Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (32 page)

            In the next moment I can completely confirm this
statement.

            As I hover on top of her, careful not to press my
body weight on her, she throws her head back to extend her neck, which I take
as an invitation to kiss her there. My lips peck at her skin, hoping for a
shiver to run down her spine. Seeing her like this is so new yet so familiar
from all the years of thinking about it.

             “Skyler Swanson,” she moans, a little out of breath.
Holy shit does she make my name sound good. “I want you to be mine.”

            I stop kissing her neck so I can look into her
moonlit eyes. Her blinds are open giving us the appropriate amount of light for
our mood. “I am yours,” I promise her. Then I grab her hips and pull them up
towards mine as my arousal presses onto her, only our shorts separating us.
That
’
s when I realize this is the first sexual encounter
beyond kissing that Buzz and I have ever shared. I half expect it to be weird -
we grew up together, after all. The fantasy could
’
ve been
better than the reality. But damn, it
’
s perfect with her.
It almost doesn
’
t feel real.

            When I pull away from her for a second, Buzz already
has her hand ready to go down the front of my pants. I want to tell her she
doesn
’
t have to do anything, that just knowing she
’
s mine is enough, but then her hand touches my bare skin under
my boxers, and my mind goes blank. Just the little teasing stroke she makes
with one finger along my length fucking excites me. I go in for a kiss and our
tongues simultaneously connect, and the abundance of contact we have with each
other
’
s bodies is invigorating. It
’
s
like we have been doing this together for years even though she
’
s
touching me there for just the first time ever.

            Before I know it Buzz pulls my shorts off, leaving me
only in my boxers. She has seen me in them numerous times; every time she
sleeps over that
’
s what I wear to bed. But this is so damn
different. I can see the passion in her eyes as they scale me up and down. Then
her shirt flies over her head, exposing her strapless bra that
’
s
cupping her breasts. She isn
’
t in a bikini top parading
her toned body down by the lake or outside at her pool; she
’
s
in a fucking bra for my eyes only. I lean down and brush my lips over each
breast before magnetizing our lips together again. Her breath deepens and
quickens, and it almost feels like we
’
re doing CPR on each
other as we exchange kisses. Every kiss brings me a new life.

            I drop my elbows to either side of her head as I
slither my fingers into her tangled hair and gently graze my thumb over her
scar before kissing it. Pulling my lips back allows us to both catch our breath
and for me to get on her thought wavelength. I know she
’
s
daring, but sex isn
’
t something to be taken lightly. I don
’
t know her sexual expectations with this. It kind of feels like
she wants to go all in, but I don
’
t want to risk fucking
us up that quickly by moving too fast. Sex has the power to do that,
unfortunately.

             “How
’
s your head feelin
’
?” I ask her. I seriously hope she
’
s still
okay and we can continue making out because I
’
m so
severely turned on. If she isn
’
t a hundred percent, though
I
’
ll stop immediately and suck up having blue balls. I
love her enough to make any sacrifice necessary.

            She has grown to love when I massage her head, so I
give her a little one while I wait for her answer. “Besides a million things
running through it, it
’
s fine,
” she
tells me, closing her eyes to absorb my touch on her head.

             “Care to share any of those things?” I wonder. She
seems a little timid, like maybe she
’
s thinking this can
go further but I won
’
t be up for it. I just won
’
t let it go too far.

             “I want you,” she demands, opening her eyes and then
biting on her bottom lip to hold back from smiling. The longer I watch her wait
for my reaction, the more
I
fucking want
her
.

             “How do you want me?” I tease, trying my absolute
fucking hardest to keep a straight face. Her playful and not-so-innocent
expression is killing me, but I can
’
t get enough. Seeing
her this happy is the best fucking thing in the world after seeing her sulking
around since the school year started.

             “I want you as a batter,” she tells me.

             “A batter as in baseball?” I wonder. When she nods
with those big eyes and enduring bit lip, man, I have all I can do to keep from
screaming in pure joy. This girl is so fucking perfect; she wants to play
baseball in bed with me? I seriously hope this isn
’
t a
dream that I will wake up from and need an ice cold shower to come back down.

             “Okay, are you my coach?” I hope. I want to follow
her lead but only if she doesn
’
t aim for the long ball
right away. I know her: go big or go home. But there
’
s
more to baseball than home runs, and there
’
s more to love
than sex.

             “Yeah. Damn I wish you had your baseball pants here,”
she giggles.
Just play by her rules, and this will be fucking amazing.

             “Okay, Coach, I
’
m in the batter
’
s box. What should I do?” I play along. She looks down at her
shorts still resting on her hips and then up at me, so I take this as a cue to
take them off for her. I slide my hands along the insides of her legs and watch
her eyes light up in the darkness, like the field during a night game. The
athletic shorts slide off easily, and since she rolled my shirt over my head
earlier, we
’
re both left in our underwear.

