Fastball (Stadium Series Book 3)

by S A Clayton

  His laugh coupled with the elevator opening snaps me out of my sex fog as we make our way up to his apartment.

  “So where is this email?” Josh says the second his front door closes behind us and I make my way into the living room and sit down on his couch. When I don’t answer, he sits beside me and lifts my chin so our eyes meet. “Sunshine, I need to see it so I can help… okay?”

  I nod, opening my phone, finding the email, and handing the phone over. I know the second he sees it because his entire body locks and I can sense the anger washing over him.

  “Is this what I think it is?” he questions, his hands shaking as he holds my phone.

  I nod, not knowing what else to say.

  “So this fucker that has been taking photos and videos of us sent you this email threatening to send the photos to gossip magazines if you don’t break up with me?”

  I take a deep breath and nod, because that’s what the email says.

  “Click the link,” I mutter, knowing he’s about to blow his top when he sees it. And the second that webpage loads, his eyes bulge and his knuckles turn white against the edge of my phone.

  “Is this what I think it is?”

  “If you mean, is that a countdown clock that is currently counting down until the photos are released, you would be correct.”

  When I opened that email earlier, I thought it was a joke. Someone emailing me and wanting me to break it off with Josh because they saw us out together, but the second I saw that link and opened it, I knew this was way bigger than anything I thought possible.

  “Jesus, Harper… this is fucked up,” he mumbles while collapsing back on the couch and tilting his head back, looking up at the ceiling. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to break this off because this shit is way more than you bargained for.”

  I take a deep breath, hating the guilt I know he’s feeling right now. So I do the only thing I can do, I straddle his hips, pull his face close to mine and stare into his eyes.

  “There will be no leaving, from either of us.” My lips brush his ever so lightly. “We do this together, right?”

  He nods, taking my lips in a kiss that leaves me breathless.

  “Are you okay?” he asks, kissing lightly up and down my neck, causing every hair on my body to stand on end.

  “I’m doing okay considering there’s a countdown clock that is telling me that if I don’t break up with you in seven days, that they’ll release videos and pictures of us having sex.” I wink, causing a groan to leave his throat as I laugh, nuzzling my face into his neck and hugging him close.

  “I’m so sorry about this. I’ll call my lawyer in the morning and ask what we can do and if they can track who’s doing this. I can’t sit back and just let this happen.”

  I nod into his shoulder, kissing him lightly.

  “I promise I will do everything in my power to protect you from this.”

  I lean back, settling on his knees and I take in the pained look in his eyes.

  “Baby, you can’t shoulder the blame for this. Do I love that this is happening? Of course not. I’m more worried about you and what this means for the Hawks.”

  He shakes his head but says nothing. I know repeating ourselves over and over isn’t helping so I hope to God we can figure this out so we don’t have to find out what that countdown will do.

  “I never want any of this to touch you, sweetheart.” His fingers tangle with mine and all of the anxiety I felt coming here, wondering what we were going to do disappears and all I can seem to focus on is taking all the thoughts I know are running through his mind, and make them disappear.

  “It won’t,” I whisper, leaning down and taking his lips in a sweet kiss that turns passionate once my fingers dig into his hair and pull him closer. “But I know what can touch me…”

  The rumble of his laugh reverberates through me as his fingers dig into my hips as my core brushes against his growing cock.

  “Sunshine… I—” He doesn’t finish because my lips take his in another kiss, one that sets both of us on fire. “Jesus, I can’t get enough of you. All I want to do every second of every day is devour you, please you and fuck you until you’re breathless and limp under me.” His words cause shock waves of pleasure throughout my body, causing my hips to start moving of their own accord.

  “I can get on board with everything you just said, but right now…” I start getting off his lap, his eyes following every move I make, and lift my shirt up over my head and toss it behind me. “Right now, all I want to do is feel your hands on me, feel your cock inside me, and scream your name so loud your neighbors will hear.”

  Before he has a chance to respond, I take off every stitch of clothing, standing in front of him naked as his eyes take me in.

  “Fuck baby, you look…” I smirk, dropping to my knees in front of him and feeling my chest puff out at the look in his eye.

  “As much as I love the way you look in jeans, for this next part I would really like you out of them…”

  His intake of breath when my fingers find his belt causes my heart to beat just a little bit faster.

  “Harper,” he moans as I undo his pants and pull his cock out, my mouth salivating at the idea of tasting him. Leaning forward, my tongue darts out and licks the drop of precum that escaped. “God, damn.”

  The sound of his voice takes me out of my reverie and when our eyes meet, his hands grip my shoulders and pull me up.

  “As much as I love your mouth on me, Sunshine, I want to feel that tight pussy wrapped around me.”

  He hauls me up, my legs straddling his hips and before I have the chance to ask for him to fuck me, he thrusts up and enters me in one stroke.

  “Fucking hell,” I moan, my head falling forward and resting on his shoulder as he stills inside me.

  At first, I think something’s wrong, but then his fingers pulse against me, pulling me down farther until he’s so deep that my breath catches.

