The Rival: A Washington Rampage Sports Romance

by Megan Green

  Indifference.

  The rush of anger I was anticipating is nowhere to be found. I don’t have to beg Lexi and Liv to hold me back so that I don’t fly over the railing and leap at him, trying to claw his eyes out for what he did to me. Instead, it’s as if I’m looking at a stranger. Someone whose presence has no bearing on me whatsoever.

  And, when my eyes find Carter’s and I see him watching me with attentive eyes, as if he’s only seconds away from dropping his glove and darting across the field if he thinks I need him, I can’t help the tears that well in my eyes.

  I was so worried about seeing Miles again that I didn’t even realize how unimportant it really was. Because, despite his betrayal, despite all the hours of tears he inflicted upon me, I’ve found something that completely eclipses the years I spent with Miles in the few short weeks I’ve been in Seattle.

  I’ve found the meaning of true love.

  I’ve found Carter.

  I let out a shaky breath, a small chuckle escaping at the end. I lower my face, my hands coming up to wipe away the tears that managed to streak down my cheeks as I watched Carter. And, when I lift my head, my gaze immediately going to Carter’s, I smile the most genuine smile I can possibly give.

  I love you, I mouth, watching as relief floods his face and his shoulders finally relax.

  I love you, too, he mouths back. So much.

  And then I watch as my best friend and the love of my life strikes out his rival for the first time in his life.

  The proud scream that leaves my lips when the last pitch hits the catcher’s mitt is ear-shattering, all the people in the row in front of me turning to give me nasty looks as I wail. I couldn’t care less though, my need to let Carter know how proud I am of him outweighing the need to please anybody else.

  Carter starts jogging toward the dugout, his eyes not leaving mine as he moves. I push my way out of my seat and down the aisle, taking the steps two at a time as I rush down to the gate.

  Carter’s there, waiting for me, his face a wide, beaming grin as he watches me descend. And, as soon as I reach him, his lips are on mine. I know he’s going to get all kinds of shit from his team and his coach for this—he’ll probably get fined by the league—but right now, I don’t care. I don’t care about anything in the world, except Carter’s lips on mine and the feel of his hands as they wrap around my face.

  “You did it, baby,” I say when he finally pulls back, dropping his forehead against mine. “I’m so proud of you.”

  He shakes his head. “You did it. Your strength was what I needed to finally get past my own demons and believe in myself. I’m proud of you, Smalls.”

  I grin as I press another kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

  He groans. “I will never get tired of hearing those words. And I love you, too.”

  Carter kisses me a few more times, neither of us wanting to leave the other until a gruff voice finally breaks through our moment.

  “Hughes, get your ass down here now,” Coach Peters bellows, causing Carter to cringe and give me a sorrowful look.

  “I’d better get back there before he murders me. Or worse, benches me.”

  I giggle. “We don’t want that. Besides, I sort of like having you alive.”

  He leans forward and gives me another peck on the lips.

  “Hughes! Now!”

  “See you after the game,” Carter says, turning around and hurrying into the dugout.

  Coach Peters glares at him the entire time, and if looks could kill, Carter wouldn’t just be dead but completely incinerated. But, when he sits down on the bench and turns to look at me, the smile he shoots my way lets me know he’s not too worried about his coach’s reaction. It gives me a little bit of reassurance, knowing he’s not going to get in too much trouble for coming over to see me. With a small finger wave, I turn and head back to my seat.

  Lexi and Liv greet me with devilish smiles.

  “Well, I’d say that went well,” Liv says, waggling her eyebrows at me as I take my seat.

  “So well,” I say, leaning back with a dreamy sigh.

  “You should’ve seen the look on your ex’s face when he saw the two of you kissing.”

  My mouth falls open at Lexi’s words, all thoughts of Miles having completely disappeared from my mind the moment Carter struck him out. I was so happy for him that I didn’t even have time to worry about Miles being in the stadium.

  “I think it’s safe to say he didn’t know you and your old pal were a thing now.”

