Grand Slam: (Love for the Game Book 5)

by Remi Grey

  I made a face. Although I didn’t need Helen’s approval at all, her words still disappointed me. “You trying to be with her, especially considering you’re going to be signed to the same team as her brother, it’s only going to make things worse. She could never get over it.”

  “I don’t want her to get over anything. She has a right to mourn him, but she also has a right to live. I’m not trying to derail her, Helen. I’m just trying to get to know her. Why is that such a big deal if for once she’s not left to pick up the pieces? Why is it a big deal if something does happen between us?”

  Helen got quiet for a beat and then said, “If you hurt her, I swear I’ll have your contract having you be my bitch for life.” My eyes widened at her shift. She straightened up and then softened her tone. “But I really want her to be happy, Tyson. I think you can help her find that. Please don’t let me be wrong.” Helen, typically so up in arms about everything, looked down at me with the saddest eyes and I wanted so badly to prove her right.

  “I promise I won’t,” I said.

  ********

  In my dressing room, wardrobe had set aside my baseball uniform and a bat to pose with. As the makeup artist blotted and touched up my look for the shoot, I thought about Sara and flipped through my phone at the last few messages we had sent each other. We had barely spoken over the past few days. Maybe Helen was right. It was all too much too soon.

  Just as the makeup artist finished touching up my face there was a knock on the door. Helen peeked in as though she could hear her mentioned in my thoughts.

  “You ready?”

  I nodded. “Almost. Just gotta put that on and we’re good to go.”

  She turned her neck to look at my phone and held her chest, “Oh, how cute.” I rolled my eyes and she laughed. “Hurry up, okay?”

  I did. Once I was left alone in my room, I threw on the uniform and rushed out. Down the hallway I could see Helen standing before the set up, actively speaking with someone. With her words in mind I sped up my pace, the chatter of the photographers and clicking from the practice shots acted as my motivators. Then I froze when a new figure popped up.

  Helen beamed at her and gestured her over. Sara. She smiled big at Helen as their conversation began to unravel. I started to back into the hallway. What I would do, where I would go...the answers weren’t clear. The only thing that seemed obvious was my loud baseball uniform. Knowing that I was a baseball player would scare her away but the idea that I’d never get the chance to know her was worse.

  Right as I was about to turn the corner and take refuge in my dressing room, she looked up at me, her eyes widening in realization of something. Then, she was coming right at me and I braced myself for the worst.

  Chapter 7

  Sara

  My eyes shifted upwards. I had to squint but then I realized that it was Tyson in the hallway. My eyes widened in shock to see him here. Helen never told me that she was working with Tyson today. “Would you excuse me?” I told Helen although I was already walking away.

  He had moved around the corner. Perhaps because he had forgotten something. I walked down the same hall, preparing to turn the corner, and saw him coming out of his room in a white T-shirt and pants.

  “Hey,” I said.

  We were a few feet away from each other.

  “Hey.”

  The same heat rushed back to my face, and my heartbeat followed suit as it picked up the pace against my chest. There was an extended moment of silence, his eyes hovering over mine intensely while I tried not to visibly shake in his presence. I thought I had succeeded in a routine greeting between him and I, but then like waves we were clashing against each other. I held onto his neck while we kissed. He somehow managed to lead me to the door to his room a foot away, using his open hand to turn the doorknob before we fell into the entrance both of us more focused on each other than the events going on down the hall.

  I heard the door shut.

  He took both of my legs and pulled me up to his level, pinning me to the wall near the door of the small dressing room. Instinctively, my legs wrapped around him like a measuring tape winding back into itself. We were just as kinetic, just as determined as we explored each other with him sucking on my bottom lip and me savoring his taste.

  He moved on to my neck, leaving kisses in the nooks like notes you slid into your crush’s locker in middle school. My dress made it easy for him to slide off my panties and throw them behind him. Without it, his fingers were left to travel down my navel, the inner thigh, and around and around my pussy. I started to moan at the touch.

  A second heartbeat in me arose as he continued to finger me, strumming and caressing my body in the only way he knew how. “Tyson,” I whispered in his ear. I could feel the wetness dripping down my quivering thighs, falling onto his fingers. He kept going even when the movements of my legs and my body became out of my control. I didn’t even hear him pull out his cock until he was teasing me with it, running it in circles around my pussy and laughing when I groaned impatiently.

  “Stop, Tyson. Come onnn,” I pleaded.

  “Say please.”

  Stubborn as I was, I said nothing, making a face at him. A quick surface level touch from it made me convulse already as I was turned on by the fingering from a few seconds earlier. “Please. Pleaseee,” I begged.

  He laughed again before kissing me. That distracted me for a beat until I felt him sliding into me, giving me exactly what I had been asking for. I let out a sigh. With his arms still supporting my legs, he started thrusting, making me bounce. Our moans filled the room. “Tyson,” I exhaled. “Tyson!” This was more of a scream. I had to bite down another as he went faster, my moans motivating him to perform his best work.

