Playing the Field

by C. J. Pinard

  I put the bottle back into the cabinet and gently closed it, drying my dripping face on a towel and flipping off the light. As I slogged back into bed, I stared at the white ceiling, the streetlamps pooling in through the window my only illumination. With my arms behind my head, I tried to sleep but I had a feeling no slumber would find me.

  My demons were in control tonight, and I could only succumb to them, hoping they’d be gone by morning.

  ***

  The ball flew from my fist and sailed past Miranda. I watched in amusement as her fine ass giggled in the black yoga pants she was wearing as she struggled to go after it. I would have to pitch her curveballs more often, just so I could get a front-row seat to this.

  I hid the smirk that had been playing on my face as she came back toward me with the softball in her hand. I didn’t even bother asking her if she wanted to toss a real baseball back and forth. A softball would have to do, and she never said a word about it. Even though she wasn’t very good at catching. This made me smile on the inside, the outside never showing any sort of amusement at all.

  She flung the ball back at me, the softball landing easily in my glove.

  “So where did you go last weekend?” she asked as I smacked the ball into the rawhide glove over and over, contemplating my next throw.

  “I was in the field. I thought I told you this,” I replied, a vague tone coloring my answer. It was the truth, after all. Even if she thought ‘the field’ meant a baseball field, and not the campout I’d had to do for the Marines in a remote desert in Nevada.

  She swiped her blonde bangs from her forehead. “I see. Why are you so vague with your answers, player?”

  I sincerely hoped there came a day when I found her little nickname amusing, but for now, it kinda bugged me, especially after her revelation about how she thought all military men were players. Even though she didn’t know I was a reservist, it still bothered me on some small level that she didn’t care for military men. Had she no respect?

  During one of our many conversations, she’d told me that her father had done some time in the Air Force. So why, then, did she have this disdain? I was gonna get to the bottom of this shit, if it was the last thing I did.

  “You still there, Jace?” she asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  “Of course, beautiful.”

  I heard her sigh. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “What was it?”

  “I asked why you were so vague with your answers to my questions.”

  Laughing a little, I replied, “I don’t think I’m vague. I shoot straight, baby.” I held up the ball.

  I could almost hear her eyes roll. “Jace. Where were you?”

  “In Nevada.”

  She was quiet, seeming to be contemplating asking me something else, but I just threw the ball at her, which she caught, surprisingly.

  “Why were you in Nevada?” she finally asked.

  “Business, baby,” I quickly replied.

  Why was I being such a pussy? I needed to tell her. God, I needed to tell her now. I had two years left on my reserve contract. How long was I gonna hold out? I should tell her now before I sleep with her and make this harder. “Miranda…”

  She walked over to me and plopped the ball and glove into my hand. I couldn’t see her eyes through her sunglasses.

  “We’re gonna head out. Ash needs a nap,” she said emotionlessly.

  Grabbing the pink backpack and her purse from a nearby bench, she plucked her daughter from the swing-set and stalked off toward the small parking lot. I followed her.

  I watched as she buckled Ashlynn into her car seat, then went and got into the driver’s seat. I closed her door and smiled down at her.

  “I’ll call you later, okay?” I asked, reaching through the open window and brushing her bangs from her face.

  She nodded and turned the key, revving the engine. “Okay, Jace.” She smiled, but I could tell it was forced. I watched as she drove off before getting into my own car.

  I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or upset by her sudden departure, but I did know that it gave me more time to think. There was a conversation we definitely needed to have, and it was going to be an ugly one. I had to be strong and let her know that the Marines would always be a part of me. During our many long talks, I had told her about my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from San Jose State, and of course she knew I played baseball in the minor leagues, but I had covertly omitted my four years with the United States Marine Corps.

  Seriously. What in the hell was my problem?

  It’s time to man up, you pussy.

