Spring Training

by KB Winters

  “Fuck you, Summer! Cody is my boyfriend. And he told me all about you and your delusions!”

  I smiled at her, waiting for her to crumble, but instead, she laughed and shook her long hair back over her bare shoulders. “Oh, honey. You’re in way over your head here. But hey, kudos for getting him into your bed. That couldn’t have been easy for a girl like you.”

  My fists clenched into tight, dynamite charged balls. One more word and she was going to get knocked onto her perfectly toned ass.

  Summer shrugged and sat down on the bed. “You into threesomes?”

  “What? No!”

  “Pity. Cody would probably like that.”

  I shook my head. “No he wouldn’t.”

  Would he?

  Summer laughed. “As his girlfriend you should know that yes, yes he would. Cody’s a wild tiger that can’t be tamed.”

  “Whatever you think you know about him is all in the past. He’s different now. You don’t know him anymore.”

  Summer shrugged. “Tell yourself whatever you want to hear, my friend.”

  “We’re not friends,” I bit out between bared teeth.

  Summer looked unruffled. She considered her nails under the soft light coming from the bedside lamps. “When Cody and I were together, back in college, he was insatiable. Every night. Every morning. Threesomes, strippers, vibrators, handcuffs, you name it, baby cakes, and he wanted to try it.” She cocked her head at me and sized me up with another long glance. “You’re something like an appetizer. You know, the little snack you eat before you go out and get your main meal. There’s no way that a girl like you would ever be enough to keep him happy. I mean, look, you’re here to surprise him in his hotel room. Right?”

  I didn’t reply.

  “Look at what you’re wearing. It’s all wrong.”

  “Who said I was going to be wearing anything at all when he got up here?”

  Summer laughed. “You’re not the spread eagle on the bed type, Chelsea. I remember you from school. You were a nerdy little prude then, and I’m sure not much has changed.”

  “How did you get in here? I have Cody’s spare key.”

  Summer laughed. “I have his room key. You weren’t supposed to be here, remember? He’s coming back here tonight, expecting to see me, just like this,” she paused and licked her lips as she glanced down her own bared curves. “See, I travel with the team, so we can have as much fun as we want on the road and no one ever knows.”

  “So, you want me to believe that you’re Cody’s girlfriend, but he’s hiding you in hotel rooms and only sees you during away game trips?” I clucked my tongue. “You better work on straightening out your story.”

  Summer grinned. “Tell yourself whatever you want, Chelsea, but Cody belongs to me. Whatever the two of you have back in Oklahoma City is no concern to me. I have Cody’s heart and in about twenty minutes, I’m gonna have every inch of his beautiful body, too.”

  My heart hammered at the disgusting visual image of Summer and Cody together. I turned away before she could see the hot tears glistening in my eyes.

  Summer called after me as I made my way back to the door. “Remember, Chelsea, when you want to run with the big dogs, you have to be a bitch, or you’ll get eaten alive. Men like Cody will always do whatever they want. Take whatever they want. If you’re not okay with that, it would be best to bow out now.”

  The tears fell as soon as I pushed out of the room and ran back to the elevators without another glance back.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Cody

  After another runaway game, I hustled through the post-game shit, showered, and went out to get my place on the bus back to the hotel. After last night’s steamy phone sex, I was eager to get back to my room and dial up Chelsea for another hot session. Robby wasn’t in the locker room, so I went out to the hallway to see if he was hanging out with the rest of the guys who were done.

  Robby and I had become pretty close over the last weeks. I hadn’t intended on making friends on the team. At least not until my place was secured and I didn’t have to worry about being shipped back to Holdenville, or worse, dropped from the league altogether. Being a pro athlete had many pitfalls. One of which, was never knowing exactly where you were going to end up, or for how long. It was best not to put too much effort into anything—besides your game—until you really locked into place.

