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A tiny throb tightened between her legs, a mini reminder of the orgasm he’d given her without even being in the room. She readjusted in her seat just as the truck jolted forward and they turned out onto the street. The stadium loomed in the rearview before Landon finally broke the silence with a wry chuckle and a shake of his head.
"What?” Katie asked.
He nodded at her slouched form. "I’m just not used to this level of enthusiasm. Can’t recall if anyone’s ever been physically embarrassed to be seen with me."
Katie sat up straighter. "You know that’s not what this is about. It’s my job."
"Oh yeah, you told me. You made that so clear to me that I could barely handle seeing you up there in the VIP box tonight."
He pulled up to a stoplight and swiveled his head to gauge her reaction. Katie prayed he couldn’t see the red flush creeping up her cheeks in the dimly lit truck. His eyes glittered into her for another long moment before he let her off the hook just as the light turned green and they lurched forward.
"So are you planning to tell me where you live or do I just take you back to my place?" he asked.
Directions, right. Directions were good. Directions were safe and ordered, so she gave them to him in more detail than necessary.
When they were cruising on the highway, Landon said, "So I didn’t see you at the game yesterday…"
"Oh yeah, I, uh, had the day off. I did watch from home. That was a nice double you hit. It made for a good rally."
Landon gave a little huff that indicated he wasn’t thrilled with how the game went. Katie understood. The Mavericks won in the end, but he hadn’t played great overall. He’d fumbled a grounder that, granted, had bounced wide, but was still a pretty standard grab for a player at this level. Every time the camera panned in his direction, she’d seen it eating away at him until finally, in the bottom of the seventh, he’d slammed all his frustration into Lance Ikita’s curve ball, his one and only hit of the game.
"And you got lucky number thirteen," she pointed out needlessly. "And fourteen today."
Landon only sniffed and tightened his grip on the wheel.
When the awkward silence hung too long, Katie blurted out, "Look it’s not really your fault, anybody could have missed that grounder."
"Bullshit! A fucking monkey wouldn’t have missed that."
"Look, if you weren’t so busy trying to piss off Kroll, you could’ve backed up Moreno a little more and probably picked up that base hit in the third instead of letting Palmer get on and score. Then that grounder wouldn’t have mattered. You’re too…emotional sometimes. And if you’d just trust your swing on those breaker balls, my god. You dip your chin just that little bit the second you know that’s what it’s going to be. You could have knockedat leastthree extra homers while you guys were on the road."
"Oh, well don’t sugarcoat it or anything, tell me what you really think."
"Oh come on, you know what I mean, that’s a compliment. Your swing is spot on most of the time. Luckily, Henderson can’t throw a breaker for shit. And Ikita—whooeee—he was having a really, really off night."
"Are you trying to make me feel better?" Landon asked.
Katie replayed everything she’d just said, her face scrunching up in a wince. "I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You certainly made up for all of that in tonight’s game. And obviously you know way more than me about how to play baseball."
"I’m not too sure about that actually, but don’t worry, I’ve already been read the riot act about the grounder."
"So Coach Gerber really laid into you, huh?"
"What? No, fuck Gerber Baby, I’m talking about my dad."
"Your dad? Is he a coach or something? I thought I read that he’s a lawyer."
"No, Dad’s never been my official coach, but he’s always been highly involved in mine and my brothers’ lives. Especially when it comes to sports."
"Still?" Katie asked. Landon had a career most pro players only dreamed of. Even a tiger parent must be satisfied at that point.
"Oh yeah, and since Luke quit basketball about the time I graduated high school, he shifted a good portion of his focus to me."
"Do you resent him for it?"
"I don’t know, sometimes," he admitted. "But who knows if I’d be where I am today without him. I need that focus. That direction."
"That’s good that you can do that," Katie said.