  The dripping I felt before now felt comparable to a broken faucet as my thighs became almost submerged in my own cum. My breathing came out in uneven huffs as I let my fingers drag on his back, failing to get a steady grip for support because of the sweat that had accumulated. I moaned as he continued to fuck me, the vibrations lifting me to a heightened sense of peace.

  My eyes rolled back into my head. It felt good having him take care of me. My body felt like it was floating and with him here to hold me, I could only release all the toxic ties that had held me down for so long. For the first time in a long time, I could be selfish. I could be happy. As we slowed down, he prioritized quality over quantity, stroking into me deeper and longer. My body pushed out a final wave, submerging both him and me, before he pulled out and finished.

  For a moment, neither of us spoke. We just gazed at each other in awe, him hovering his hand over my cheek before leaning in and kissing me long and hard.

  “I love you,” I said.

  At the moment it slipped out, it felt perfect. The expression on his face was the only thing that made me want to take it back.

  “Sara, I need to tell you something.”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Tyson,” I heard. It was the coordinator for the photoshoot. “We need you in wardrobe and on the set, like, yesterday.” He sighed and looked at me apologetically. I heard footsteps walking away, but they returned soon afterward. “Oh, and bring the baseball bat. America loves it!”

  My eyebrows furrowed. Why would he need a baseball bat if he was a soccer player? I shot a look at him as my mind jumped to a hundred conclusions in a second. “What is he talking about?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he confessed. “I--”

  “Hold on.” I pushed him aside and moved to the side of the table before the vanity. “This baseball bat?” I pulled it from the crevice between the wall and the table. You wouldn’t have otherwise noticed it unless you knew what you were looking for.

  “I can explain, Sara.”

  I expected anger to flow through me, but as I contemplated what to say next, I could only shrink up in sadness. “You lied to me.” His face fell. You’d have thought it was him who had been deceived. “We’re done.”
r />   Chapter 8

  Tyson

  Seeing Sara walk out like that, my worst fear was realized. I followed her out of the room, attempting to delay her journey. “Wait,” I said stepping in front of her. We were near the edge of the hallway where at least a handful of people were gathered with cameras. Neither of us needed the kind of press that they’d provide us with. “I was going to tell you. Please, can we talk?”

  “Why would I trust anything you say?” she questioned in a shrill voice. “I mean, what was the reason? Ian?” The fact that she was so comfortable mentioning him made me tense up.

  “I don’t know what’s worse, when people bombard me with questions about Ian or when they ignore everything that pertains to him? Baseball…” She paused as she turned away from me, letting the words play on her tongue. “I don’t hate it. Despite what you think I don’t hate it. I love it.” The smile on her face fought with the tears straining her eyes. “I love it so much. And it took something away from me last year. Now, it’s doing it again.”

  With that she ran off, tears streaming down her flushed face. Helen called Sara’s name but after she zoomed past her, she shot me a death glare before chasing after her. Moving closer to the center of the room made me a target to the photographer who summoned me to the set after his assistant forced me into wardrobe. I couldn’t force a smile for the next hour and the serious look considered attractive to the photographer failed me too. I could only stare into the lens with my head filled with thoughts about how bad I messed up.

  ********

  Helen wasted no time in pouncing on me the next time we had a meeting together. “What the hell did you do?” she screeched as soon as I shut the door. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. I had no excuse and confessing what I did--what I knew was wrong--felt futile.

  “I know I’m your agent and everything so I’m going to say this respectfully: You are such a bitch.” My jaw dropped a little. Sure, Helen was a bit much with everything but even this hurt me. “You punked out on her right as she was falling for you. Oh, and might I add right after having sex with her!”

  I could feel the heat rushing to my face. The amount she knew about my failures flooded me with embarrassment and shame. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like that. I swear.” I tried to get her to understand the words that were coming out of my mouth. Words felt so weak to express what I was really feeling inside. “I love her!”

  This made her go quiet. “I can’t believe you would hurt her and crush her like this. Sara is my good friend. You must fix this and fix it fast.

  “No! Helen, you’ve got to believe me that I didn’t mean to hurt her. What do I have to do for you to believe me, rather for Sara to believe in me?” Desperation plagued my voice.

  She sighed and looked me in the eyes. For the first time, it felt like she was listening. “Sign the contract. Preferably after you tell her to her face the entire story.” She said this sternly. Then as if a weight had been lifted from her, her face softened. “And do something amazing. If you really love her, you’ll know what to do.” I brightened at her words, feeling both grateful and anxious to talk to Sara again. I couldn’t just let us end before we even began.

  “Thank you.”

  As I was about to head to the door, her voice stopped me again. “You didn’t hear it from me but she’s at home now.” She didn’t follow her statement with anything else, but I knew what I had to do. I gave her a final smile before zooming out the door.