  ***

  There was something inside of me that drew me to her. I knew she was mad at me for my vague answers, but I wasn’t mad at her in return. I missed her when she didn’t call or return texts. She was giving me the silent treatment, and that was okay. I deserved it. I was being a chump and I needed to shoot straight with her. And I would… just not today. Today I was hoping to win her over with good old fashioned charm. I knew I had a lot of it, and I was going to lay it on thick until those puffy pink glossy lips smiled at me in return.

  “Flowers, dude.” Jared’s voice was advising me over the phone.

  I raised an eyebrow as I slathered some goop into my light brown hair. “Seriously? That’s so… I don’t know. Lame?”

  I heard him take a swig of whatever he was drinking and swallow it down. “No, it’s not. Chicks love it. It’s old fashioned, yes, but I think deep down, women want that shit. Ya know? To be back in the day, where men were gentlemen…”

  “And we aren’t anymore?” I asked, fastening my watch onto my right wrist.

  He laughed. “No, we’re fuckin’ pigs, man. No manners. Have you met me?”

  Snorting, I grabbed my keys and wallet from the entryway table and placed my hand on my front door doorknob. “Yes, but you’re not a pig. You’re a charmer – who could do better, if I may be so bold.”

  “Who the hell talks like that, Jace? Just buy that chick some flowers, and tell her she’s pretty and shit. You’ll be good to go after that.”

  “Thanks, man.” I ended the call and got into my car, heading for Miranda’s without having called ahead first.

  I just hoped she was alone.

  As I pulled up to her quaint house, I killed the engine and stared her home. Blowing out an insecure breath, I flipped the handle and got out, slowly making my way to the door.

  Ashlynn was on her hip as she answered the door.

  “Hi, Mr. Jace,” Ashlynn smiled, waving at me.

  I chuckled at her through the screen door. “Hi, princess.”

  She giggled. “Mommy, down.”

  Miranda put her daughter down and she took off running back into the house somewhere. Miranda was wearing her prison uniform, a sky blue polo shirt and some dark blue BDU type pants. Her hair was in a ponytail and I thought she looked sexy. I had a sudden desire to yank her ponytail, and then for her to handcuff me to her bedpost and violate me in ten different ways as punishment.

  “Well, I wasn’t expecting you, Jace.”

  I grinned and pulled the roses I had hiding behind my back, holding them up like a twelve-year-old kid who’d just picked wildflowers for his 7th grade crush.

  She eyed the roses, then looked at me, her arms folded across her chest, a pale eyebrow raised, almost in suspicion. I swallowed hard.

  I’m gonna kick your ass, Jared…

  “Are those for me?” she finally asked.

  I laughed. “Only if you let me in.”

  She pushed the handle on her screen door and I stepped up into her house, thrusting the flowers into her arms, and then dropping a quick kiss on her nose as I walked past her, turning right to get into her kitchen.

  She followed me, opening a cabinet and pulling out a clear, square glass vase. She set the roses on the counter and began filling the vase with water. I watched, saying nothing, as she pulled out a pair of scissors. She cut the plastic wrapping off the flow
ers, then began chopping the stems at the bottom at an angle.

  Her gaze slid to me briefly, then back to her task. “My sister used to work in a flower shop. She said if you cut the stems at an angle, they will last longer.”

  “I’m sure you want them to last longer, so every time you look at them, you are reminded of me,” I snarked, the words coming out without any preamble at all.

  She scoffed a little, then delicately placed the roses in the vase, arranging them just the way she wanted. Then she set the vase on her dining room table, centering it perfectly, almost meticulously.

  I was still in the kitchen watching her with my arms folded over my chest. She came halfway through the kitchen and stopped, resting her hand on the counter. Looking at me square in the eye, she ground out, “I don’t need roses or flowers to remind me of you. Your face never leaves my mind. Your voice is always in my head. And that damn dimple of yours haunts my dreams.”

  Quite sure both my eyebrows had hit my hairline, I moved with speed to meet her in the kitchen and gripped her body, the defiance in her golden eyes making me want to kiss her out of love, then take her over my knee and punish her for being so stubborn.

