The Shortstop, page 5
“I love you, Quint,” she says softly.
She raises her hips for me, knowing that I’m almost there. Thrust after thrust, I feel like I’m running a marathon. The buildup in my balls becomes unbearable until I finally explode inside her. She focuses on my face and slips her thumb into my mouth as I pant from my exertions.
“Fuck, that was good,” I manage to say between my gasps for breath. A slow smile spreads across her face before she laughs.
“What’s so funny?’
“You. There is only one other time you make that face.”
“I make a face?”
“Yeah, right before you swing your bat.” When I smirk, she adds, “Your baseball bat, dopey.”
“I do?”
“Yep. The sight of you at bat causes me to squirm. It’s the same face you make when you come.”
“Now that I know that, I’m going to be distracted at the plate.” I pull out and lie beside her. With my head propped on my hand, I stare down at her as she smiles lazily. “Are you okay? Do you feel sick? You drank a lot tonight.”
“I’m great,” she says with a giggle. “I feel amazing.”
“That was pretty amazing. I can’t get enough of you. It’s sick.”
“We can do that once a day for the rest of our lives.”
“Once? I’m going to need it more than once a day.”
She holds her left hand out to admire her ring. “I can’t believe we’re official. I’ve always wondered how it would feel when we finally got engaged and even more so when we get married.”
“And? How does it feel?”
She smirks before saying, “Besides the obvious feelings you just gifted me with, I feel like I have a blinking sign over my head that tells the world I’m yours. I know I was always yours, but having it become official is so damn sexy.”
“Everything about us is so damn sexy.” I trace her features with my fingertips. I know her so well. If I were blindfolded, I could pick her out of a lineup by using my touch. “I love you, completely.”
“I love you the same way.” She leans closer to kiss me tenderly. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Quint Lawson.”
“We can get married tomorrow. Then you wouldn’t have to wait.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Our parents would kill us. How did you convince them this was good timing?”
“I said it was happening. They could give us their blessing or not. Either way, I wanted you to know that starting my career in two weeks wouldn’t be as meaningful if I hadn’t committed to you in every way. We always say we are a team. I wanted to prove it.” I lift her left hand and place a kiss on her ring. “I was so nervous. When you asked me earlier what was wrong, it took everything I had not to confide in you. I have no secrets from you. This one was killing me.”
“Did you think I would say no?” she asks incredulously.
“No. I just wanted it to be perfect. All I want is to make you happy, Annie.”
Her smile changes into something more meaningful, more intimate. Her blue eyes become glassy as her emotions swell. She caresses my check, and I lean into her touch. “You make me very happy, Quint.”
“Good. That’s all I want…always.”
“Quint?”
“Yes, babe?”
“I’m sleepy.” She cuddles up to my side, places her head on my chest, and drifts off to sleep…but not before mumbling she loves me.
This perfect girl is mine, in every way. She’s been my first all around—my first kiss, my first girlfriend, and my first lover. It’s always been just her, my one and only.
Soon she’ll be the only Mrs. Quint Lawson.
We’re getting a much later start than we wanted to. Neither of us wanted to leave that big, comfy bed this morning. The entire night was spent napping and fucking. I should be exhausted right now, but I’m not. We’ll be heading back to school tonight. Wanting to visit one of the other parks before we do, we’re now rushing to get ready to start the day. To be honest, now that I proposed and she accepted, I wouldn’t care if we lay in bed all day to continue last night’s activities. The novelty of being here in Disney wore off, and the novelty of being her fiancé is too overwhelming.
As I’m shaving, Annie walks in holding a piece of paper, wearing a frown and nothing else.
“Babe, you can’t walk in here naked when I’m scraping a razor blade across my jugular.”
As if she forgot she was naked, she looks down at herself and blushes. “Oh. Um, I need to take a shower,” she says distractedly. Holding out the note so I can read it, she adds, “Daphne’s gone.”
