"I hate those bastards." I stood again and pressed my hands to the glass. "There's nothing to tell them. Danny and I were together as kids, and we've been working through some of that old shit, but that's it." I shrugged and glanced over my shoulder at Alan. "I don't understand why someone's personal life has to be strung out in front of the world. It's none of their goddamn business."
"I agree, Terra, but we live in a different world than when I was growing up. People nowadays crave reality TV and the media slaughtering various influencers in the limelight. It's fun to watch someone else fuck up their lives. It takes you away from your own messed up existence for a while."
"It sucks." I wrapped my arms around myself and stood stone still for the next few innings. Danny seemed to be doing good until he wasn't.
"Top of the forth and it looks like Daniel McAdams might have lost his Midas touch early tonight folks. I don't think I've seen him walk a batter in more than a year." One of the announcers’ voice filled up the booth.
"Yeah, but nothing compares to three years ago. Remember how horrible he was? It was like he'd given up on everything."
I walked over and turned the volume down, growling loudly. "He lost his sister, you cocks."
Some of the guys around me laughed and agreed. I was slowly but surely winning them over.
I hated to admit it, but my dad knew what he was doing putting me in charge of the team instead of my brother. I belonged there and had all my life. I loved the game, the challenge of meeting new people and breaking down barriers. My thoughts quickly moved to Danny. I knew the dinner would be good for us, but it terrified me to think about letting him into my heart again. As if I had a choice. He was already there.
"Oh shit." Alan jumped up and moved to the window. "Looks like Danny hit the batter with the ball."
"On purpose?" The drama pulled me from my thoughts.
"No. Of course not." One of the older guys moved up beside me.
The scene below was a bit of chaos. The batter tossed his bat and helmet and instead of running or walking to first, he charged the mound. Danny held his own, and the officials and coaches had the two players apart pretty quickly, but the damage was done. Danny flipped off the ump after getting in his face and walked toward the dugout.
"Well, shit." Alan walked to pick up the phone beside the door. "Joe. Put in another pitcher. Did Danny-"
"I'm going down." I walked out without thinking about it. Something was wrong with Daniel, and I wanted to know what. Did he get another call from his mom? I jogged down and took the private entrance into the locker room, assuming that I'd have to go up to the dugout to check on him. That or grab Joe to see what the fuck was going on. I yelped as I bumped right into him. He was in nothing but a tiny towel.
"Terra. What are you doing down here?" His eyes were stormy with too many emotions.
"I came to find out what's going on." I licked my lips and moved back as my heart raced to get out of my chest.
"I fucked up and hit the asshole. He and I have had it out for each other for a long time." He shrugged, pulled the towel off and walked toward the showers. "Coach told me to get out of there."
"What's going on with your dad?" I followed him and let myself covet the sight of his naked ass. It was beyond beautiful, perfectly sculpted.
"He's not doing too well again." He leaned in and started the shower before turning to face me. "Come here."
"What? No." I lifted my hands and took a step back, losing my balance thanks to my heel going down into a drain.
He reached out and caught me, pulling me close to him. "It wasn't a request, angel."
"Who is this guy?" I pressed my hands against the thick muscles of his chest and tried hard to talk myself out of turning around and walking away.
"He's me, Ter. He's who I became when the world beat down my door and there was nothing left to do but turn and face them." He ran his hands over my sides. "Come in the shower with me. No one will be headed this way for another hour or more."
"Someone will check on you, Danny." I took him in, his handsome face almost too much. "Don't ask me to do this with you."
"Why? Because you will?" He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. "I need a release and I'm not going to find it with another woman."
"Why not? There's so many that want to be close to you."
"No. They want my money or my dick, but it's irrelevant." He licked my lips, and I moaned. My body throbbed to feel his thick erection buried deep in some part of me. Fuck, any part at this point.
"Why is that?" I whispered, breathlessly. The man had way too much power over me.
