Between the Seams

by Aubrey Gross

  “What is up with you here lately?” Chase asked, exasperated.

  If Matt hadn’t been perfecting his Yoda routine, he’d been jonesing to get out of the house and be around people. In his clearer, less irritated moments Chase understood that his brother was dealing with a lot of stuff, grappling with a near-death experience and the future of his career. Baseball was all his brother knew. Hell, Matt was baseball, and Chase didn’t envy him any of the shit he was dealing with right now. But damn was he getting irritated.

  Matt shrugged. “Just wanted to say thanks.”

  “For what?” Chase muttered.

  “Getting me out of the house. I was starting to go stir crazy.”

  Matt still hadn’t been cleared to drive, and probably shouldn’t have even been at a bar three weeks after having brain surgery, but when he’d threatened to steal Chase’s truck keys and find something to do on his own, Chase had finally relented. They were both active guys, not used to spending a lot of time sitting still and doing nothing.

  In that way they did have a lot in common.

  So Chase had finally given in and brought him to April’s, a little bar he, Jenn and Owen enjoyed for the relatively cozy atmosphere, dim lights and usually a lack of singles on the prowl. It was a country bar through and through, with the set list comprised mostly of Texas country artists except for Friday nights, when the set list opened up a bit.

  Just his kind of place.

  “I still can’t believe I let you talk me into bringing you to a bar.”

  Matt grinned. “Glad to know I can still push your buttons, little brother.”

  Chase sighed, and was about to respond when Owen walked up. Thank God. Reinforcements. Matt and Owen shook hands in greeting before Owen took a seat and ordered a beer from a passing waitress.

  Once his beer had arrived, Owen sat back and said, “I invited the girls.”

  “Girls, huh?” Matt asked, almost lasciviously.

  “Jenn and Jo. Figured we could save Jenn from a night of knitting and get Jo out of her grandma’s house for a while,” Owen said.

  Matt wiggled his eyebrows at Chase. “That clarifies things.”

  “Don’t even start, Matt,” Chase warned.

  Owen looked from Chase to Matt and back again before laughing. “Oh, this is good. Do we have another member of the Chase Needs to Make a Move club?”

  “Absolutely,” Matt answered.

  “I didn’t realize you cared,” Chase drawled, irritated. Since when had his personal life become so interesting to his best friend and his brother?

  “Not so much caring as getting tired of your moodiness,” Owen said. “You’re worse than a woman the past few weeks.”

  Matt choked out a laugh. Chase glowered. “It’s none of your damned business.”

  “If she’s as pretty as she used to be, can I have her, then?”

  Chase narrowed his eyes at Matt. “I will hit a man who just had brain surgery.”

  Owen and Matt both hooted with laughter, damn them.

  ~~*~~

  “Should Matt even be at a bar, all things considered?” Jo asked Jenn as they walked through the door.

  Jenn shrugged. “Probably not. But you know Matt.”

  “No, not really. I mean, I know him, but not like I do Chase. He was always playing select ball or little league or high school. He wasn’t around much.”

  Jo thought she heard Jenn mumble “Lucky you” under her breath, and wondered what her best friend’s dig against Matt was. Before she could ask, though, Jenn spotted Chase, Matt and Owen and waved.

  The three men turned towards them, and Jo’s body felt on fire as Chase’s gaze caught hers before perusing her from head to toe and back up. She fought the urge to pull down the hem of her skirt or tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

  They hadn’t seen each other since that day in the park, almost a week ago, but they’d talked. He’d called her a few times, she’d called him a few times. They’d exchanged texts. Nothing earth-shattering, but they’d definitely been feeling each other out and rekindling their friendship (among other things).

  Jo was learning that the boy she’d known was still there; he’d just turned into a somewhat complicated man. Same enough to be somewhat comfortable. Different enough to be damned intriguing. It was a heady mix of old and new, tangled up with all those old emotions and this new attraction that had firmly gripped her and refused to let go.