            And her underwear match her green homecoming dress
perfectly, which I
’
m sure is why she chose to wear them
tonight. To make them even better, they say, “Oh what fun!” on the front.

            Fuck me.

            I trace the letters with my finger, awaiting her next
direction as my coach.

             “What
’
s next, sweetheart?” I
tease when she remains silent. Looking up at her, I realize she
’
s
at a loss of breath from watching and feeling my finger tease her. We aren
’
t going to get very far if neither one of us can breathe around
the other one.

             “Well, you already hit a single tonight, so try for
a double,” she smirks, perking her chest up towards me as a hint in case I don
’
t get her reference.

            I fucking got it.

            As she arches her back, I reach my hand around and
unclasp her bra, letting it slide down her until she throws it across the room
opposite from her door. The poor things must
’
ve been
suctioned in there because she lets out a deep breath when it
’
s
finally gone. I wait a moment, giving her a chance to stop this advancement if
she desires. For the first time she is topless in front of me, and it feels
surreal to see one of my lifelong best friends like this - almost completely
naked. I
’
ve thought about this moment so many fucking
times in the past few years, but nothing compares to being in the actual
moment.

            Apparently she wants to just rip the bandaid off and
continue in our baseball game. I
’
m impressed and even a
little jealous of her confidence. The slightest movement has so much certainty
in it, like when she pulls me down by my neck to kiss her and forces one of my
hands to cover one of her breasts.

            I play with her breasts beneath me as our lips and
tongues lock, and she lets out a slight moan that I almost can
’
t
handle hearing without wanting to fuck her immediately. It
’
s
the luxurious sound of pleasure, and it
’
s suddenly my new
favorite thing. All I want to hear is her fucking moan again. When I remove my
lips from hers so I can caress her neck and chest, she lets out a deep breath
like she
’
s really struggling to keep herself together.
Then I go in for the true double; I lick one nipple while massaging the other
breast and once she lets out another moan I switch and do the same to the other
one. I continue kissing her in a line down her stomach, my lips memorizing her
skin of perfection.

            This definitely doesn
’
t feel
like we just sealed a relationship beyond friendship a few hours ago. I guess
that
’
s what happens when you
’
re best
friends for so long while having crushes on each other.

            I
’
m almost to her bellybutton
when she gasps, “What are you doing?” It isn
’
t in a
panicked tone; it
’
s more of a giggly I-caught-you
inflection.

             “I
’
m stealing third,” I tease
as I slide her underwear off and go down on her. It sounds like it
’
s a new experience for her by the way she
’
s
grasping onto the sheets beside me like her life depends on them. I only lick
her for a minute before stopping to climb over her again. “Sorry, coach. I
’
ll try to read the signs better next time,” I quietly apologize
with a peck on her forehead. I
’
m okay with being done; I
don
’
t want to make her uncomfortable, and fuck, this is
the most entertaining baseball game in my career.

             “Hey,” she abruptly says, placing a hand on my bare
shoulder. “You
’
re a good base runner. I trust you. You
were safe at third.”

             “God, I love when you talk baseball to me,” I blurt
out as I look into her eyes and continue to survey her entirely naked body.
Fuck does she have an absolutely killer body and insane confidence. I don
’
t know why I
’
m surprised; she
’
s been an athlete her entire life. But it isn
’
t
just an athletic body- she
’
s curvy in all the right ways
and fucking sexy. Finally she
’
s mine, and she knows it.

             “Good. Because I
’
m going to
need you to score on this next play,” she propositions me.

31 Bianca Ferrari

Holy shit. I never in a million years expected to be fooling
around with Skyler Swanson in my bedroom. Or at all, really. When he isn
’
t looking I pinch myself a few times to make sure it
’
s real and I
’
m not dreaming. The last time
I really dig my fingernails into my arm, and it feels like a giant needle is
piercing into me, so I finally accept that this is my reality. My childhood
crush is definitely on top of me in only his plaid boxers, and I
’
m
pretty sure he
’
s sweating from having just gone down on me.
He
’
s definitely not only completely seen my boobs, but he
’
s fucking licked them. My God, if I
’
ve
died, please tell me this is my heaven for eternity.

            Forget my theory on baseball hats and boys. These abs
and the look in Skyler
’
s eyes are two of the sexiest
things I
’
ve ever seen and instantly double his ranking to
twenty on a ten point scale. I
’
m a goner.

             “God, I love when you talk baseball to me,” Skyler
sighs while looking into my eyes, but then he drops his, and I
’
m
pretty sure he
’
s noticing how perfectly we fit and look
together. He also sees my completely naked body for the first time. Somehow it
appears as though we line up flawlessly, even though I know he
’
s
at least a half of a foot taller than me. I watch as his abs tighten and expand
with each breath, and a daring nerve in my body tells my hand to reach for
them.
These abs are yours now.