  I knew I had the skills to become one of the best pitchers in the league, but that didn’t always prove to be enough. The front office had to value you enough to put up with your bullshit. The coaching staff had to find you pliable and not a prima ballerina type. The fans had to latch onto you enough to get their asses in the seat with your name embroidered on their hats, shirts, and other merchandising shit. And even then…shit happens. One bad streak, blow up, scandal, or injury and it could all tumble back down.

  Some of the greats had fallen hard enough that they couldn’t get back up.

  Baseball might not be my true passion, but it was for now. I didn’t have a plan B until I socked away enough coin to make something else happen.

  Something that maybe involved the doe-eyed girl with big ideas, fire hot passion, and a body that made me break out in a sweat just thinking about it.

  With a grin on my face and sexy images flashing through my mind, I rounded the corner out of the locker room, and nearly ran smack dab into a petite brunette with big hair and an even bigger grin.

  “Paris? What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping back.

  She grinned. “I came to see my man. But don’t you worry, Mr. Wright. I brought a little stowaway just for you.”

  My heart went into triple time. “Chels is here?”

  “Your welcome!”

  I laughed. “How did you peel her away from her computer?”

  Chelsea had been glued to the damn thing for the past week. I understood why but it didn’t stop me from wanting to smash it to pieces sometimes. She worked way too hard. All hours of the night. So consumed that she forgot to eat or sleep at times. But the game she was working on was hella cool and she was almost done. Then I’d be there to steal her attention back.

  Besides, it’s not like she was completely ignoring me. I still managed to get her out of her clothes every night before I coaxed her to sleep.

  “It wasn’t easy,” Paris replied, answering my question. She flashed me a smile. “But she’s here. Back at your hotel. It was supposed to be a surprise but I’m terrible at surprises.”

  I laughed. “Well, I’m glad. I gotta get outta here. Tell Robby to tell Coach I hopped a cab, all right?”

  “Sure thing. Go get her, tiger.”

  I was laughing as I bolted down the hall. I dialed a local cab service and had them meet me around the side of the stadium. I didn’t want to deal with hecklers and angry fans after the embarrassment my fastball pitches just put their guys through. It wouldn’t be pretty and it would most definitely wreck my good mood.

  I got to the hotel without any nasty LA fans catching me and hurried to the elevators and rode up to my floor. My hustle stopped a few feet from the door and I forced my swagger back into my step and drew in some slow breaths to get me good and chill. She wanted to surprise me, so I was going to let her. There was no reason to take away her fun—or rat Paris out for being a blabbermouth.

  I swiped the key, pushed open the door, and grinned at the soft candle light.

  “My, my, what’s all this?” I asked, smiling as I dropped the door closed softly behind me. I kicked out of my shoes and took three steps down the small hallway into the main part of the room.

  At the sight on the bed, I stopped dead in my tracks, and a scowl quickly replaced the wide smile.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Summer?”

  Summer was lying on my bed, bare ass naked except for a pair of ruby red heels that dangled from the edge of the bed. Her hair and makeup like she just finished a damn porn shoot. She flashed me a wicked smile, her lips the same color as her revo
lting shoes. “I came to see you, handsome. After a game like that, you deserve a nice, celebratory night. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Damn it, Summer.” I picked up a candle from the desk and blew it out. I slammed my fist at the light switch panel and the overhead lights popped to life. I blew out the other candles.

  “You’re ruining the atmosphere,” she whined.

  I rounded on her and growled, “Get out. Now.”

  She popped up from the bed and I kept my eyes locked on hers, refusing to look at all the goodies she was hell bent on flashing for me. Sure, she was hot as hell. Had a body like a pin-up model. But it didn’t matter. She was my past. Certainly not my present. And sure as hell not gonna be my future.

  She took crisscross steps over to me and dragged her hands down my chest. “Come on, Cody. I’ve missed you. Play with me. I’ll let you do anything…you…want…”

  I grabbed her wrists and lifted her hands off of my chest. “What I want is for you to leave my hotel room and never come back. Don’t look my way. Don’t speak my name. Accept the fact that what we had is ancient history and you’re never getting it back again.”

