Rangers Douche.

But I wasn't hiding now.

Even from thirty yards out the swell of her tits bouncing in the white tank top she was wearing woke my dick up. The Lions shirt thrown over the top did nothing to help either, because all I could think about was her wearing my Lions shirt.

She'd cut her hair since last month. Instead of the long blonde waves I always dreamed about wrapping around my fist, blunt ends stopped just above her collar bone and brushed along the sliver of golden skin peeking out between the material. No matter, I'd make it work. And I don't know how, but it made her cheeks seem even rounder and her lips more kissable than ever.

And they'd always looked really fucking kissable.

"Hey Scout." Crowed Tanner in a way that made my jaw clench, especially when his hand shot in the air with an overexaggerated mom-style wave. I'd have kicked him if it wouldn't have been obvious.

Her head shot up, her face immediately flushing pink as her gaze darted between us. "Oh hey, guys."

Her eyes stilled on me. I'd never seen a shade of blue like it, as though an artist had mixed the color of my favorite pair of Levi's with the glow in the sky right before night-time arrived, especially when they twinkled.

"Hey Parker. "

I held my breath as she passed us, just in case she decided to stop and talk, but instead she walked on by without another glance. Shit. Maybe I'd read this all wrong, and those posts were just… posts. An uncharacteristic bout of insecurity hit me, and my shoulders were on the verge of slumping when Tanner nudged me.

"Yeah, she's into you." he said, as we watched her walk off towards the Lions communications department.

"You think?"

"No doubt. She didn't her eyes off you. Go on, dude. Get it over with."

I rubbed my hands together. Okay. Yeah. I could do this.

I'd already waited too fucking long to talk to her, and over my dead body was Jupiter Reeves going to be proved right.

If I ran, I could hold the door open before she reached it.

"We're talking about Millie when I get home." I called behind me before I took off down the hallway after her.

Here goes nothing.

Parker and Scout's story is coming April 15, with all the fun and games you'd expect from the Casa Grayskull boys, and see Parker's possessive side come out. It's hot! Oh yeah, and there might be an ‘only one bed' moment…