             “Good. Because I
’
m going to
need you to score on this next play,” I command, and his head snaps back up to
see if I
’
m serious.

             “
Buzz, no,
” he tells me, rubbing
the inside of one of my legs with his palm.
With you rubbing my leg like
that, uh yes.

             “I
’
m sorry. Are you talking
back to your coach?” I fake gasp, smiling the whole time. I
’
m
propositioning my dream guy for sex via baseball lingo; how can I not smile at
this?

             “B…” he tries to get me to be serious again. But it
isn
’
t going to work.

             “We need this run,” I say.

             “Why do we
need
this
run?” he questions me, his brown eyes growing darker as he squints at me. His
broody self wants this as bad as I do.

             “Because it
’
s the bottom of the
seventh, two outs, conference finals, and we
’
re tied. It
can go into extra innings, but it
’
s also ninety degrees
outside. We
’
re fucking tired, and I
’
m
not sure I can hold them another inning,” I explain. Then I break my role as
his coach and girlishly admit, “Plus you smell how I imagine Luke Bryan would
smell in bed, and it
’
s fucking amazing.”

             “Fuck, B,” Skyler moans as he drops his head again.

             “Yes. That
’
s exactly what I
want you to do,” I grin, pressing my index finger to the bottom of his chin to
pull his head back up towards me. I lean up for a kiss and he comes the rest of
the way to meet me.

            When he releases his lips, he sighs in complete
disgust. “I
’
m not risking this by moving this fast. We
’
ve gone far enough; besides, I don
’
t have
protection with me,” he mumbles, and I see one of his hands turn into a fist.

             “I have some in the drawer of my nightstand,” I say
without even thinking first.
Oh my God. Fuck. Mood ruined.

            Skyler flinches back and completely climbs off of me
but still resides on my bed. I have never seen him switch moods so fast. He
goes from sexually turned on to sexually frustrated to so pissed in a matter of
five seconds.

             “Sky-” I try, reaching out for him but only feeling
air. There
’
s so much space between us now, and it really
makes my skin itch. We were about to really physically and emotionally connect
and a second later we couldn
’
t be further apart.

             “Why the fuck do you have condoms in here?” he
quietly demands to know. It
’s a fair question, but I’
m
certain the moment and the rest of our night are already over, and the reason
why I have condoms is only going to seal it shut. He
’
s so
calm that it scares me. I
’
d be less scared if he was
screaming and fuming in anger.

             “Relax. I
’
m still
a virgin,
” I confess, and then I realize how amateur I sound.

             “Then why the fuck do you have them?” he asks again,
his horrified face not matching his serene tone.

             “Chase-” I begin explaining, but I know the moment I
say his name Sky is going to leave.

             “Oh my fucking God,” he cries out and then glances
at the door after realizing his voice is loud for 2:00 a.m. Or he
’
s
about to make a getaway; I can
’
t figure out which.

             “Skyler,” I sit up, trying to shove the covers off
of me so I can be closer to him. If he would just let me explain, he won
’
t be so mad about it. Okay, that
’
s not
true. But I don
’
t think it should matter; it
’
s
not like I used any with Chase. He just thought it would be funny to leave some
in there, and okay, he probably intended on using some, but it never got that
far thankfully.

            As I move closer to him, Skyler stands up and grabs
his shorts from my bed, stepping in them on his way to the door of my walk-in
closet. I attempt to stand up but immediately feel dizzy from having been lying
down for so long. I
’
m naked and dizzy, such an awkward
combo.

             “Sky!” I shriek, reaching my arms behind me to try
to grab onto my bed. I can
’
t see him, but I can feel his
hands on my shoulders. I
’
m grateful that he can
distinguish between the two times in a row I yelled his name, that one I just
wanted him back and the other I needed him.

             “You
’
re okay,” he promises me,
gently massaging my shoulders. My eyes adjust after I sit back down, and I see
the distraught look upon Skyler
’
s face. He
’
s
torn between being upset with me for having Chase
’
s
condoms in my bedroom and being concerned about me and my health.

             “You can go if you want,” I tell him, shrugging in
defeat. My first time having sex was about to be epic, and somehow Chase
fucking Morgan managed to ruin it. Okay, I am to blame, too.

            Skyler kneels between my legs, hands resting on my
thighs and vows, “I
’
m not leaving. I just… I fucking need
a minute.”

            Nodding, I let him go into my closet, so if someone
comes upstairs our cover won
’
t be totally blown. I find
his t-shirt and slide it over my head. There
’
s two reasons
for doing so: 1. it forces Skyler to stay in my bedroom because if he leaves in
just his shorts he will either be arrested by the police or killed by my
brother and 2. I love wearing his clothes.