  This doesn’t surprise me. Miles always has underestimated Carter. I’m certain he knew I came out here after leaving Stetson. Like I said, I knew there was no place he wouldn’t be able to find me, so I chose the one place I knew he wouldn’t follow.

  It isn’t until now that I realize I chose the only place I belonged. I thought I was running from Miles. But, in truth, I was running to Carter.

  Turning my focus back to the girls at my sides, I shrug. “Miles can think whatever he wants. He lost all rights to having any say in what I do the day he decided one vagina wasn’t enough for him.”

  Liv’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, I like this new sassy side of Avery. What happened to the bundle of nerves that was sitting here ten minutes ago?”

  I turn and smile at her. “She realized there was not a damn thing to be worried about. Because, no matter our past, there’s no way that man will ever be part of my future. I’ve wasted enough time caring about him and crying over what he did. Seeing him today has only solidified what I already knew.”

  “And what’s that?” Lexi asks, leaning toward me and propping her elbow up on the armrest between us.

  “That Carter has shown me more love in the short time I’ve been in Seattle than Miles did in three years. Hell, Carter showed me more love before he ever even had me than Miles ever did.

  “I thought I needed closure. That seeing Miles today would help me put that final nail in the coffin on our relationship and let me move forward freely. Turns out, it’s been buried this entire time. My past with Miles is already six feet under, and the only thing left to do is be happy. To love Carter completely and fully for the rest of my life.”

  Liv throws her arm around my shoulders and hugs me to her, Lexi leaning over and wrapping us both in her embrace.

  As soon as we let go, Liv pins me with a serious glare. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I’ve grown to like you quite a bit these last few weeks, and it would’ve been a shame to have to kill you for hurting our boy.”

  I throw my head back in laughter. “What happened to chicks before dicks and all that?”

  Liv shrugs. “Bros before hos has always been more my philosophy. Chicks are usually too complicated. And Carter is definitely my bro.”

  “I’m glad you’re sticking around, too, Avery,” Lexi says. “I don’t have anything quite so eloquent as Liv, but I like seeing you happy. And I like seeing Carter happy. And it makes me happy that you get to be happy together.”

  “And the world record for usage of the word happy goes to…” Liv interjects.

  Lexi leans over me and playfully shoves her. “Shut up. You know you’re happy, too.”

  “God help me, I am. If you’d told me even a year ago that I’d be sitting here, actually enjoying watching a baseball game in Seattle, I’d have told you to check your meds because you were clearly delusional. Yet here I am, pregnant with a baby I never knew I wanted and engaged to a cheeseball baseball player.”

  “What?” Lexi shrieks directly into my ear, causing me to wince in pain. She doesn’t seem to notice though, her hands darting across me and reaching for Liv’s left hand. When she doesn’t find anything there, her eyes flash to Liv’s in question.

  Liv laughs, loosening her hand from Lexi’s grip and leaning forward to grab her purse. After toying with a zipper on the inside for a moment, she produces a solitaire emerald cut diamond ring and places it on her finger. My eyes immediately widen.

  Before she can show the rock to
her best friend, my fingers close around her wrist as I pull the diamond up to my eyes. “Oh. My. God. Please tell me this is not a Harry Winston.”

  Liv shoots me a questioning look. “Uh, I think it is. Why?”

  My mouth falls open, all ability to speak completely leaving my body as I realize this woman just had a ring worth more than my car stuffed inside her purse on the ground. “I-I-I—” I shake my head.

  Lexi laughs from my other side. “I think what Avery is trying to say is that this ring could feed a small country. And you had it shoved in your bag like something you got from one of those candy machines at the grocery store.”

  Liv looks down at her hand in horror. “Are you kidding me? Brandon told me he got it off some wholesale website. Said it was a steal.”

  I shake my head. “You do not find Harry Winston on an outlet site. Trust me, I’m an expert.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” she says, her eyes going back out to the field as a Rampage player hits a single and makes it to first.

  In the time we’ve been talking, our team has managed three hits, and the bases are loaded.