  So, crushing my mouth down onto hers, I kissed her with all I had. I ran gentle fingers down her back and gripped her very impressive ass, reluctantly sliding my hand back up to the small of her back. I broke the kiss as she dipped her head back, and I trailed kisses to her right ear, where my lips breathed out, “I can’t stand to be away from you. Not for a day or even an hour. I need you, Miranda. Don’t ever forget how much you complete me.”

  I felt her body shudder against mine. She put her hand to my face and forced my lips back onto hers. I only got to kiss her a few more seconds until we heard a shrilly scream.

  Miranda pulled back, eyes wide. “Shit.”

  We both ran to the back bedroom where we found Ashlynn covered in a big bundle of pink netting on her bed, thrashing around like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

  “What in the hell is that?” I asked, rushing over to her bed.

  “It’s her canopy. It must have fallen off from the top of her bed and now she’s caught in it. Help me free her?”

  Ashlynn continued to scream and yell for her mother as we delicately unwrapped her tiny frame from her pink prison. I yanked the material, which I was told was “tulle” from around her, and hoisted her up into her mother’s arms. Her glistening, frightened brown eyes blinked at me before she buried her head into her mother’s neck.

  “You’re okay now, baby,” Miranda cooed.

  I stood there kinda awkwardly, unsure of what to do, so I took a look around Ashlynn’s room. A grin lit up my face as I took in the princess theme of the room, and I laughed.

  Chapter 9

  Six weeks. Six weeks of sexual torture. Who went this long without delving deep into the body of the woman he was dating? The woman whom he was sure he was falling deeply in love with?

  My mind wrestled with the absurdity of falling in love with someone after dating them such a short time. How could I actually love someone I’d known only a short time?

  Just roll with it, Jace! the little angel on my right shoulder suggested.

  You aren’t in love, you’re in lust. Hit that before she finds someone else! the devil on my left shoulder said.

  Regardless… the lust zipping through my body wasn’t going to be staved off very much longer. It was going to need a release, and Miranda’s delectable figure would be its conduit.

  After taking her to see a movie, we went back to her house, and the minute she closed and locked the door, I slammed her body against it and kissed her with all I had. My tongue was a force to be reckoned with and I was determined to show her what I could do with it.

  After asking her where her daughter was – and her telling me Ashlynn was her sister’s house – it was on. I curled my right hand under her knees while my left hand was behind her neck, and I picked her up, carrying her to her bedroom. I tossed her on the bed, determined to show her that I was in charge here, and she had no say in what I was about to do to her body.

  The jean skirt was sexy, but it had to come off. I slid it down her legs and groaned at the smoldering red lace thong she was wearing. Oh, God, could this woman get any more perfect? She was turning me on like a dog in heat.

  After her skirt came off, she sat up, gripping my jeans at the hips and tearing them down. I saw her eyes travel up the length of my body, stopping at my green boxer shorts.

  “Fuck, Jace. You’re so damn sexy.”

  Was a beautiful woman really talking to me this way? I let my mind briefly drift back to Sam. Had she ever said anything about my body? Not really. Her gaze had been appreciative but she never really told me how she felt. Her behavior in the bedroom was… lukewarm at best.

  Why was I thinking about her? Someone to compare Miranda to? That wasn’t fair – not at all. Miranda was a scorching hot siren, all woman and then some, while Samantha had been a tepid lover, shy and demure in a way that really wasn’t all that attractive to someone like me. Maybe other men found that shy routine sexy, but not me. It didn’t bother me at all when a woman took control in the bedroom and wasn’t afraid to get hers – and be vocal about it.