"Because all I want is you." He picked me up and carried me to the shower as he consumed my mouth. My head was spinning with lust as he helped me strip down and pulled me into the shower with him.
I jerked the curtain closed and gave him a look. "You're so fucking corrupt."
"Shhh... you like it." He pulled me against him and ran his strong hands over my back and cupped my ass, kneading it roughly. "I love everything about you. Don't deny me tonight like you did the last time I almost had you trapped beneath me."
"That was your fault." I turned and slid my hands up the wall, arching my back. With any luck, if someone came down to check on Danny, they'd assume he was alone, or he has some random woman in the shower with him.
"You look so fucking good." He moved up and slid his hands up my sides before cupping my breasts and squeezing. The thick press of his dick against my ass was too much.
"Please don't stop." I rolled my hips and whimpered as one of his hands found my clit and pulled on it.
"I want in your ass." He kissed the back of my neck. "Tell me you want me there too."
I nodded and reached back to grab the back of his head. "I want you anywhere. Everywhere."
"And you hate yourself because of it?" He smiled and kissed me as he repositioned.
The pressure of him pressing his thick cock into my ass was almost too much. I turned from him and reached back up the wall, flattening my upper body against it as he groaned low in his chest.
"God, Ter. I've imagined taking you a million times, baby, but this is almost too much." He ran his free hand down my back and pulled out only to force himself back in.
I moaned loudly and reached down to grab his fingers. I pressed them tightly to my clit before forcing him down farther to dip his digits into my aching heat.
"You want me in your pussy?" His voice was rough and deep as he spoke between kisses to the side of my neck.
"Not tonight. I want it to be special." I pressed back and moaned as he forced the full length of his cock inside of me.
"I like that." He rolled his middle finger around my entrance and pressed in a little as he fucked me nice and slow from behind. "Once you let me in, you know I'm not going anywhere right? I'm addicted to everything about you already. You’re sealing the deal by offering up your gift to me-"
"Is it a gift?" I pressed my hips forward, fucking myself against his fingers and mine. "Feels like a curse." I panted loudly as my orgasm rode hard on me. "I need to come."
"Good. Wet my balls with your release, angel. Let me feel it as you remember who owns you." He pumped his finger into my slit and his cock in my ass in fast thrusts.
He covered my mouth with his free hand as I screamed my release against him and thrashed about. What the fuck was I doing naked in the players’ showers? I was the owner of the team. I ignored the logical side of my brain and rolled my hips, massaging his huge shaft in long, slow strokes until he joined me in orgasm.
The sound of him coming woke up every fantasy I could remember having.
Why was I running from him? From us?
Nothing made me feel more alive than him.
Nothing.
Chapter 21
Daniel
A smile touched my lips as I thought about how good Terra was in the shower the weekend before. She had been fearless and beyond hot. We were lucky no one walked in to steal our fun.
It seemed to me that the universe was against the two of us getting together and putting a padlock on the closed door of the past, but maybe I was over-thinking it.
"Are you smiling cause of me, daddy?" Lyndsay leaned over the table we sat at in a small coffee shop in town. "Cause you like this new dress Mimi bought me?" She pulled the edge of her dress out and almost toppled over. I reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Be careful, Peanut." I let my eyes move over her pretty little face. The need to protect her from guys like me was almost overwhelming. Martin's last words to me spread like wildfire inside of me.
Terra was his princess, his peanut just like Lyndsay was mine.
"Promise me something." He leaned forward, pressing his forearms to his legs.
"Yeah. Anything." I pulled my hands-free and reached up, gripping the bars above me. He'd been like a father to me most of my life, right alongside my own.
"Don't leave for at least one season after she gets here, okay? I know you two have a past-"
"Martin."
"I'm serious. You walking off the team would be hard for her to come back from, with the players and within herself."
Did he know what we were together? What she meant to me.
"You don't know what you're asking me to do." I pleaded with him with my eyes.