Getting antsy. Went to explore. I’ll be back before we leave.
“So?”
“She left without us. I’m surprised she didn’t wake us up.”
“Maybe this whole Billy thing is messing with her more than she’ll admit.”
Annie looks at my reflection, contemplating my words. “You think she’s having second thoughts?” The optimism in her voice is hard to ignore. “You think she wants him back?”
“Babe, don’t start.”
“What? I merely asked a question,” she quips, folding her arms as she does. My eyes focus on her breasts, and she sighs. “Quint!”
“Sorry.” I’m the first to break eye contact. Resuming my shave, I shake my head. “You have that meddling look, and you need to stay out of it.”
I can feel her eyes on me, and when I chance a look, she’s staring at me with narrowed eyes. “I have no such look. I’m just worried about her. She’s my best friend.”
“I’m your best friend.”
“Quint. Stop being a jerk.”
“Yes, dear.”
“That is not funny, Mr. Lawson.” When I chuckle at her expense, she smacks my ass. “I just merely asked if you thought she would change her mind.” She turns on the shower, waiting for me to agree, which I won’t. Saying that Daphne may be having second thoughts would encourage Annie to pick up just where she left off in regards to meddling in their relationship. I quickly glance her way while pretending to be concentrating on the last of my shave. “I know what you’re doing. You’re avoiding my question.”
“No. I’m just trying not to kill myself while you stand there all pissed off and naked. You’re distracting me.”
“Okay, I’ll just ask her in the car on our way home.” She turns on her heel and enters the shower. Damn it. The ride home will be worse than the one to get here if all they talk about is Billy.
I remove my briefs and follow right behind her. She yelps when I gift her ass with a good smack of my own. “If you turn our four-hour ride into a talk show over the status of their relationship, I’ll pull over and force you both to walk home.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A promise.”
“I could get picked up by a psychopath, and he could kill me and dump me on the side of the road,” she challenges. “Besides, you wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt me.”
“You know me well. But…” I walk her backward into the stream of the shower, pulling her into my arms and hardening as she rubs against me provocatively. “I wouldn’t hesitate to make her walk home, best friend or not. As for you, I can think of other ways to punish you.” Before she can respond, I kiss her, lift her, and sink into her, effectively ending our argument.
Chapter Six
Annie
“Did you have fun today, baby?” Quint asks as he shoves his clothes into his small suitcase.
“Wait, Q, everything will wrinkle.” A blank look crosses over his features, making me laugh. “Never mind.” I take the crumpled button-down shirt from his hands and circle his waist with my arms. “I had a great day. Thank you for a magical vacation, the best proposal ever staged, my gorgeous ring, making me so happy…” Leaning up, I place a long, hard kiss on his lips. He frowns when I pull away. “But mostly, thank you for loving me.”
A breathtaking smile spreads across his face. “Thank you for saying yes,” he says before bending to kiss me this time, using everything he’s got.
Daphne walks in, groaning at what she sees. “Ugh, do you two ever stop?” Looking exhausted, she sits heavily on the bed as we resume packing our bags.
“You look wiped out, Daph. What did you do today?”
“Nothing. I went down to the pool and relaxed with a book. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Quint’s eyes fix on mine, and he throws me a seductive wink. We were very loud last night, all night. I quickly turn toward the bathroom to hide my blush. My disappearance doesn’t stop her from continuing. “You weren’t exactly quiet when you got in last night,” she calls out to ensure I heard her.
“Um…sorry if we woke you up when we came in.”
“You woke me up and kept me up. Jeez, all night?” Quint smirks arrogantly, and Daphne shakes her head. “After you loudly announced you wanted to show me your ring, I was dying to know details. But you slammed that door and got down to business pretty quickly.”
“We were celebrating,” he says with a grin.
“Is that what you call it?”
