Ballers with Benefits (Double Play Series Book 3)

by Nicole Rodrigues

  “Alright, here we go,” Matty says.

  He grabs the tattoo gun, maneuvering around for other things and finally the needle hits Damon’s skin. He doesn’t even wince as I watch the needle bounce off his ribs, the sound mesmerizing. I see a trickle of blood and Matty uses a cloth to wipe it away.

  It takes two hours, but I swear it was only five minutes. I am in awe of that small needle and how it can create that incredible masterpiece.

  Matty wipes Damon’s side, putting some clear lotion on it and wrapping it with a clear wrap before taping the sides to his skin.

  “You know the drill, right?” he asks Damon.

  Damon shakes his head and then looks over to me.

  “Last chance to back out angel.”

  “Nope, I’m ready. I want it on my forearm. I wanna be able to see if everytime I bat.”

  I sit down in the chair and put my left arm up on the arm rest. Matty repeats the same steps as he did with Damon and I absolutely love the small butterfly with beautiful shades of purple and blue. I take a big breath when the needle hits my arm.

  “Fuck,” I say loudly.

  Matty stops and eyes me.

  “You okay to keep goin’?” he asks.

  “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t think it would hurt that much. I’m okay now, sorry.”

  He presses the needle to my arm again and I feel like my skin is on fire. It’s an annoying feeling, the needle bouncing off the bone of my forearm, but I hold still and try to think of something else to distract me. As if he could read my mind, Damon grabs my hand and squeezes it, kissing my cheek.

  “How about Nico and Lacey, huh?” he laughs.

  “My God, those two. Is your brother usually like that, I know Lacey is,” I laugh.

  “Truthfully, yeah, but he would normally be done with them by now. I don’t think he’s ever gone back to the same woman twice.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Lacey must be...I don’t know...different. Nico is a great guy though. He may be nuts but he won’t hurt her.”

  “Well then I feel bad for him because he better not get his hopes up. Guys don’t last long with her. She’s had...she got burnt, bad. I hate to say it but she’ll probably be done with him by the end of the week, although I don't know. She doesn't ever spend the night and she did. Maybe she’s changin’.”

  “Well I guess I have to prepare for a phone call and a very drunken night out babysitting him while he licks his wounds just in case.”

  The needle hits a sensitive spot and I flinch, gritting my teeth.

  “Just focus on me, it looks great,” Damon’s voice soothes.

  “How do you have so many of these, they hurt like hell,” I grit out.

  “You'll see. Once the pain wears off you'll get the itch to do it again. Then I'll take you to LA to meet Luke. Not many people can say they've been tattooed by the best artist in the country.” He looks up at Matty and winces. “You're good too Matty.”

  “No offense taken man. It's on my bucket list to get one done by him.”

  Damon laughs and it relaxes me until the needle hits another sensitive spot and I flinch, cursing under my breath.

  “So, how'd you get started playin’ ball?” he asks.

  “I uh...my mama played. Was goin’ to LSU to play. Of course I wanted to be just like her and she threw with me, taught me to hit, taught me everything, made me fall in love with it. She was amazin’ at it, still is. Dev and I would hit around and throw in our grandparent’s backyard on the weekends and she'd come back there and rip us up,” I laugh.

  Damon laughs too, putting his hand on my thigh effectively making me forget I have a needle bouncing off my arm.

  “One time, I think it was our freshman year, Dev was practicin’ his changeup. He couldn't get one pitch past her. I swear I never seen that boy so mad in my life. Throwin’ his hat down on the ground, kickin’ the dirt. ‘Mama, can't you just let one go?’. Then she would say, ‘Baby, how ya gonna learn if I just let you get away with a hangin’ change like that?’. Never did let us win, we always had to earn it.”

  “Only way to do it,” Damon says. “Look Bells, almost there.”

  I glance down and see the butterfly starting to take shape. It hurts like nothing I've ever felt before but at the same time, I feel like a big weight I’ve been walking around holding, is slowly starting to slip away. It started to diminish the night I let Damon in my bed, and every day since, it’s become lighter and lighter.

  “This is crazy, as if the calendar wasn’t enough, my father is gonna kill me.”

  “I don’t think I was ever the ‘take me home to mama’ type, but definitely not after this,” Damon laughs.

  I know he didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but reality gives me a nice smack across my face. This isn’t forever Bella, this tattoo may be, but eventually Damon will no longer be in your life. You’re having fun, learning to live a life you want, but he isn’t going to be there when you find what you’re looking for, he’ll be long gone by then.

  “Right, yeah. My mama is a little skeptical about you as it is. I won’t spill that you’re the one that took me.”

  We sit in silence for the next couple of minutes as Matty finishes up. He rubs the lotion on my forearm and I look down smiling.

  “This looks incredible, thank you.”