  And coming in to do what he does best…

  “Now batting for the Rampage, the man, the myth, the legend…Brandon Jeffers.”

  The crowd goes wild as Brandon steps out of the dugout, immediately breaking out into a dance as he walks toward the plate.

  “Argh!” Liv shouts as a song starts to play. “That’s it! As if he wasn’t dead to me already, he has to go and change his intro music to that.”

  My brows furrow as I try to make out the song, but it’s entirely unfamiliar. Lexi, however, has no trouble placing it, her melodic laughter ringing out along with the music.

  “Oh, come on, Liv. You have to admit, it’s sort of catchy.”

  “I swear to God, this kid is going to come out singing that damn song and doing that damn dance.”

  I’m about to ask what dance when Brandon answers the question for me. The fingers on the hand not holding the bat come up, his index finger and thumb coming together in a small pinching movement. All the people surrounding me mimic the movement, and that’s when the lyrics start.

  “Are they saying baby shark?” I ask, looking between my two friends.

  Liv seethes as she looks at her fiancé, and Lexi just continues to laugh.

  “Yes,” she says with a chuckle. “Baby shark, the newest viral internet sensation. Also, the bane of Liv’s existence. Brandon has been driving her crazy with this song for weeks. And, now, it seems he’s decided to kick it up a notch.”

  “Only Brandon freaking Jeffers would even think to change his damn intro song to goddamn baby shark,” Liv bites out.

  I laugh as I watch her glower at Brandon, who turns and shoots her a wink as the music ends when he reaches home plate. She crosses her arms over her rounded stomach, her eyes narrowed and her head shaking as she takes him in.

  But even stony Liv can’t hide that glimmer of a smile in her eyes. He might drive her absolutely insane, but there’s no mistaking the love those two have for each other.

  I think back to that first night at the barbecue when I first met Liv and Lexi and their prospective husbands. That night, I wished I could find someone who looked at me the way Ian did Lexi and made me laugh the way Brandon did Liv.

  Turns out, he was there with me the entire time.

  But he doesn’t watch me the way Ian does Lexi.

  He doesn’t make me smile the same way Brandon does Liv.

  Because he’s Carter.

  He looks at me the way Carter looks at the love of his life.

  He makes me feel like the most important person in the entire world.

  And he makes me smile in the way only he can.

  I thought I wanted a man like Ian and Brandon.

  But all I needed was Carter Hughes.

  Chapter 21

  Carter

  I pull Avery against me, wrapping my arms around her small body as I press her back against my front. My lips immediately find her neck, and I suck and lick the sensitive flesh there, rubbing my days’ worth of stubble against her skin as she writhes into me.

  “Carter, if you don’t stop that, you’re never going to make it to practice.”

  I give her a playful nip. “Worth it though.”

  She chuckles, rolling her body over until she’s facing me. Her eyes are still bleary from sleep, her skin slightly puffy and marked from the sheets, her hair a tousled mess around her head.

  In short, she looks damn gorgeous.

  Pressing a kiss to her lips, I trail my fingers down her throat until my hand cups her breast. With a quick flip of my thumb, I pull the most exquisite moan from her lips, the sound traveling straight through my heart and down to my dick. I rock against her, letting her know just how much I want her.

  We spent last night celebrating the Rampage’s victory over the Larks. And, by celebrating, I mean, we stumbled straight from the door to our bedroom, each of us tearing at the other’s clothes as if we couldn’t get close fast enough. As soon as we hit the bed, we were on each other, neither of us pausing in our quests for the other’s pleasure for hours. Only pure exhaustion and absolute satiety finally pulled us under somewhere in the early hours of the morning.

  And, now, with Avery looking up at me with those big, dark eyes, her desire not at all hidden in their inky depths, there’s nothing more I’d like than a repeat of last night.

  Unfortunately, just as I’m about to do exactly that, Avery’s hands come down on my arms. “I mean it, Carter. You’re going to be late for practice. And you’re already in enough trouble after last night.”