“No, I also call it getting some good fu…”
“Shut up,” she interrupts him with an exaggerated eye-roll. “Well, having heard more than I needed to last night, I thought it would be best to separate today. Actually, I had two motives for disappearing. First, I needed to spare myself from your lovefest, but mostly because I wanted to give you privacy. I feel guilty that I infringed on your romantic weekend. I’m a great friend, right?” She’s clearly looking for validation of her good deed.
“Yes, you are. We did miss you, though.”
“We did?” Quint mumbles under his breath. When he sees my face, he quickly adds, “What? I’m kidding.”
“It’s a good thing I have thick skin, Mr. Lawson. Of course, if I had known you were proposing this weekend, I wouldn’t have come,” she responds with a boatload of attitude.
“You expected me to tell the biggest mouth at FSU a secret like that? No way in hell was I giving you that information.”
“Did you tell Billy?” she quips, folding her arms defensively.
Quint stops shoving his clothes into his bag to stare at Daphne impassively. “Yes, but Billy doesn’t have a gigantic mouth. If I tell him not to tell anyone, he doesn’t. You, on the other hand, can’t keep information to yourself if your life depended on it. Should I list all the times you’ve spoiled my surprises? Let’s see, there was the time when I got her tickets to go see Devil’s Lair. Oh, and let’s not forget when you…”
“You can stop talking now.”
He laughs and says, “I love being right.” Quint zips up his bag and gives me a quick kiss. “I’m going to go check us out and bring the car around. Meet me downstairs.”
“Okay.”
Once he leaves, Daphne holds out her hand. “Let’s see.”
I place mine in hers, and she tilts it side to side to inspect my ring. “Not bad. I didn’t know the jock had it in him.”
“He can be very romantic.” I defend Quint’s chivalry.
“Did he hide it in a package of sunflower seeds?”
“Funny.”
“I’m kidding. Are you ready to start the next chapter?”
“Yes and no. I had such a nice little vacation with him. I’m sad it’s over. I’m also nervous.”
“What are you nervous about?”
I shrug indifferently. I’m not ready to voice my concerns to Daphne, especially since Quint hasn’t a clue that I’m nervous. “I don’t know. I guess just getting settled in a new state, starting up again in the fall at a new college.”
“You have the whole summer ahead of you. While your hubby-to-be sweats his ass off on a baseball field, you and I will be beach bound. We deserve to relax. I plan on getting a killer tan this summer.”
“Aren’t you going to get a job? How are you going to afford to be a beach bum for two months? I’ll be searching for a job, maybe something part-time so that I can attend as many of Quint’s games as possible. I’ll quit once school starts.”
“Ugh, boring. You really want to go through more schooling?”
“It’s kind of necessary for my field, Daph. I need my master’s degree.”
“I’ve told you before to ditch the teaching thing. Do something more exciting.”
Her lack of responsibility is exhausting. “And what would that be, pole dancing?”
“Quint would never allow that. Besides, you’re not coordinated enough,” she responds as if becoming a stripper is actually an option. “I’ve told you before. Do something more flexible, like writing a book or freelance for a newspaper. You love writing.”
“I’m not sure I’m good enough to make it a career.”
“Cut the shit. I’ve read your stuff, and it’s very good.” She stands after I zip up my suitcase. “School is overrated. If I could land a job on the local news without a degree, I would. I worked my ass off these four years, and most of the shit I learned I’d never use in my lifetime. I deserve a little R&R before jumping into the workforce. It’s going to take a while to get my audition demos ready. I’ll need a killer tan to look superhot. I’m just proactive in my job search.”
“Brilliant argument,” I say as I lead her toward the door. We stand side by side, sweeping the suite one last time to be sure we didn’t forget anything. “Ready?”
“To drive back to my pathetic life? Yep.”
“Your life isn’t pathetic.”
“Um, okay, Miss Newly-Engaged-to-the-Love-of-Her-Life.” Out in the hall, she says, “Which leads me to the heavy-duty thinking I did today.” A few hotel guests are waiting for the elevator with their small children, stopping her from continuing. I’m left wondering what she’s been thinking. I have a feeling I know. She might have avoided the conversation of Billy the entire time we’ve been here, but she can’t fool me. He’s definitely been on her mind.