  He hadn’t kissed her since that night at Owen’s house when she’d somewhat drunkenly spilled her guts. They’d teased and flirted, along with holding hands that night at Wings and Rings, sat close to one another and touched.

  But he hadn’t kissed her again.

  As they stared at each other from across the bar, she almost desperately wished he would walk over, sweep her into his arms and kiss her like his life depended on it.

  Instead, he stayed firmly planted on his barstool, and she made her boot-clad feet move towards him.

  It wasn’t until after they’d reached the table that Jo realized Matt was sporting a hairdo more likely to be seen on 6th Street in Austin than in a little bar in Del Rio. Her laugh was unexpected, but she couldn’t hold it in once it had come out. “Oh my God, Matt. Your hair!”

  “Nice to see you too, Jolene.” He winked at her.

  Matt had always been a good-looking charmer, and even with the crazy ass hairdo that still held true.

  “I guess the Bigs don’t pay as much as I thought if you can’t even afford a decent haircut.” Jenn’s comment, which Jo figured was supposed to have been teasing, came out sounding almost mean.

  Some of the twinkle left Matt’s hazel eyes, and Jo looked at Chase, her eyebrows raised in a silent question. He shrugged, apparently as lost as she was.

  Jenn chose to sit between Owen and Chase, leaving the barstool between Matt and Chase open. Jo took it, and shortly a waitress appeared to take their orders. Jenn ordered a margarita and Jo followed suit.

  Conversation flowed. Mostly. The banter was easy and fun—except between Jenn and Matt. Jo knew her best friend well enough to know that something was up, but had no clue as to what that something was. There was just a general discomfort between the school teacher and the major league pitcher.

  Jo had the niggling feeling she’d missed something while living in Austin.

  Owen and Chase decided to go play a game of pool, and Matt followed, promising Chase he would just “sit there and look pretty” and not exert himself. Table to themselves, Jo turned to Jenn and asked, “Okay, spill. What is going on with you and Matt?”

  Jenn fidgeted, twirled a red curl around her finger. Sighed. “Nothing.”

  There was a lot more to that sigh than “nothing.” Thoughtfully, Jo tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure about that?”

  Jenn gulped her margarita. “Oh, I’m absolutely sure there’s nothing going on between Matt and me. Unlike you and Chase.”

  Jo let the change in subject slide, knowing she’d get back to it sooner or later and not wanting to press Jenn too much. “I don’t know what’s going on between Chase and me.”

  “He looked like he wanted to eat you up with a spoon when we walked in.” Jenn giggled.

  He kind of had, hadn’t he? Jo thought.

  “To be honest, I’d probably let him.”

  “What’s holding you back?”

  Jo sighed. “I have no idea. The past, I guess. The future. The present.”

  “Jo, I know better than anyone that the two of you had a lot of air clearing you needed to do. From what little the two of you have told me—you’re both being incredibly tight-lipped, which is really annoying, by the way—it sounds like you’ve at least laid most everything out there on the table. At some point y’all have got to stop focusing so much on the past and start paying attention to the here and now.”

&nb
sp; From where she was sitting, Jo had a clear line of sight to the pool table. Owen racked, then dropped his first two shots before missing his third. “I think we’re getting there, Jenn. We just have to get to know each other again. We’re different people now.”

  Jenn snorted. “Not that different. Sure, you’ve both had relationships, you live in different cities now and have your own careers. But deep down? He’s still Chase and you’re still Jo. Just grown-up versions.”

  Same, but different.

  Abruptly, Jenn stood. “I’ve gotta go to the ladies’ room. Be right back.”

  While Jenn was gone, Jo watched Chase over the salted rim of her margarita glass. He threw back his head and laughed at something Owen said. His smile was genuine, causing warmth to unfurl in her stomach.

  His fingers were curled around the pool cue, and not for the first time in the past few weeks, Jo was fascinated. Those big pitcher’s hands were rough and masculine and strong. She’d spent a few nights on the phone with him, fantasizing about those hands. Holding them. How they would feel on her skin, her breasts, between her legs.