            Under my closet door remains dark as Skyler goes
inside, and for a few minutes I wonder what he
’
s doing in
there. When he isn
’
t coming back out right away, I find a
sticky notepad on my desk and write “I
’
m sorry” and lay it
on the sheets next to me on the unoccupied side of the bed. Facing the window
on the other side, I close my eyes and pull up on the covers. I don
’
t intend on falling asleep, but I guess it happened anyways.

            I have no idea how long Skyler sat in my closet
imagining me and Chase together, but eventually I feel my bed shake and his
warm breath on the back of my neck. His arm wraps around my waist, and I
instantly awaken from the sound of my own heart echoing throughout my quiet
house.
He didn
’t leave.

             “Are you okay?” he asks me before kissing the side
of my neck.

             “Yeah,” I mumble. “Are you?”

             “Yeah,” he copies me.

             “Are you sure? Cuz you just locked yourself in my
closet for an extended period of time,” I chuckle, nudging him with my elbow.

             “I know,” he acknowledges, taking a long, guilty
breath. I don
’
t think he
’
s going to
tell me what he
’
s been thinking in all that darkness.

             “Well as long as you know,” I sarcastically banter,
pushing my face back into my pillow
’
s crevice.

            Skyler
’
s hand slithers from my
stomach to my hip, but it
’
s more out of frustration than
anything romantic at all. But it doesn
’
t matter. I love
how his hands feel on my body. “B, please don
’
t be mad… or
sorry,” he pleads, crinkling my note in his hand. It
’
s
easier to be upset when I
’
m not looking at him, but it
also gave me perspective to lie in bed alone while he sat in my closet with all
of my stuffed animals and shoes.

            All I could think about was
is he even a virgin?

             “I
’
m not mad,” I tell him. “But
my head
is
spinning.”

             “What? Why?” Skyler asks in a slight panic. He
climbs over me to examine my eyes and my head. “You said you were okay.”

             “Sorry. Poor choice of words,” I admit, swatting his
hands away from me. He looks so relieved, and I feel bad for toying with his
emotions, even if it wasn
’
t on purpose. “But you got mad
at me even though I
’
m still
… in tact.
I don
’
t even know what
’
s going on
with you, and I don
’
t know if it
’
s
fair of me to ask, but I
’
m curious!” I ramble, taking a
few deep breaths at the end to compose myself.

             “What do you want to know? You can ask me anything,
B,” he assures me.

            I put my hand up like a visor on my forehead so I can
still breathe but I don
’
t have to look at him when I ask
him this. This one is probably the worst embarrassment I could ever imagine:
asking my crush if he
’
s had sex with someone else. I
’
m not even sure if I really want to know anymore.

             “Haveyouhadsexbefore?” I slur everything together
very quickly and close my eyes.

            I wait.

            And wait.

            I hear him breathing, but he
’
s
not answering me.

            When I briefly lift my shield, I see his remorseful
eyes, guilt suffocating him to silence. Shit. He must
’
ve
fucked Makenna. Or someone else. Ugh, it doesn
’
t matter
who; he
’
s already been with someone else.

           
If I can
’
t be
his first, hopefully I
’
ll at least be his
last? Ugh, who am I kidding?

             “Sweetheart,” he finally acknowledges me, grabbing
my hand to move it away from my face so he can caress my head. He
’
s
going to let me down gently, and I appreciate that. I
’
m
still curious even though I
’
ve accepted that he
’
s lost his virginity to someone else.

             “It
’
s fine; I was just curious,”
I tell him. I smile at him so he knows it
’
s okay, that
this won
’
t turn into me leaving him for a little while to
wonder what the fuck I
’
m doing in my closet.

             “B… you know how McCallum is always telling you to
wait for your pitch?” Skyler begins to drift into story time. Or maybe he
’
s just getting back into baseball mode from before. I nod at
him although I
’
m unsure as to where this is going. “And
you know how I always wait for my pitch? Like sometimes I wait until I
’
ve seen two strikes to even think about swinging?”

             “Is there a point to this? Cuz I
’
m
getting more confused by the second,” I innocently grin at him.

             “There is…” he sighs. That
’
s
when I realize all of this hesitancy from him isn
’
t a game
or frustration. It
’
s nerves. “You
’
re
my curveball.”

            I squint at him. That didn
’
t
help my confusion at all. “
Your curveball?
”
I
question.

             “You
’
re my pitch… I waited for
you,” he confesses, and I feel my stomach flip upside down a bunch of times
while my heart simultaneously flutters.

             “Oh,” I gasp. “But I thought with Makenna…”