  “Josh… oh my god!” I scream, my head falling back as he slowly withdraws his cock and then slowly thrusts back in, creating delicious torture.

  “Sweetheart… you feel…”

  I nod because he’s right, this feels incredible. Better than any sex we’ve had before, and I wish I could bottle up this feeling because it’s almost earth shattering.

  “I know, Jesus, Josh, don’t stop…” I beg as his thrusts get faster and faster as I sit immobile on top of him because the feelings coursing through me are setting my skin on fire.

  “Never…” he groans as his hips start to falter and I know I need to take over, so my hands find his shoulders and I start rotating my hips as fast as I can. It feels fucking amazing and from the sounds coming from his mouth, Josh seems to appreciate my efforts.

  “Sunshine, you keep doing that and I’m going to come,” he mutters before his lips find my nipple and he uses that talented tongue of his to torture me until I can feel my orgasm racing to the surface. I love when he does this, I love when it feels like his entire being revolves around me.

  “Please…” I beg, needing something only he can provide.

  “I got you, sweetheart,” he mutters again as he thrusts into me so hard I feel it in my bones, causing every muscle in my body to contract and an orgasm to burst through me so fast that I never see it coming.

  “Oh shit… oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” I yell over and over as the orgasm rips through me, my lips searing to Josh’s just as the peak hits my body and I start to shake.

  “Goddamn, sweetheart.” Josh’s voice breaks as he thrusts into me a few more times before stilling, his cock swelling inside me as he comes, gripping my hips and pulling me down hard on his dick.

  After we both come back to earth, we sit there, still wrapped in each other’s arms and I start to laugh.

  “That wasn’t what I was expecting when I came over here,” I tease, groaning as he lifts me off his lap and places me beside him before taking the blanket off the side of the couch and handing it to me.

/>   “Me neither,” he pants, his hands still shaking as they rest on his glorious chest.

  “So what now?” I say, hating to bring the euphoria of the moment down a peg.

  Josh leans his head to the left and looks at me with a sad smile on his face. “We’ll figure it out. Like I said earlier, none of this is going to touch you. I promise.”

  I try and give him my best smile, but in the back of my mind, all I can think about saying is, What about you?

  14

  Josh

  I wake to the sound of my phone vibrating on the side table beside my bed. I reach over, see that it’s a text from my lawyer, and turn the phone off so it doesn’t wake up Harper who is still sleeping soundly beside me. My eyes cast down, taking in her naked form that is barely covered by the white sheet.

  We didn’t get much sleep last night; I took her more times than I can count and honestly, I could go again if I didn’t know she was so exhausted. I lean down, kiss the top of her head and carefully unravel myself from her arms. I take a moment to stare at her, take her in and wonder for the millionth time how I got lucky enough to get her. It seems the world around us will do anything possible to tear us apart, but she’s stayed… even when I think she shouldn’t.

  I feel the vibration of my phone in my hand once more and look down to see it’s my lawyer actually calling me, so I step out of my bedroom, closing the door behind me as I answer.

  “Please tell me you have good news,” I plead, hoping that the email I sent to him in between devouring my girl was enough to get something concrete.

  “I hate to break it to you, but whoever sent this email knew what they were doing. They’re rerouting the IP address every few seconds so we can’t track it.”

  “Fuck,” I mutter, sitting down at my island and staring out my front window. “So there’s nothing we can do about this site? Can we take it down?” I wonder out loud.

  “I would advise against that. If you shut it down without their permission, you might piss them off more and therefore everything will be released sooner.”

  He’s got a point.

  “So, I’m just supposed to sit here and do nothing? Those photos… that video, could ruin my career, it could ruin my girlfriend’s livelihood. I can’t risk that.” My voice begins to crack because the idea of losing her to this is frightening. She’s become my oxygen; she’s become essential to living in this world and losing her to blackmail will kill me.

  “I will work every angle I have, you sent me the website and the video footage from the gym. If money isn’t an option, I have a few people who might be able to help.”

  “Anything you need, just do it. I don’t care how much it costs,” I say as my lawyer agrees and hangs up. “I can’t lose her…” I whisper into the empty room, hating that this has become my life in such a short time.

  I don’t know how long I stay there, head in my hands and praying for a miracle, but when I feel light fingertips tracing patterns on my back, I peer up to see Harper smiling down at me.

  “How long have you been up?” she asks, her eyes soft as she tries to decipher what kind of mood I’m in.

  I hate that this is what she looks for, I hate that she is wary of my anger because of everything that’s going on and I vow in that moment to make sure my anger never touches her again.

  “A while. My lawyer called and wanted to talk to me about the countdown website.” I turn in my seat, opening my legs and pulling her close so she fits perfectly between them.

  “I’m guessing by the look on your face it wasn’t a happy conversation.”

  I shake my head, my fingers tracing the edge of my shirt that she pulled on when she got out of bed. I feel the edge of her boy short panties and inwardly groan, knowing I have to let her rest and plus, we should talk for more than a few minutes at a time about everything that’s happening.

  “Not the best news. He’s sending it to some people he knows that might be able to help, but from what he can see, they’ve covered their bases quite well. There’s no way to find out who made the site or who runs it.”