"I do, and I'm sorry for asking, but you're like a son to me, Daniel. Do this thing for me and help my baby transition. She's going to come in screaming and kicking."
"And if I can't?"
"Then I respect that too."
"Daddy?" Lyndsay had moved to my side while I was lost in thought.
I turned and ran my hands down her tiny arms. "Yeah, baby?"
"What are you thinking about? You're being a weirdo today."
I laughed, the spell officially broken. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. "I was actually thinking about this pretty girl that I used to date when I was young."
"Like me?" Lyndsay's eyes widened.
"Well, not as young as you, but a little older." I squeezed her. "She came back into town, and I like seeing her."
"I want to see her." She turned her face up to me. "Is she the girl Mimi showed me pictures of?"
I rolled my eyes and released her. "Back to your side of the table, trouble."
"Trouble! It wasn't me. It was Mimi." She skipped back to her side of the table and got back up in her chair. "Daddy. Was that her? Cause she is very pretty."
I smiled. "Her name is Terra."
She picked up her chocolate milk and took a long drink as she motioned for me with her other hand to keep going. I chuckled, unable to help myself. Little people always made common things seem more precious.
"She has long red hair and really white skin." I wasn't doing Terra a bit of justice, but hopefully, it was good enough for my six-year-old across the table from me.
"Oh yes." She put her glass down and licked her lips. "And really big green eyes."
I nodded as my voice softened. "Yeah. She's beautiful, right?"
"So pretty. Like Ariel from the ocean." She pressed her chin into her hands and continued to lick at her little mouth.
"You're pretty like that too." I pulled my napkin from my lap and leaned over to wipe her mouth carefully. "No, you're beautiful, but you knew that, right, Peanut?"
She nodded and crinkled her nose again. "Only cause you tell me, Daddy."
"Good. Let's get over to Mimi and PawPaw's house. I want to spend a little bit of time with them before I go on my date."
"Can I go?" She bounced in her seat. "Oh, please, Daddy? I want to meet Ariel."
I laughed and stood up to pull a twenty from my wallet. "Not this time, but you'll get to meet Terra soon. I promise."
"Alright. Fine." She got off her chair and balled her little hands into fists. She reminded me so much of Jannie when she pouted. Beautiful and dangerous.
I tossed the twenty on the table and reached down to scoop her up. "No pouting. It makes you too pretty." I munched at her tummy as she thrashed and giggled. An older couple held the door for us, smiling at me as I walked out to the truck with her. She wanted to ride on the back of the bike and asked all the damn time, but she was still way too tiny for that.
"Daddy! Stop. I'm going to tell Mimi!"
"Alright. Fair enough." I put her down on her side of the truck and opened the door before bowing a little. "Princess Lyndsay."
"Dad. I'm Ana today." I helped her into the truck as she gave me a look.
"And tomorrow?"
"I don't know. Tomorrow isn't here yet." She smiled so big I thought it might crack her cute little face.
"Very true." I closed the door and walked to my side, feeling the way I always did when I took a break from life and spent time with Peanut - renewed.
"So." My mom stood at the edge of the living room with her hand on her hip. "Lyndsay just said that you have a date tonight with a princess."
I laughed and shook my head. "And you're the one that showed her said princess's picture from what I heard."
Mom shrugged and walked in to sit next to me. "She wanted to know about when you were a kid, so I told her the stories. Terra is just a big part of those times. It's hard not to include her."
"I get it." I leaned back and reached for her hand. "What's going on with Dad?"
She shrugged and glanced down at our hands. "I don't know. You know he's as stubborn as a mule. He wouldn't go to the doctor today even though he still feels a little weak."
"Did he do something to make him feel out of it?"
She turned her attention back to me. "No. Not that I know of."
"I'm going to go check on him." I stood.
"Just don't baby him. You know he gets crazy about that." She got up and followed me down the hall.
