“This thing…” I tapped the middle of my chest. “This thing inside me came to life, and he wanted you more than you could ever imagine.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” she muttered, shaking her head, but it was her eyes that gave her away. She knew because she’d felt it, too. She might not have noticed my existence until two months later, but she’d felt it as instantly as I had when she did.
“Love doesn’t make sense.” I closed the space between us. The metal baseball bat clanged against the concrete floor under our feet, but her gaze never wavered from mine.
“Love?” she repeated, and I nodded.
“I know that for you it’s fast. I’ve been in this for two months now, learning, watching you, falling fucking madly, deeply in love with you,” I rasped, “I don’t expect the words back, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know where I’m at.”
“This is crazy.” She shook her head. “You’ve been following me?” I nodded, not trusting my voice as I forced myself to stay where I was.
Sadie stared at me. Not like I was some kind of monster or with fear but with… confusion?
“Me?” She pointed at herself. “Why me? I’m just… I’m just me.”
“You’re everything,” I rasped, and she blinked. Her pretty mouth opened then shut before she swayed closer.
“I should run away from you.” Her eyes darted to the open doorway of the dugout.
She’d have to run past me, and we both knew there was no way she would be faster than me.
“You should.”
“Report you.”
“Agreed.” I swallowed. The thing inside of me was asking what the hell I was doing, goading on exactly what we didn’t want.
“What else did you do?” she blurted, not bothering to blink. “Was it just following me around like some creep?” This was where that promise I’d made her came back to bite me in the ass like I knew it would.
“No,” I answered honestly, and her expression changed. I hadn’t seen this one yet. She was always so damn easy to read, but fuck, in that moment, I couldn’t make it out at all.
“What did you do?” she asked calmly.Too calmly.The beast inside me stilled, looking at her, worried about what that unreadable expression could mean but not afraid of scaring her away for some damn reason.
“You really want to open that Pandora’s box, Sadie?” I took a step forward, done with the space between us. She took one back, and I matched it like a predator playing with its prey. “You really want to know exactly how fucking crazy you drove me?”
We kept moving deeper and deeper into the dugout. Her stepping back and me moving forward. “The idea of you overwhelming every single one of my senses?” Her back touched the wall, and she tilted her head up.
“Jason—" she whispered, her throat muscles working. My eyes dipped lower, and there was no denying her nipples were beaded up under that sweet little sundress she’d put on today.
“You want to know that truth?” I goaded her, challenging her.
“Yes. I want to know.” Her cute little chin pointing upward with a delicious stubbornness had the tip of my cock weeping.
“You want to know how I snuck into your place at night? Watched you sleep? Nightly? How I stole cute little panties from your hamper?”
“What? You did?—"
“How I got back to my room and put those hot pink, heaven-scented panties up to my face while I jerked off to the thought of you? Smelling your scent until it was all that was in my head?”
“What?” Her hand rose and pressed against the center of my chest. But she didn’t push me away. No, her little hand fisted the material of my hoodie.
“How I sat in the corner of your bedroom all summer long and watched you sleep? Fuck, you’re beautiful when you sleep, little bird.”
“Jason.” My name had never sounded sweeter as she licked her lips, leaving them glossy for me.
“You make the most adorable little sounds, baby.” The tips of my fingers grazed her face, and her breath hitched. “Cute little moans that made me wonder what kind of filthy, dirty dreams you were having. Made me wish I could be in them.” I leaned down.
“You… you did that?” She trembled in front of me, and like a bastard, I grinned, pressing my body closer to hers, pushing her flat against the wall at her back.