  Summer smiled all the more. “Is this because of your mousy little girlfriend? Chelsea?”

  I grit my teeth, my jaw flexing tight.

  She let out a cold laugh that chilled through me like the blast from dunking into an ice bath. “She’s not going to want anything to do with you. I sent her on her way already.”

  My heart stopped, frozen in my chest. “Damn it, Summer!”

  I threw her wrists out of my hands before I let the anger take hold and did something to hurt her. I’d never hurt a woman in my life, but between her smart ass grin and the vile words coming from her lips—I didn’t fully trust myself. I backed up a few steps and slammed my hand down on the desk. The candles rattled together in their glass holders.

  Summer shrugged. “You don’t need her, baby. She’s not cut out for this life. She doesn’t understand how it is. A girl like her, she expects certain things.”

  “Oh, yeah? Like what?” I said, my jaw still clenched tight, making the words sound pinched and clipped.

  “Like fidelity.”

  I straightened and crossed my arms. “And what, you don’t think I’m capable of that or some shit?”

  Summer laughed. “No.”

  “I never cheated on you, Summer.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know that for certain. But sure, let’s say that’s true—”

  “It is.”

  “Okay. But how are you going to be faithful when you’re traveling all the time? Having women constantly throwing themselves at you? There’s a lot of free pussy in pro sports. You know that. You’re really going to turn it all down for one woman? Come on, Cody. That’s not you. You and I both know you have a certain…appetite.”

  My eyes flashed. Sure, I liked sex. What guy didn’t? That didn’t mean I was going to go cheating on Chelsea. So far, she had proved more than able to keep up with me.

  “She will never understand you like I will,” Summer added.

  “Because you’re a whore? Is that what this is?”

  She didn’t even flinch at the ugly word. “I can provide what you need. No strings. Just fun. Hot, nasty, and as dirty as you want. Since I’m with the team, I’ll travel with you and you can have me any time you want. Or need. Whatever you crave.”

  I shook my head. “What’s Willis think about all that?”

  She let out a cruel laugh. “He’s passed out from one too many bourbons by seven. I don’t even remember the last time he made it through a full ball game that wasn’t a matinee. That leaves me plenty of time to play around.”

  “And what? That’s it? I don’t get why me. There are probably a half a dozen other guys on this team that would jump at your offer. Why are you doing this to me?”

  I needed to cut to the quick. Every minute spent talking to Summer was a minute wasted in chasing down Chelsea and begging her to forgive me. To get her to believe me that this was not a set-up or something that I wanted. My heart squeezed tight at the thoughts that must be racing in her mind. Had Summer been naked, like she still was, the moment Chelsea had sneaked into the hotel room? Or, had she seen her downstairs, in the lobby? Neither option was good, but if she had gotten inside the room and seen this…fuck.

  She’d never forgive me. It would be the end.

  “I miss you, Cody,” Summer replied, her voice softer. “I didn’t want things between us to end but I can see now why you did. You were off to bigger and better things and needed some freedom. But that’s all changed now. I have my own life, my own friends, my own money—”

  “I think you mean Willis’ money.”

  She shrugged. “Whatever. The point is that we can be together now the way that you wanted it to be back them. We’re both adults now. We can be honest with each other.”

  “I don’t want this, Summer. There, that’s me being honest. You and I were over, like I keep telling you. I get what you’re trying to do but I’m not interested. Go be someone else’s plaything.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Chelsea Brooks was a nerdy girl all her life. I knew her back in high school. She would sit in the cafeteria all by herself, day after day because no one wanted her—”

  “Well I want her!” I bellowed, the sound bouncing off the walls like an echo. “Get that through your fucking head, Summer! I want her. I love spending time with her, the way she smiles, the sound of her laugh. I love the way she looks when she’s asleep. The way she smells. And you know what I really love?” I took a step closer to Summer and dropped my voice. “I love how it feels to be inside her. I love fucking her every damn night and going to sleep beside her, knowing that there’s no way I could get enough of her.”