  I groan, dropping my face into her neck. “You’re killing me, woman.”

  She chuckles. “You’ll live, I promise. Now, get your sexy ass out of this bed before I come to my senses and never let you go.”

  I lick a trail from her collarbone to her ear, pulling the lobe between my teeth before whispering, “I like the sound of that.”

  She chuckles and shoves me away. “You’re impossible.”

  “Only when it comes to you, Smalls. And I meant the whole you not letting me go thing. Though you keeping me hostage here, in this bed, wouldn’t be unappreciated either.”

  Her hands come up to cup my face, her thumbs tracing across my cheekbones. “You don’t have to worry about that, Hughes. I don’t plan on letting you go anytime soon. Not in here at least.”

  She places a hand over her chest, and I drop my face to follow it, pressing a kiss against the back of her hand as it covers her heart.

  “Good, because that’s the one place I never want to leave.”

  She gives me a brief kiss before nudging me out of bed. Once again, I wish I had the type of job that allowed for sick days. But I know there’s no way that, if I call and say I can’t come in, there won’t be at least two dumbasses sent to check and see if I’m bluffing.

  And, as much as I wish I could just pay off Tag and Jeffers to cover for me, I don’t want that favor hanging over my head. Who knows the lengths B would go to in order to collect compensation?

  So, instead, I get up and head to the shower, leaving a very warm and extremely inviting Avery behind in my bed. I shower quickly, washing off the remnants of last night even though doing so feels wrong. I love nothing more than the scent of Avery on my skin, and I’d wear it everywhere proudly if I didn’t hate the idea of someone else getting a whiff of what was mine.

  I walk out of the bathroom with a towel slung low around my hips, my chest still glistening with water. Avery sits up as I enter the bedroom, her bottom lip immediately pulling between her teeth.

  “That’s totally not fair, Carter. How am I supposed to control myself with you looking like that?”

  Now, it’s my turn to chuckle. “If I can manage to do it for all these years, I’m pretty sure you can handle a few minutes.”

  She crosses her arms and pouts. “That’s not fair. I had no clue I was affecting you this way. You, on the oth
er hand, do. And you’re using that beautiful body to torture me.”

  I smile as I cross the room and kiss her. “Don’t worry. I plan to use this body for many, many other things after I get home tonight.”

  “Promise?” she asks, looking up at me through her lowered lashes.

  “I swear it.”

  I dress quickly after that, grabbing my duffel and slinging it over my shoulder before heading back to give Avery a kiss good-bye.

  “It’s early. Go back to sleep and get some rest. You’re going to need it,” I add with a wink.

  As I turn and head from the room, she sighs, grumbling under her breath about how much she hates baseball. I’m still laughing as I close and lock the door behind me.

  I’ll definitely be making it up to her tonight.

  I’m pulling my shirt on over my head after practice when I feel a presence behind me. Yanking the fabric the rest of the way down, I turn and face my visitor, already knowing who I’m going to find.

  “What do you want, Jeffers?” I ask as I plop down on the bench in front of my locker, bending over to pull on my shoes.

  “Tag and I are going to stop by Tony’s on our way home and grab a beer. You wanna come?”

  I briefly consider saying yes. It’s been far too long since I had a night out with the guys, and it would be good to catch up and just shoot the shit with them for a while.

  But then a vision of Avery on her back in my bed fills my mind, her mouth open on a moan as my tongue works against her clit, and any slight remorse I was feeling at missing my friends is instantly gone.

  “No can do, bro. I’ve got, uh…other plans.”

  Brandon crosses his arms across his chest as he widens his stance before me. If I were anybody else, I’m sure I’d find it intimidating. Brandon Jeffers isn’t exactly a small man. Add in all the ink he’s got etched into his skin, and some might even say he’s a scary-ass motherfucker. But I’ve seen Brandon at his best and at his worst. And he’s really just a big softie at heart.

  “Not gonna work, dude. You can’t bully me into coming. I already told you, I have other plans.”