I turned and waved to her as she came closer.
“Oh, thank goodness. I’m so glad I found you. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever girl! Hi, I’m Delphine and who are you?” She asks turning to Betty, cutting into line.
The two started talking and soon, I was able to get through the remainder of the food line in a reprieve of conversation. I wasn’t annoyed with the interactions, it was just a lot to handle all at once.
When the plates were full, the three of us headed to the same table, and we shared pleasantries with the other women seated at the table we were seated at.
Someone in a black and dark blue form fitting dress stepped up to the podium and tapped it a few times before speaking.
“Today’s luncheon is sponsoring the same charity but in both cities. Since we have two different groups of ladies here, we’ve set to sponsor the Boys and Girls Club.” She pauses for effect and then claps her hands together and resumes speaking. “We hope that we can continue with the time-honored mission of compassion, courage and kindness between our two organizations. We play the same game, we speak the same language, and we live the same kind of life. Our mission for today’s luncheon for The Boys and Girls Clubs is that we’re hoping for new sports equipment. With the combined efforts of the baseball wives and girlfriends of both Arizona’s Gila Monsters and San Diego’s Hornets - we’ve got fantastic company here today. Ladies of Phoenix and surrounding areas, welcome and I hope that you all enjoy your lunch with these inspiring women.” The organizer says from the podium at the front of the room to the space of combined spouses and girlfriends of baseball players and philanthropic guests.
The room erupts into chatter from each table including our own. By the end of the lunch, we’ve managed to raise several thousand for each charter of the Boys and Girls Club, making the event a success.
After awhile of mingling with the ladies I knew from the Hornets, I also introduced myself to a few women on the Gila Monsters end. They were nice and welcoming, especially once I mentioned Gunnar, but overall the nicest person that I did meet today was Betty. With giving my final goodbyes to my friends and Betty, I look at my watch and note that the game will be starting in two hours. I excuse myself politely, say my goodbyes and head over to the hotel to get ready and hopefully to get a chance to speak to Gunnar before the game starts.
FOURTEEN
GUNNAR
BEFORE THE GAME TODAY, I sat with my potential bosses and I saw the desire in their eyes for me to wear a Gila Monsters jersey. I heard it in the way they spoke to me as well. I did not play into the finality of a choice for where I intended to play and kept them on their feet. I let them know that I was in-between Arizona and Boston. That Boston was showing me more money, bigger incentives and a start on the team rather than the bench.
Whether or not they believed me was a different story.
We won the first game tonight against Arizona, which made up for the shit-show in Denver and brought the team morale up a bit. I didn’t get back to the hotel suite until close to midnight. Sawyer was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room with a reading light on behind her, illuminating her.
I set my bag down and walk to her. I kneel down on the floor and unwrap her legs from her body to settle on the sides of my body.
She wore a loose t-shirt, one that’s been washed so many times that whatever was on the shirt is a distant memory and small black shorts that barely cover her curves.
“Good game tonight,” she smiles at me, closing her book and tightening her legs against my sides.
“Thanks. Did you have a good day?” I ask as she nods draping her arms around my neck.
“The game tomorrow is an evening game, so we have a lot of the day to ourselves, to explore and whatever. If you want to look at any other houses, I’m game for that too.”
“What did the team say this morning?”
“That they were going to discuss their offer a little more and get back to me within the week. They want me, they just don’t want to seem too eager - I assume.”
“Are our minds set? That we’re going to come to Arizona? Is that our plan?” She asks looking intently at me.
“Is that what you want babe?” I question.
“I want you to play for a team that you will be happy to play for. If you think that you will be happy here, then I’m all for it. If you want to go to another team, we can definitely explore that option as well. My job can be anywhere; the abrupt change with no longer working with the Hornets put that into perspective for me.”
“You’re an incredible woman, did you know that?” I say to her, leaning in and kissing the valley between her breasts.
“I know this, because you tell me,” she smiles.
She leans in and brushes her lips against my cheek and moving to my lips. I part my lips and our kiss turns from light to heavy in an instant. I wrap my arms around her and hoist her up against me. I move us to the bed and once the back of her knees hit the bed, I push her down onto the bed and loom over her.
I smile down at her and lean just enough to kiss the tip of her nose.
“I will tell you every day for the rest of my life how incredible you are. I will worship the ground you walk on and celebrate you in every way that I can.” I pull the shirt over my head and yank down my pants. I remove her clothing as well and toss them to the side of the room. I kneel before her, splaying kisses along the top of her thighs and to the center of her legs. I spread her and settle between her legs.
I take my cock and guide myself into her warm pussy. She arches her back and gasps as I slowly fill her, gradually building up the pace. It’s not long from the push and the pull that my movements become erratic and out of control with my thrusts wild and unhinged to find the release that both of our bodies crave. Her hands clutch onto my forearms as I pump into her as her hips tilt up. I pull out, place her legs across my shoulders, and thrust into her again. I look down at our joined bodies; my shaft is lubricated with her delicious juices, watching her pussy spread for me with each thrust. I move my hand from her leg on my shoulder to between our bodies and find her clit. I rub what she deems her pleasure nub and her pussy is clenching around me a moment later. My balls tighten, draw up and I release into her a second later. The pleasure racing up my spine nearly making me lose my balance. I press myself against her pelvis one last time then move her legs off my shoulders, lean down and crush her lips with mine as her pussy squeezes and contracts a few more times.