  Warmth spread through her body, pooling at the juncture of her thighs. Absently, she looked down at her margarita. She’d only taken a couple of sips.

  No, this was all Chase making her warm and tingly.

  Just as it had been for the past month or so.

  Chase leaned over the pool table, setting up his shot. As though he could feel her gaze on him, he looked up. Their gazes caught. He looked back down, took his shot. Missed. Owen made quick work of the remaining balls, and Jenn stepped up to challenge him. Chase handed her his pool cue before heading back across the bar to Jo.

  And then he was there, those big palms thunking down on the table. Leaning forward so that their noses almost touched, his voice barely above a whisper, he said, “You look a little lonely over here.”

  “Do I now?”

  He nodded his head. They stared at each other for long moments, the tension between them so thick Jo wondered how they were both still breathing. It was like being under water for too long, still feet away from the surface, wishing you could just breathe deep.

  She wasn’t sure she liked it, but she wasn’t sure she didn’t like it, either.

  The DJ switched songs, to a slow romantic number that had couples young and old swaying out on the dance floor. Slowly, tentatively, Chase reached for Jo’s hand.

  “Dance with me?”

  Her throat too tight, still struggling for air, she nodded and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor.

  Chase’s big hands wrapped around her waist, pulled her as close as their clothes and propriety would allow. As they swayed along with Honeybrowne’s “Texas Angel”, Jo found herself once again mesmerized by those melted chocolate eyes.

  She’d dreamt about those eyes as a teenager. They were amazing.

  She wanted to lick him up, like chocolate that had melted on her fingertips.

  The thought made her blush, but the look he gave her made her wonder if maybe he wasn’t thinking similar thoughts.

  He tucked a curl behind her ear and settled his head against hers. “You’re killing me, smalls.”

  “Hmmm?” she murmured, her eyes half closed as she simply enjoyed the sensation of being held in his arms.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, I might have to do something about it.”

  Jo pulled back slightly, enough so that she could see his face. She raised her eyebrows, blinked innocently and asked, “Looking at you like what?”

  “Like I’m dessert and you have one hell of a sweet tooth.”

  Desire churned in her stomach, dropping and swirling and stirring up parts that hadn’t been stirred in quite some time. “Well, I do like dessert. Especially chocolate.”

  “Chocolate, huh?”

  She nuzzled his neck, half-drunk from the smell of his skin alone. “Like your eyes. They remind me of melted chocolate.”

  Jo felt more than heard his unsteady intake of breath followed by a slight stutter to his step. Instead of speaking, he pulled her in closer, and suddenly she was all too aware of the fact that Chase Roberts apparently wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  They swayed together, silent, tension pulled tightly between them like fresh guitar strings. Jo could feel her heart thumping in her chest, an unsteady, almost too fast rhythm. She could see his pulse throbbing in his neck, could feel every ragged intake of breath as their thighs brushed.

  The last strains of “Texas Angel” filtered through the smoky bar, and Jo slowly felt reality intrude into their intimate little bubble. The DJ deftly segued into another song, this one slightly more up tempo. She tried to move away, put some space between them, but Chase’s grip on her waist tightened and he held her in place.

  A crooked grin curved those lips she’d been thinking about way too much here lately.

  “I think I should have listened to this song first.”

  Jo swallowed past the lump of desire in her throat and asked, “Why’s that?”

  Chase tilted his head towards the DJ booth. “Listen to the words. You’ll understand.”

  They stood there on the dance floor, a few couples still moving around them, and Jo listened, belatedly recognizing Jon Wolfe’s “I Don’t Dance.”

  She looked into his eyes and asked, “So you’re the sneak out at three a.m. type, huh? Never would have guessed that about you.”

  Despite her teasing words, desire had punched her—hard—in the belly at the thought of going back to her place...or rather, probably his place, considering she was currently staying with her grandmother.