  As much as I wanted to tear off every bit of clothing we were both wearing, I took a deep breath and forced us both to slow down. I had to remember this, I had to make sure I made this something she could remember and treasure always. I was in this for the long haul, and I wanted her to know it. She was lying under me, a cloud of lust over her amber gaze, and I swear I even saw her lick her lips. My cock twitched some more behind my boxer briefs and I leaned down and kissed her again. I had never been with anyone who could kiss like that. Was it experience? All those military men she’d dated down in San Diego? That wasn’t a thought I was willing to entertain right now. All I wanted was to love her body and feel hers loving me right back.

  In a move that both surprised and amused me, she sat up so we were both sitting. She reached up, trailing the nails of both hands down my chest, stomach, and then to my boxer briefs. She tore them off and I helped wiggle them down my legs. The throbbing between my legs was almost becoming painful, and I slid off the bed to reach for the pocket of my jeans, which had been discarded sometime during our romp.

  I began to roll the condom on, and Miranda helped, finishing the job. I flicked thoughts of how easily she had done this from my brain and pushed her back onto the bed, pinning her shoulders to the mattress.

  “Miranda, before we continue, there’s something I have to tell you,” I breathed, surprising myself.

  She sat up now, concern coloring her face. She brought a hand up to my cheek, rubbing her thumb along it, and I wanted to melt into her hand. “What is it, Jace?”

  I smiled down at her, my eyes taking in and memorizing every inch of her pretty face. The freckles that were peppered across her nose. The amazing amber color of her eyes. The sculpture of her eyebrows. And her lips; my God, those amazing, perfect lips. I wanted to kiss, suck, and bite them in all of my free time.

  As my eyes flicked between hers, I spat out, “I love you, my queen.”

  She smiled in genuine. “I love you, too, Jace. Now show me.”

  I think I came a little as she said that. I was just about to plunge myself into her heated depths when she sat up, rolled me over, and straddled herself over me, impaling herself on me. I’d like to think I groaned in ecstasy, but I’m pretty sure I let out a squeak.

  “Miranda, oh, my God,” I breathed.

  I gripped her hips and watched as she slowly moved and ground herself against me, her head thrown back, her long, thick, blonde hair brushing against her ass. Her breathing was heady, and as I ran my hands up her hips to her slim waist and then to her breasts, I found myself unable to control my breathing. She leaned forward and ran her fingertips along the washboard that was my stomach and groaned some more, all while her hips and thighs rolled in perfect sync with what her wet heat was doing
to me.

  I was close… really close. I pulled out of her, and instantly, a disappointed moan left her lips.

  I lifted her with ease and placed her on her back. With the flat of my hands, I pinned her shoulders to the bed and plunged back into her, watching her eyes slide shut, just after they’d rolled back into her head.

  My strokes were slow and careful. I wanted to draw this out. I buried my face in the crook of her neck and carefully timed my thrusts so they would please us both. She met each thrust with her beautiful hips, matching me push for push, but when one of her long, thick legs wrapped itself around my ass, I wasn’t able to hold out anymore. I reared up on my knees and threw my head back as my release ripped through me. Miranda’s throaty groan met mine, her hot channel gripping me tight as I saw stars explode behind my closed eyes.

  With no more energy left in me, I gripped both of her hands and collapsed on top of her, wishing I’d never have to leave the hot, beautiful, wet confines of her delectable body.

  ***

  The dreaded weekend was upon me. I was fast running out of excuses as to why I’d be missing in action all damn weekend. I still hadn’t told her I was still in the reserves. I’d made love to her at least ten times since our first time, but I still couldn’t get the words about my duty to God and country to expel itself from my mouth.

  “I’ll see you Monday, my queen,” I said, instantly cringing at the response it was going to conjure.

  And I wasn’t disappointed.

  “Where you off to now, Jace?” she asked, trying to sound light but there was an undercurrent of accusation in the question.

  “Business. But you already knew this,” I replied, inferring to the warning I’d given her this past Wednesday when she’d asked about my weekend plans.

  The silence was deafening, until she finally said, “I have an inmate at my door. I guess I’ll see you next week.”

  She hung up without waiting for me to tell her I loved her. Bad sign, very bad, sign.