She hums in content and groans when I pull myself out her, immediately missing the warmth of her.
IT TURNS out that I didn’t have to wait more than 24 hours for the owners and organization of the Arizona Gila Monsters to get back to me. There was a player that San Diego wanted from the Gila Monsters and the threshold of the trade amounts would still surpass towards me before the non-waiver trade deadline is up. They offered me more than I could imagine, along with a side unofficial request for me to let Sawyer know that she should contact the media relations department during the time we’re in town.
The Gila’s also offered a nice travel package, which included Sawyer to travel with the team, and a lucrative signing bonus. I wasn’t sure the number that either Seattle or Boston would offer, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to rock the boat and find out. Teams talk and I don’t want to fuck up my chance.
Sawyer was finally stirring right when I was getting antsy. I handed her my tablet with the email details open and just walked away. I grabbed the room service menus from the suite bar and returned to sitting beside her.
Her jaw was slacked as she was zeroed in on the screen. She looked up to me a few times then returned to the email.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s a lot of zeroes and a lot of numbers.”
“I know.”
“You’d be insane to not take this.”
“I know.”
“This is double of what the Hornets are paying you. You accepted, right?”
“I haven’t
done anything except sit here and let it sink in.”
“What does it mean when they say that I need to speak to the Media Relations department? Is this like a training on how to discuss the topic? Like I’m new or something?”
“I’m not sure.” I scratch my head. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to pick up your phone and ask them to draw up the paperwork.”
“So this is what we’re going to do, we’re going to move to the land of sweaty balls and asshole drivers?”
“There’s asshole drivers in every city,” she smiles. “I think your second call should be to the financial advisor and to make sure that we can afford that house.”
“That house is less than what the condo in San Diego costs, we can definitely afford it. Plus the signing bonus that they’re offering me is a pretty penny as well.”
I HAD Sawyer pressed up against the shower. The water was blasting on my back as her hands are splayed on the tiles in front of her. Our low groans echoed off the walls as I took Sawyer from behind. One of my hands was wrapped around her and lightly rubbing her clit as I pumped into her. She started to bat my hand away to take over the control of her own orgasm.
I pumped into her, my fingertips digging into the globes of her ass. Grunting with each movement.
“Fuck!” I expel. “Babe, I’m going to fucking come,” I say desperate to get off.
“I’m right… there,” she returns, her voice breathy.
Just as I feel the sensations zipping up my spine, her pussy contracts, she further arches her back and moans loudly with her eyes squeezes shut.
I increase my speed as I feel my cock swelling and releasing into her. With a final groan, I lay a line of kisses on her shoulder blade and pull myself out of her. I turn my body and grab the washcloth, add some liquid soap on the surface and begin rubbing her body down. She observes my movements with a loving smile as I clean her body from head to toe.
“When are you going to let me make an honest woman out of you?” I ask.
Sawyer and I have discussed getting married several times over the past year and each time, she’s redirected the conversation. It’s one thing or another that has stopped us. It’s the start of the season, it’s the end of the season, we should be focusing on enjoying the off-season, work is crazy, then with most recent the trade and the costs of moving.
I don’t think that she understands that I just want that stupid piece of paper that has my last name as hers. Since we’ve started dating, I’ve loved seeing her wearing my jerseys and with each day that passes, I get more carnal in wanting it to be official.
“Let’s cross that bridge when our plans are finalized,” she replies sweetly while I turn off the water.
I look to her and smile.
“Can I get that in writing?”
FIFTEEN
SAWYER
I AM STANDING in the administrative offices of the Arizona baseball field, unsure of exactly what I am doing here, but also just as eager to find out. Gunnar’s offer this morning was amazing and too good to pass up, so he didn’t. I made an appointment as soon as I could, so I could find out what this unofficial request was.
We may be jumping in too fast, but I don’t want to prolong what the next step in our lives would be.
“Ms. Rotham. My name is Dwayne Bates. I’m the director of media relations for the Gila Monsters. We understand that you work as a Marketing Consultant with Open Public Sourcing and for four years you were exclusive to the San Diego Hornets, is that correct to assume?” A middle-aged man asks me as he comes to stand in front of me, startling me with the start of the conversation with his hand out.
I take his hand and firmly shake it. “Yes sir, however the team decided to go in an alternative direction with their marketing and media decisions and went with an in-house individual.”
“You weren’t willing to continue?” He asks motioning to the office with an open door.
We enter the space and I take a seat, as he takes the seat beside me instead of behind the large oak desk.
“No sir, I was not given the option or request.” I reply.