I wait expectantly while the elevator descends floor by floor. Once we exit into the lobby, I say, “Spill it. What were you thinking about?”
“I miss him.”
“I figured, but I’m surprised you’re admitting it. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I really like him a whole lot. It’s okay to really, really like someone, right? People are always falling in ‘like,’ right?” She emphasizes the word like with air quotes.
“Daph, he deserves someone to love him back, not merely like him a ‘whole lot.’” I mimic her air quotes gesture.
“I know.” The look of defeat is hard to ignore. As if she needs to further explain herself, she adds, “I do care about him. I love spending time with him. When we aren’t fighting, it’s good…real good. I can live with that. Maybe, he can too?”
Through the lobby doors, I spot Quint waiting for us in the car. The minute he sees us, he comes out to help us with the bags.
“You guys all ready to go? I figured we’d grab something to eat halfway home.” He slams the trunk shut and turns to Daphne. “Did you pee? We are not stopping for a few hours.”
“I’m not five.”
“Yet, why do I think you’ll be asking to stop to pee?”
“Listen up you two, there will be no fighting in this car. I’m in a great mood and you guys aren’t going to ruin it.”
Lucky for them, they both agree before we set out. I’m not sure Daphne wants to talk about Billy, so I wait for her to bring it up. Five minutes into the ride, she does.
“Do you think he’ll speak to me?” she asks quietly from the back seat.
I shift in my seat to look at her face. Quint looks confused but keeps his mouth shut. “Sweetie, he’s not vindictive. If you tell him you want to talk, I’m sure he’ll agree.”
“I’ll text him. I hate the suspense of not knowing. It’ll drive me nuts wondering, and then I may drive you two nuts because of it.”
“Great,” Quint mumbles out loud. “I hope you’re wearing good walking shoes.”
“Ha-ha.”
“Annie Weber!”
One very distinct, high-pitched whistle pierces through the applause.
Quint.
I can pick his whistling out anywhere. A faraway “Way to go Annie!” follows, with yet another shrill whistle. My face breaks out into a huge grin. Once I step up onto the platform, I quickly look out at our graduating class. Sure enough, there’s my man standing proud and applauding like a madman. I’m the last of us to receive our diploma. He cheered for Daphne and Billy as well, but the noise he’s making for me is off the charts.
This moment is very surreal. We did it…and like every other major event in our lives, we did it side by side.
“That’s my girl!” he screams so obnoxiously loud, the audience breaks into laughter. My cheeks flush from embarrassment, but I can’t even be upset with him.
I felt the same gushing pride when he received his diploma a little while ago. I was bursting with it when he crossed the stage looking so handsome in his cap and gown. Every female’s set of eyes, both young and old, watched his every move. Some stared at me in judgment, as they have since we arrived freshman year…as they have our whole lives.
It’s not hard to read their thoughts. I’ve had to endure a shitload of cattiness when it came to some random skank trying to steal my guy. The fact that I made it through without causing anyone physical harm is nothing short of a miracle. It doesn’t matter because soon I’ll have to fight off his fans. It’s a reality I have to accept if I want to be in his life. Forget his successful baseball career, his charm, or even his looks; Quint is simply the whole package and people flock toward him wherever we go.
As I now take that same walk across the stage, the past four years flip through my thoughts in superfast motion. A flood of memories and visuals only confirms how damn fast these four years have gone. The first day of classes comes to the forefront of my mind. If I hadn’t had Quint with me, it would have been a very different experience. Having him beside me made me more relaxed, less stressed. He’s always been my sounding board, my crutch.
He sits on the aisle, and as I walk past his row back to my seat, he scoots out to plant a quick kiss on my lips. Our fellow graduates all laugh and hoot, embarrassing me further. He is simply too much.
