Page 110 of Third Strike Smitten

“Everyone loves her,” Sutton corrects, a knowing smile on her face. “Including a certain pitcher I know.”

I roll my eyes but can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Seriously though,” Shepherd says, his tone sobering. “She’s really good for you, Kill. You’re different this season.”

I nod, turning back to the grill to hide the emotion I’m sure is written all over my face. “She is.”

“You gonna do something about it before the season ends?” Shepherd asks, watching me as I work the grill.

Do something about it?

What? Like put a ring on it?

Fuck, I haven’t really thought that far, nor do I think Isla is ready for anything like that.

“Guess we’ll see how things go,” I say, though the familiar knot of anxiety tightens in my stomach at the thought.

A burst of laughter from across the yard draws my attention. Sebastian and Brock are standing on the patio ledge, mocking me as Alaric plays a certain Backstreet Boys tune on his phone.

“Fuck me,” I mumble, biting back a smile as I grab a plate for the burgers. “You guys are never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Never,” Sebastian confirms with a grin. “My brother, the Backstreet Boys fan.”

“It’s Isla’s fault, you know,” I remind them. “She’s the one who picked the damn song in the first place.”

She feigns shock. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t begging me to choose it for you.”

The guys all laugh at my expense but Isla just tosses me a wink and then dances over to kiss me.

“Wait just a damn little minute, Coach,” I tell her, pretending to be mad. “You just threw me under the bus to my whole fucking team, and now you expect me to kiss you?”

Her grin is maddeningly cute as she nods her head and says, “Mm-hmm.”

I hand off the plate of burgers to Sutton who is watching in amusement and then in one swift move, I wrap an arm around Isla and dip her, my face mere centimeters from hers. “Well, if I must.”

I connect my lips to hers in a searing kiss that if the rest of the team weren’t sitting here watching, would have my cock standing tall and begging for attention.

She tastes like summer and promise, and for a moment the catcalls and wolf whistles from my teammates fade into background noise. When I finally pull back, her cheeks are flushed pink and her eyes have that soft, dazed look that just confirms how much I love her.

“That’s how you apologize,” I goad against her lips.

“Noted,” she breathes, her fingers still tangled in the collar of my shirt. “But I think I could do better than that.”

“Oh really? You need to kiss me again?”

She pulls the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth and shakes her head mischievously. “That’s not the better I had in mind.”

Fuck me.

A soft chuckle escapes my lips. “Babe, if you ask me to whip my cock out right here in front of everyone, don’t think I won’t do it. Everyone here has seen it before. Well…except for Sutton and Mack.”

“Well, I don’t share, Haynesy, so let’s keep my toy under wraps until we get home, huh?”

Fuuuck me again!

“Is that a promise?” I ask, wagging my brow.

Please say it’s a promise.