  He nods and wraps the plastic wrap around it, taping my wrist and the top of my arm by my elbow.

  “Can I count on you to give her the home care spiel?” Matty asks Damon.

  Damon nods and we walk towards the front of the shop.

  I reach into my purse for my wallet but Damon’s hand stops me.

  “I got it angel, you know the deal. When you’re out with me, forget you even have a wallet.”

  “Thank you Damon, you really don’t have to.”

  He nods, turning towards Matty pulling out a bunch of bills and tells him to keep the rest. We walk outside holding hands and the enormity of what I just did hits me.

  “Oh my God. I just got a fuckin’ tattoo,” I squeal.

  Damon laughs and opens the passenger door for me, walking around to the driver’s side.

  He starts the car and the vibration of the car mixes with the rumble of the engine. I feel my body heat in my seat and glance over at the sexy tattooed body next to me. My body still buzzes with the adrenaline and mixing all of this together makes me want to continue this crazy night.

  Damon pulls out from the curb and I watch his veiny forearm handle the wheel of the car, turning it slightly which causes his muscle to pulse. I reach over and put my hand on his thigh, rubbing his muscular leg through his jeans.

  “Careful angel, you may have saved the devil, but he’s still a devil,” Damon warns.

  I lean over the middle console, giving myself better leverage and rub him through his jeans, feeling his erection grow under the rough material. I slowly unzip his jeans, popping the button free and continue my groping of him through his boxers.

  “Bella…”

  “Shhh.”

  I pull down his boxers and his erection pops free and my lips immediately wet my tongue. I grab the bottom of his shaft, squeezing it, reveling in the feel of his silky skin before dropping my head down, my lips centimeters away from licking the precum off his tip.

  “Pull over,” I whisper against the head of his shaft.

  He flinches and mumbled curses fall from his lips as I cover his shaft with my mouth.

  “Bella, fuck. I can’t...I can’t pull over until we get past this intersection. My God I…”

  His voice trails off as I put a hand on his thigh bracing myself above him, taking him deeper. His legs tighten underneath my touch, his body bucking up into my mouth. One of his hands goes to the back of my head, massaging his fingers deep into my scalp as his cock hits the back of my throat.

  I push my mouth further onto him and lazily pull it back up, my tongue sliding up in its path. Grabbing the bottom of his shaft and squeezing it again as I suck the tip ba
ck into my mouth, savoring the taste of this man.

  My hand pumps up and down his thick cock, first at slow then moving it faster as my mouth gobbles him, my tongue circling over his head, slobbering all over him, hungrily.

  I love having power over him, I’ve never felt anything like it. With Connor it was always mechanical, nothing like the heat between Damon and me. This incredible flame, that no matter how much we try and distinguish it, it burns brighter, hotter, stronger.

  “Holy shit Bella. I...I’m gonna come,” he groans.

  I hollow out my cheeks, pumping my mouth up and down, working to empty him. His roar echoes through the car, louder than the engine and I swallow down streams of his release. I clean his shaft, licking every drop off and sit back up, smirking at him. I see him glance to the side, shaking his head with a small smile of his own.

  I button him back in his jeans carefully and lean back in my seat.

  “You are a dangerous woman, Bella Gavinwood.”

  “I have never done that before,” I say shocked.

  “You’re something else, you know that? Can I bring you back to my place, take care of you?”

  “I need to get home tonight,” I say reluctantly.

  I see Damon eye me but then quickly look away.

  “You okay?” he asks.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to get some good sleep. I have to workout in the mornin’ and I would rather be home. I have all my stuff and...you know how it is.”

  “You’re right. You uh...have plans the rest of the day?”

  “Not really, just relaxin’ I guess. Why Johnson, you tryin’ to see me again?” I smirk.

  I’m trying to play it cool, but the truth is I want to see him again so badly. I’ve never done this type of relationship and I don’t want to seem too needy and push him away. I’d rather have Damon like this, then not at all.

  “If you’re not busy I have somethin’ in mind. Since we’re on the whole poppin’ your cherry roll and all,” he smirks.

  I instinctively clench my thighs together and he laughs, putting a hand on my knee.

  “Not that angel...at least not yet,” he whispers arching his eyebrow.

  “Okay fine. Text me in the mornin’. If I don’t die from my workout, I’m in.”

  He pulls up to the front of my apartment building and cuts the engine. He walks around to open my door and walks me to the front.

  “Thank you for tonight. I really needed it,” I say quietly looking down at my feet.

  “Hey,” he says pushing my chin to look up to him. “Can I ask you something?”

  I nod.

  “You said your mama isn’t too big a fan of me, can I ask why?”

  I look at him confused and then remember our earlier conversation.

  “Oh I...I don’t know I guess she knows your reputation and stuff. She just knows I wear my heart on my sleeve, she doesn’t want me to get hurt. You know how mamas are. I know what this is though Damon, don't worry,” I say shrugging.