  “Generally, no. And not with you. Definitely not with you.”

  Their bodies continued to sway together, almost of their own volition, and Jo realized that the words held a ring of truth. One dance wouldn’t be enough, couldn’t be enough.

  His fingers dug into her hip and his breath was ragged in her ear. “What are you thinking?”

  She lightly, almost imperceptibly, rubbed her cheek against his, her already frayed nerves sparking at the feel of his stubble against her skin. And she took a chance, decided to be bold and follow Jenn’s advice to live in the present rather than the past. “That I really, really want you to kiss me.”

  Jo felt the slight stumble her words caused, and smiled.

  Chase pulled away from her, tunneled those long pitcher’s fingers through his hair. “I need some fresh air. How about you?”

  Suddenly feeling unsure, Jo tucked her hair behind her ears and bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Um…sure?”

  Chase grabbed her hand and led her through the bar to the back entrance, which opened up to a patio area where folks could enjoy food, conversation, or just escape from the crowd inside. Tonight, it was empty. Everyone was inside, wanting a piece of Matt.

  Without warning, Chase turned, grabbed Jo’s other hand and pushed her up against the back wall of the building. The fairy lights strung around the edges of the patio cast his face in shadow. Her heart rate picked up, slammed against her chest as if she’d just finished sprinting towards the finish line. He pressed his lower body into hers, pinning her against the wall.

  She idly wondered if she should be scared at this new, unseen side of Chase, but was absolutely thrilled instead.

  Dimly, her gaze focused on nothing but his face, every part of her body aware of his body pressed against hers. Josh Abbott Band’s “Oh, Tonight” floated through the air, muted by walls and doors and the bubble of desire wrapped around them. Chase softly sang along with the song, reciting lyrics about being kissed on the mouth and fighting feelings for a long time.

  Before she could formulate a thought—much less a response—Chase claimed her mouth with his own. Hard. Hurried. Like she was water in the middle of the desert and he’d been walking for days. She kissed him back, met hi
s tongue thrust for thrust.

  Jo’s fingers dug into his shoulders, holding on for dear life.

  Too much. It was all too much. His lips. His tongue. The feel of him, hard and ready and apparently big pressing her between her thighs.

  She was drowning. She needed air.

  Was she sure this was what she wanted?

  His fingers tunneled through her hair, grabbed hold at the base of her head.

  She’d never been one to enjoy hair pulling, but holy hell just like that she felt her body go up in flames.

  My God, we really are going to set the world on fire.

  Jo’s hands drifted from Chase’s broad shoulders to his chest. Around to his back and then to his stomach, which was flat and taut through his t-shirt. Back around, where they settled on his ass and grabbed, trying to pull him even closer.

  Chase’s hands unwound themselves from her hair, smoothed over her neck to her face, which he cupped with both hands. They fed on each other’s mouths, desire pooling and aching between her legs, in her belly. Her breasts felt full, tender and heavy, her nipples hard and too sensitive against the cups of her bra.

  He backed her up fully against the wall before reaching down to pick up her boot-clad feet and guide them so that they were wrapped around his waist.

  Pinned fully against the wall with her legs locked around that taut waist, her sundress bunched around her hips, the only thing between their bodies was a flimsy pair of panties and the denim of his jeans.

  His hands cupped her bottom, helping to hold her up while his mouth left hers to trail hot, wet kisses along her jaw and then along her neck. He rubbed against her, the bulge behind the denim creating a delicious friction that only left her wanting more.

  Chase sucked on her neck, bit down lightly and pushed against her harder. Jo gasped and moaned, too lost in sensation to care if anyone heard her.

  The friction against her clit, his hands on her ass and his mouth at her neck were too much. Not enough. God, she wanted more. Needed more. She needed his hands all over her, that amazing mouth on her breasts and him deep inside of her.

  His hips tilted against her again, and she could feel the pressure building, but didn’t want to go there alone.