  “Shit,” she mutters as I pull her closer, my hands grabbing behind her knees and lifting her so she straddles my lap. One hand cups her ass while the other cups her cheek, loving the heat it creates in her eyes.

  “I know this isn’t ideal and trust me when I say if I could take all of this away, I would.”

  She shakes her head as if what I just said makes no sense. “Josh, I need you to understand something that I don’t think has sunk in yet.” Both her hands take the sides of my face as her eyes bore into mine. “I love you.” Her expression is fierce once that causes another head of mine to wake up.

  “I know,” I say softly, leaning in for a kiss but she leans back, shaking her head once again.

  “No, I don’t think you do.”

  My eyes narrow, questioning her.

  “I think you know I love you, but I don’t think you realize the magnitude of that love.” Her eyes soften just a bit before she leans in and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “I would do anything for you. I would give up my life for you, move to whichever team you want to play for but most importantly I want you to know that your dream will always come first. Always.”

  I shake my head because that’s not what I want.

  “I don’t want you to sacrifice your life, your dreams for something that would never have happened if it wasn’t for my fame or my dream.”

  She gives me a sad smile before sitting back on my knees and tracing her fingers down my chest.

  “That’s the thing, Josh. You are my dream. So, giving you up would be just as devastating for me.”

  Jesus fucking Christ. This woman is going to destroy me if she keeps talking like this. I knew she loved me, but fuck, I didn’t know she was just as invested as me. This realization causes a calmness to wash over my body as I lean in and nuzzle into her neck, kissing her lightly.

  “I love you, Sunshine… so fucking much.”

  Her arms wrap tightly around my neck and her fingers tangle themselves in my hair, causing gooseflesh to appear on every piece of exposed skin.

  “I love you too,” she whispers into my hair, and we sit there for a while, just holding each other, because in that moment, that’s what we both needed.

  “Move in with me,” I blurt out faster than my brain can catch up.

  I don’t know where those words came from, but the longer they fill the air, the more I want them to be true. I want Harper in my space. I want to know that when I come home, she’s here, I want to know that when I’m on the road, she’s in our bed, eating our food and watching me play on our TV. I want all of that. I know I gave her a key, but that was more of a gesture and not a request. Moving in requires her to give up her own place in lieu of mine, and that’s something on a completely different level.

  “What?” she breathes, leaning back and looking at me as if I have two heads. “Did you just ask me to move in with you?”

  I nod my head, hoping to God I’m not scaring her away. “Josh, we’ve only been seeing each other for a few months. We have a blackmailer trying to ruin our relationship and now you want me to upend my entire life and move in here with you?”

  “I don’t want to upend your life,” I start as she goes to say something, but I stop her. “I want to start a new life. With you.”

  She starts to shake her head, so I go into panic word vomit mode.

  “I know it’s fast, okay? But nothing about our relationship is normal. I want to come home to you, I want to know that you’re here, in our home when I’m not here… I want to start our life together.”

  Her eyes soften before she looks down and plays with the band of my sweatpants.

  “Sweetheart, I love you so much, and I just want us to be happy.”

  “I am happy,” she admits before getting off my lap and pacing around the kitchen. “You’re happy, right?”

  “Of course, I am. Can’t I be happy and still want us to move forward?” I
can see the wheels turning in her head as she paces back and forth in front of me. “Do you want to move forward?” I thought from the way she was talking earlier that we were on the same page, but maybe that doesn’t include large life decisions.

  At the fear evident in my eyes, Harper stops her pacing and makes her way toward where I’m still sitting. “Baby…” she murmurs before kissing me lightly and pulling me into her arms. “I want to move forward; this just came out of nowhere for me. I’ve been so busy trying to get through the blackmail stuff that all the rest hasn’t really entered my mind.” At those last words, I feel like the biggest jackass on the planet.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have asked you when you have so much other shit to deal with.” I feel utterly and completely embarrassed and selfish in this moment. But as always, Harper knows exactly what to do and say to make all that insecurity fall away.

  “How about we make a deal? When all of this is over. When we can be ourselves without having to worry about photos or videos being leaked, we revisit this conversation.”

  “And if that’s tomorrow?” I ask, hopeful.

  “Then you’ll get an answer tomorrow.” I kiss her then, needing to reassure myself that she’s real and because she looks fucking hot standing in front of me wearing nothing but a T-shirt.

  “Deal.” I plan to get this shit resolved fast because not having Harper permanently in my space isn’t something I want to deal with for much longer.

  15

  Harper

  “I’m so proud of you!” I scream at Mel from across the room, running toward her. It’s opening day of her dance studio, and it looks freaking amazing. The place is packed, and I smile knowing we hit the mark with advertising the studio as a form of childcare for parents that want to take some of our classes. There are so many parents here and from the look that’s plastered on my best friend’s face, she’s just as happy as I am.

  I grab her by the shoulder and bring her into a huge bear hug, her laugh bubbling between us as I release her. “How are you doing? Good?” I ask as I take in the space, in awe of what she accomplished.