  “Yeah,” he says rubbing the back of his neck. “Well I had a great time tonight. I’m counting on seeing you tomorrow. Don’t disappoint me angel.”

  He kisses me quick on the lips and I pull his collar as he tries to pull away. I push him gently into the brick building, not ready to let him go. He is my drug and I'm not ready to put him down. Too many hours are going to pass between hits, I need as much as I can get right now. I move my legs in between his big body, slamming my lips back on his.

  They crash together in a frenzy and his hand moves underneath my shirt, cupping my breast through my bra. I sigh at the contact as Damon breaks the kiss.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come up?”

  I smile and shake my head, pressing one more kiss on him.

  “I ditched the girls enough. Chicks before dicks, remember?” I smirk.

  He smiles and walks backwards to his car, keeping his gaze on me. I see the crack in the sidewalk but before I can warn him, he’s stumbling backwards and falling right on his ass.

  “Damon!”

  He curses and hops to his feet, examining the sidewalk.

  “Well look at that Gavinwood. You got me falling for you already,” he says smiling.

  “Nice save Johnson. I almost forgot you just busted your ass in a pretty embarrassin’ fashion...almost,” I sass making a motion with my thumb and pointer finger.

  “Easy angel, that tone might get you a nice spank to that mouthwatering ass,” he yells over the roof of his car, leaning on the top.

  “I’m countin’ on it big guy. Don’t make promises you ain’t gonna keep.”

  He winks and gets into his car, the engine roaring through the quiet street and I open the front door and slip inside as I watch him pull away.

  I walk to our door and take out my key, unlocking it. I drop my purse by the front foyer and turn around, almost jumping out of my skin.

  “Oh, big boy, please spank my big, juicy ass,” Lacey mimics.

  “Yes, please Damon, don’t make a promise you ain’t gonna keep,” Normani imitates.

  “Normani,” I admonish. “I can’t believe you’re takin’ her side!”

  “What the fuck is on your arm?” Lacey yells, her face turning serious.

  She runs towards me and pulls my arm examining my tattoo.

  “Tell me that ain’t real. Your daddy is gonna kill you. No scratch that, he’s gonna kill Damon and make you watch and then kill you!”

  “It’s just a tattoo Lacey, relax.”

  “There is no ‘just’ in a sentence that includes the word tattoo. That’s forever Bella!”

  “No shit. I came home to hang with y’all, don’t get all annoyin’ mama bear on me. I got the tattoo of my own free will, thank you very much, now can we move on?”

  I walk to the kitchen and see two bottles of wine. One finished and one on its way to being finished.

  “I thought you don’t drink Mani?” I ask her.

  “Well, we’re in your apartment now, it’s different. I trust y'all,” she says quietly.

  “Normani, remember what you told me in the office?” I ask eyeing her.

  She nods her head.

  “Well the same goes for you. Lacey and I don’t judge, well we try not to,” I say eyeing Lacey. She shrugs her shoulders and takes her wine glass off the counter, hopping up to sit. “You can talk to either of us about anything too.”

  She nods again and grabs her glass, downing what’s left of it. I walk over with the bottle filling it again.

  “Have you talked to Hulk? Apparently you’ve broken down his ‘I don’t sleep with a woman more than once’ barrier. Proud of yourself?” I ask Lacey.

  “I don’t need to be proud of myself. He’s lucky I’m givin’ him the time of day more than once himself.”

  I shake my head taking a sip of my wine.

  “You’re such a fraud. You know what I think?” I ask.

  “Please, almighty one, tell us what you think,” Lacey mocks.

  “I think you actually like him and you’re tryin’ to keep him at a distance so he don’t hurt you first. Familiar?”

  “That’s bullshit,” Lacey seethes.

  “Is it? I think, you believe he’s too good for you, so you plan on lettin’ him loose at the first sign that he’s bored. No?”

  Lacey hops off the counter finishing her glass and tossing it into the sink a little too hard.

  “You know what I think? I think you should mind your own fuckin’ business.”

  “So it’s okay for you to tell me like it is, but I can’t do the same, huh? Be careful Bella, he’ll hurt you Bella, I can’t believe you slept with him Bella, can’t believe you got a tattoo Bella. Wake up Lacey! Nico is a good guy. How about you stop runnin’ away from somethin’ for once and see where it goes, give someone a chance outside the bedroom! Stop punishin’ him for the shit Weston put you through.”

  “Wow, we’re goin’ there?” Lacey snaps.

  “I...shit I’m sorry Lace I didn�
��t mean to-”

  “I’m goin’ to bed. I’ve had enough of the Dr. Bella show for one night.”

  She stomps out of the kitchen and slams her bedroom door. I stand there, dumbfounded and Normani opens and closes her mouth a couple of times before she speaks.

  “I think you nailed it on the head.”