I knocked on their bedroom door and poked my head in the room. "Dad?"
"Yeah. I'm up. Just reading the paper. Come on in, Dan." He sat up on the bed and scooted his butt back against the pillows to prop himself up. He patted the bed beside him. "Where's peanut?"
I walked in and mom followed me. "She's playing with some new dolls mom got her."
My father rolled his eyes. "Dolls. Ugh. We need to get that girl started on throwing a ball or at least catching one."
I smiled and sat down, making room for my mother. "I'm pretty sure she's going to be a little more like Jannie than me, Dad."
"That's not such a bad trade-off." He reached out and patted my hand. "Stop looking worried. I had some spicy food and it fu- jacked up my system. Nothing to be worried about. It wasn't my heart. The EKG machine showed that I was fine."
"Those things don't work all the time." My mom leaned in a little.
"I'm fine, baby. I promise." My dad offered a forced smile. "I am a little thirsty though."
"I'll get you something. Coffee? Water?" She stood back up. "Daniel, you want something too?"
"Water," my dad responded.
"No. Thanks." I turned to face him.
His eyes followed her all the way out of the room. He turned back to me and offered a tired smile. "Look. I'm pretty sure I'm okay, but if something happens to me, you know that your mother is your responsibility."
I nodded, hating this same old talk. "Dad. I think maybe you should just go visit your heart doctor and make sure-"
"No. I said that I'm fine and I am. I just need to know that you're going to take care of your momma and Lyndsay when I do pass. It's going to happen one day."
"Yeah, but not today." I reached out and gripped the top of his hand. "And I'll always take care of them."
His shoulder rolled in a little as he let out a long breath. "I knew you would. You're a good man, son."
"I need something from you too." I moved my eyes back up to focus on him.
"Sure. If I have it, it's yours."
"I love Terra, Dad. I always have." I waited for him to rant and rail on me, but when he didn't, I continued, "and I know her and I have some shit in our pasts, but she's a good woman. S
o much better than I deserve."
He nodded. "I'm not sure I agree with that, but if you're asking for my blessing, then you have it. Your life is yours to orchestrate, Dan. Do what you think is best, just remember there's a little girl in there that is affected by everything you do."
I nodded. "I know. I think Terra would be a great mother to Lyndsay."
"Maybe so, but go slow with her. Heartache takes time to heal, son. And if you think it's healed just because of seeing each other again, you're wrong. You're just pulling off the old Band-Aids. Give the wound some air and then see where you are."
"Alright. I still think you need to go to the doctor."
He smirked. "That's your opinion, and last time I checked, you were a baseball playboy, not a doctor."
"Does it count that I play a doctor at the bar on occasion?" I lifted my eyebrows as he laughed.
"Daniel! Gross." My mom walked in and gave me a look.
My father and I shared a long laugh, making my confession all worth it.
Chapter 22
Terra
"What are you nervous about?" Niki's voice blared from the phone sitting on my bathroom counter.
"I don't know. I just want the night to go good. You know Danny and I blow up at each other at the drop of a hat." I pulled the straps to a dark blue cotton dress over my shoulders. It barely hit the top of my knees but was conservative. After taking it in the ass from him in the players’ locker room shower the other day, I felt the need to remind him that I wasn't the slut I played on TV, or so it felt.
"So, what? That's a passionate relationship, Terra. People who don't fight have peace, yeah, but how much passion is there? Seriously?"
"I don't know." I reached back and zipped up my dress. "What do you know about Jannie's little girl? I've been here for a few weeks, and I've yet to meet her."
"I'm sure Danny is super protective over her, which is a good thing. No kid needs to be subject to a million hopeful exchanges with potential moms or dads." She sighed. "It's the reason why I haven't dated very often. I don't want Benji getting the hope in his head that some dude I bring home is going to turn into his new daddy." I could hear the strain in her voice and it hurt me.
We Belong Together: A BBW Second Chance Romance Page 11