  Chapter 9

  Sara

  My mom was in the dining room with a glass of wine in her hand and her phone in the other. She had been going on about plans for the following week with her assistant for the past thirty minutes. As for me, I sat in the nearby living room, huddled on the couch watching old cartoons. Watching them brought me a certain level of peace. I remembered when my brother and I would watch together after school. We’d throw our backpacks to the ground, forgetting about the homework assignments piling up in them, and just snack on some cookies we found in the pantry until our mom got home from work.

  I could remember the days when she cared. When she really cared about us. About Ian. Now, it just felt like she was capitalizing off of him. With all the interviews and events, it was hard to see when she gave herself the chance to be sad.

  There was a knock on the door prompting her to shout from the dining room. “Sara, can you get that?” I begrudgingly stood up and opened the door. Immediately, I was met with none other than Benny Williams, an interviewer, and the rest of her crew.

  “Hi, Sara, we’re here for an interview.”

  I pushed the door slightly. “Your mom invited us. We wanted to finish up what we couldn’t last time and also talk a little more about you and America’s favorite up and coming baseball player, Tyson.” She raised a magazine up to my face where I saw a blurry shot of me storming away with a glimpse of Tyson following suite. My eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in anger as I shut the door on their face.

  My breaths were coming out unevenly. I could feel the anger bubbling in me as my mother started to approach the door. “What are you doing? Let them in, sweetheart.”

  “What is wrong with you?” I questioned her on the verge of tears.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said what I said. You treat Ian like a paycheck rather than your son! Am I the only one who gives a shit anymore?” My voice came out shrill. I had never spoken to my mother like that, but I had had enough.

  “Sara!” she said sternly. “Don’t you walk away from me! You have some nerve. Acting like you sulking for your brother isn’t just some ploy for attention. It’s been one whole year! Do you get that?” I stopped short in my tracks. “You wouldn’t think to remember the time I spent away because I couldn’t handle it all. You wouldn’t think to remember the fact that I was on antidepressants. No, because it’s all about you and how you feel and what you want. I’m trying to make this about Ian and what he would’ve wanted.”

  I shot a look at her. “You wouldn’t know what he would’ve wanted. Don’t you dare ever try that again,” I spat. Then, I walked away from her with tears brimming in my eyes but not being bold enough to fall.

  Before I could ascend the stairs to be on my way to my room, I stopped by a door. It looked similar to all of the other ones in this house, but this one made me hold my breath. It felt like both an honor and a fear to breathe the same air as it. I placed my hand on the wood, running my hand down before pulling it away as though I had been shocked. Then, I pulled it open. The door creaked as it welcomed me in. I stood in front of it unmoving, afraid of what I would find and more afraid of what I would do.

  I stepped in slowly, enveloping myself in the darkness and letting the door shut behind me. My hands found the lights and flicked them on, revealing everything that I had been shutting out. Everything that had been causing me pain. Ian.

  As I descended the stairs into the basement I was met with a huge candid portrait of Ian, smiling big, his blonde hair flowing from the wind that swept through the field that day. He was still in his uniform, the baseball bat swung over his shoulders.

  I finally got to the ground floor and was flooded with everything baseball, everything Ian. His trophies from middle school, his contract for the leagues in a frame on the wall, certificates, rings, baseballs, posters--all neatly arranged for it to appear less like the room of a devoted fan and more like a sort of museum.

  Suddenly, I felt the air get knocked from my lungs and I doubled over trying to catch my breath. I felt like I was having a heart attack as I started to break down, tears streaming down my face in hot rivers. I fell back into a boulder. Or at least it felt like a boulder. I didn’t think too much about what it was until strong arms wrapped around me, holding me securely.

  Chapter 10

  Tyson

  Rebecca had pointed vaguely to the basement when I arrived at Sara’s home and had asked where she was that afternoon. I walked warily in that direction, worried that she
was just trying to throw me off, until I walked into what appeared to be a shrine for Ian. Seeing Sara on the floor set me into motion. I could only wrap my arms around her to support her while she sobbed into my chest.

  She didn’t pull away. Instead, we both got comfortable on the floor even after she was done crying. We were both silent for a long while. This something amazing that Helen had urged I do for her I realized didn’t have to be big or expensive--it was as simple as just being there. It felt good to have her trust me enough to even let me hold her.

  She looked up at me, eyes filled with as much pain as passion, and kissed me. This felt needed and full as I embraced her back. When we pulled away from each other, I remembered what I had to do.

  “Sara, I’m signing my contract tomorrow.” I bit my tongue and then added, “For baseball.” She was silent and as I tried to decipher the look on her face, I held my breath anxiously. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was just afraid that I’d push you away and I ended up doing that anyway. It’s just that I love you. The idea of losing you scares me so much I hid the truth and I’m sorry.”