  Summer’s face crumpled and I didn’t even feel a sting of regret. I whipped away from her and went to the bed. I ripped the covers apart, tore the top sheet from the bed, wadded it up, and chucked it at her face. “I don’t know where your damn clothes are and I don’t care. As soon as I find them, they’re going in the fuckin’ trash. Get. Out. Now.”

  Her cheeks went crimson. “You’re going to regret this, Cody Wright. Mark my words I will make you pay for treating me this way!”

  “Out.” I pointed at the door.

  She stared at me for another half a second and then stormed out of the room, wrapping the sheet around her as she went. She grabbed a long coat from the back of the desk chair and I realized that must have been all she wore in. Moments later, the heavy front door slammed shut. I stalked across the room, threw the security latch closed, and pounded my fist against the cold metal.

  “Damn you, Summer!”

  I sucked in a deep breath and tried to stop my heart from bashing in against my chest. When I could breathe again, I yanked my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Chelsea’s number. It went straight to voicemail and I crushed the sides of the phone with my hand.

  At the beep, I left a message. “Chels, it’s Cody. Shit went sideways. I need to talk to you. Call me back. It’s not what you think.”

  I tried to call right away but got the same result. I left a second message. “Please, Chels. You know I wouldn’t hurt you. Call me.”

  I hung up and then stormed out into the hallway. Robby’s room was next door to mine. I banged on the door but no one answered. I didn’t even know if he was back from the stadium yet. The busses always took forever. Or, since Paris was there, he might have taken her out for a drink.

  On second thought, I scratched out that theory. Those two were headed straight back to the room. Probably at light speed and they’d show up half naked.

  I planted my socked feet in front of their hotel room door, my legs wide and crossed my arms. I’d be waiting there when they showed up, and I wasn’t going to let them get busy until they helped me get a hold of Chelsea. She might not be answering my calls, but surely she’d answer her best friend.

  Minutes later, their voices carried from down the hall.
They rounded the corridor and Robby backed Paris against the wall. They were mid lip-lock and, as expected, he had his hand so far up her shirt that the good majority of her torso was on display.

  “Damn it, guys. Not the fuckin’ time!” I hollered, stalking over to them.

  They broke apart, both flashing me confused expressions. Paris rallied first. “Where’s Chels?”

  “You forget a pack of rubbers, man? I got some in my room.”

  I groaned. “No! Fuck! Chelsea left. Paris, I need you to call her and tell her it was a mistake. I need to talk to her and she’s not answering my calls anymore.”

  Paris shook her head like she was dazed after a fall. “Okay, hold up, bro. What the hell happened? I sent her to your room. Robby swiped the spare keycard from your wallet and she was going to…you know…surprise you.”

  I raked a hand over my hair. “Yeah, well instead, she got there to see a surprise…”

  “What?” they said in unison.

  I gave them the brief rundown and they both groaned at the grand finale about Chelsea likely walking into my room and finding my naked ex-girlfriend spread eagle on the bed.

  “Balls, man. That fuckin’ sucks,” Robby said, slapping my shoulder. “Baby, call Chels and tell her it was a mistake.”

  Paris was on it, her fingers flying across her phone. She pressed it to her head and all too soon, shook her head at me. Her eyes darkened and she lowered the phone. “She sent me to voicemail. Damn it!”

  “Try again. Leave her a message to call you. Should I go to the airport?”

  “Good idea!” Robby said. “We’ll keep trying to call and get in touch if we get her on the phone. If she’s at the airport, then we’ll tell her to wait for you.”

  “Thanks guys. Sorry to rain on your parade.”

  Paris waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. We got you.”