He nods his head, looks down at the papers in front of him and then continues. “Now, I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of Gunnar Reynolds, but the owners of the organization informally added a mention of you in their response to Gunnar this morning to perhaps sweeten the deal. We value the families of our players just as much as they value the players themselves. Now, my offer is by no means contingent on Gunnar’s decision, but we did our homework. In addition, I liked what you did with the Hornets. I know that Gunnar and you have a lot on your plate, but we would be honored to have you join our department and our family.” He asks.
I’m in shock; this wasn’t what I was expecting when I walked into these offices. I was expecting them to coach me on what to say to the reporters when it came to the trade, I wasn’t expecting a job offer.
I sat in shock for the remainder of the meeting, where Dwayne went over a contract for my employment with the organization and a very flattering compensation package. I left the meeting stunned to say the least, but with a promise to discuss everything over with Gunnar and get back to them. We were in town for another day before I would travel back home on my flight directly after the game and Gunnar would head home on the team plane with the rest of the guys later in the evening.
Still in shock, I spent the remainder of the day in a blur at the game with a few of the other players girlfriends that I’ve gotten close to over the last few years, still in shock from my meeting and excited to relay the news over to Gunnar.
THERE IS SOMETIMES nothing better than wearing a fluffy robe, slippers and eating food from room service. I lean back against the headboard of the hotel suite’s luxury king sized bed in our room, with the remote in one hand and my plate of French fries sitting on my lap. Gunnar would be back to the room to celebrate the Hornets win as soon as the ‘after game’ meeting was over.
I was happily clicking through the movie channels of the hotel and munching on a late night snack. I have the folder that Dwayne gave me full of information for my future sitting beside me on the nightstand and every now and then, my gaze will wander over to it, still in complete shock of everything that’s unfolded over this weekend.
I hear the door open, close, a few thumps here at there from what I assume is Gunnar dropping his bag, and then a moment later, he walks into my view dressed in a crisp clean dress shirt and gray slacks. His sleeves are folded a quarter of the way up highlighting his tattooed muscular arms.
“Congrats on the win.” I smile.
“I hear that a congrats should be in order for you too.” He smiles as he toes off his shoes and climbs on the bed, lays on his stomach and grabs a fry.
“Wow, news travels fast.” I say reaching over, grabbing the file and handing it to him.
“A birdie told me that the Gila’s offered you a position, I guess it looks like both our futures are set.” He thumbs through some of the documents and whistles. “This is more than what you make at OPS. Did you accept?”
“I wanted to make sure that we were really going to move here, that you were really going to accept their offer and that we talked about it first. I didn’t want to make a snap decision without discussing it with you.”
“Well, I think that you should take it,” he replies without hesitation.
“You sure? I don’t want to impose on your career, having your girlfriend be an employee for the organization may be too much. Before I worked for OPS not the Hornets organization, this time - it may be different. I don’t want the new guy to get made fun of.”
“I can deal with a little bit of hazing.”
“So, we’re doing this? We’re moving to Arizona?” I ask.
“We’re moving to Arizona,” he replies.
I TAKE the calendar down off of the wall and started counting the days until the end of the season. It’s been three weeks since we’ve been home from Arizona and now t
hat we’re getting everything in line for our move - I’m feeling confident to start adding it to the calendar, which to me feels more solid and real for what’s to come for our future.
I marked off the dates that the relator in Arizona have us along with our financial advisor of closing escrow. The Hornets were playing decent this season, but unfortunately, unless they get the Wild Card for the series, there will be no October games for the team, which means we can likely move to Arizona any time after they finish their season. Which gives us a month and a half left in San Diego, which is only terrifying me a little. I need to plan the linguistics of when my last day would be at my job, and they are being flexible with my departure. I began training Rachael, one of the junior marketing consultants on my accounts a week ago and have begun to taper off my involvement, as she has gotten more familiar with each account.
I take a seat at my desk after getting my morning coffee and something catches my eye on the chain of emails in my inbox.
GOOGLE ALERT: KEYWORD: GUNNAR REYNOLDS: WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN WITH GUNNAR REYNOLDS IN ARIZONA?
THE GOOGLE ALERT flashes in my inbox, the same one that I set up to stay on top of the team when Gunnar and I first started dating. I open up the email and click on the article. The photo is slightly grainy, but the woman in it appears to be a tall blonde who is leaning into an awkward hug with Gunnar. I’m not completely certain, but the location looks familiar and the woman also resembles someone that I know as well.
Another alert pings in my inbox and I roll my eyes at the headline.
GOOGLE ALERT: KEYWORD: GUNNAR REYNOLDS: HORNETS TRADE REYNOLDS TO ARIZONA, LEAVES THE BRUNETTE IN THE SUNSHINE FOR THE BLONDE IN THE DESERT.
THERE IS ANOTHER PHOTO, it appears to be Gunnar and our realtor sitting at a cafe together and that’s when I realize that is why the woman in the other article is familiar. I scroll through the horribly written article and cringe.
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