Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1)

by Bri Izzo

  “Care to share any of those things?” I wonder. She seems a little timid, like maybe she’s thinking this can go further but I won’t be up for it. I just won’t let it go too far.

  “I want you,” she demands, opening her eyes and then biting on her bottom lip to hold back from smiling. The longer I watch her wait for my reaction, the more I fucking want her.

  “How do you want me?” I tease, trying my absolute fucking hardest to keep a straight face. Her playful and not-so-innocent expression is killing me, but I can’t get enough. Seeing her this happy is the best fucking thing in the world after seeing her sulking around since the school year started.

  “I want you as a batter,” she tells me.

  “A batter as in baseball?” I wonder. When she nods with those big eyes and enduring bit lip, man, I have all I can do to keep from screaming in pure joy. This girl is so fucking perfect; she wants to play baseball in bed with me? I seriously hope this isn’t a dream that I will wake up from and need an ice cold shower to come back down.

  “Okay, are you my coach?” I hope. I want to follow her lead but only if she doesn’t aim for the long ball right away. I know her: go big or go home. But there’s more to baseball than home runs, and there’s more to love than sex.

  “Yeah. Damn I wish you had your baseball pants here,” she giggles. Just play by her rules, and this will be fucking amazing.

  “Okay, Coach, I’m in the batter’s box. What should I do?” I play along. She looks down at her shorts still resting on her hips and then up at me, so I take this as a cue to take them off for her. I slide my hands along the insides of her legs and watch her eyes light up in the darkness, like the field during a night game. The athletic shorts slide off easily, and since she rolled my shirt over my head earlier, we’re both left in our underwear.

  And her underwear match her green homecoming dress perfectly, which I’m sure is why she chose to wear them tonight. To make them even better, they say, “Oh what fun!” on the front.

  Fuck me.

  I trace the letters with my finger, awaiting her next direction as my coach.

  “What’s next, sweetheart?” I tease when she remains silent. Looking up at her, I realize she’s at a loss of breath from watching and feeling my finger tease her. We aren’t going to get very far if neither one of us can breathe around the other one.

  “Well, you already hit a single tonight, so try for a double,” she smirks, perking her chest up towards me as a hint in case I don’t get her reference.

  I fucking got it.

  As she arches her back, I reach my hand around and unclasp her bra, letting it slide down her until she throws it across the room opposite from her door. The poor things must’ve been suctioned in there because she lets out a deep breath when it’s finally gone. I wait a moment, giving her a chance to stop this advancement if she desires. For the first time she is topless in front of me, and it feels surreal to see one of my lifelong best friends like this - almost completely naked. I’ve thought about this moment so many fucking times in the past few years, but nothing compares to being in the actual moment.

  Apparently she wants to just rip the bandaid off and continue in our baseball game. I’m impressed and even a little jealous of her confidence. The slightest movement has so much certainty in it, like when she pulls me down by my neck to kiss her and forces one of my hands to cover one of her breasts.

  I play with her breasts beneath me as our lips and tongues lock, and she lets out a slight moan that I almost can’t handle hearing without wanting to fuck her immediately. It’s the luxurious sound of pleasure, and it’s suddenly my new favorite thing. All I want to hear is her fucking moan again. When I remove my lips from hers so I can caress her neck and chest, she lets out a deep breath like she’s really struggling to keep herself together. Then I go in for the true double; I lick one nipple while massaging the other breast and once she lets out another moan I switch and do the same to the other one. I continue kissing her in a line down her stomach, my lips memorizing her skin of perfection.

  This definitely doesn’t feel like we just sealed a relationship beyond friendship a few hours ago. I guess that’s what happens when you’re best friends for so long while having crushes on each other.

  I’m almost to her bellybutton when she gasps, “What are you doing?” It isn’t in a panicked tone; it’s more of a giggly I-caught-you inflection.

  “I’m stealing third,” I tease as I slide her underwear off and go down on her. It sounds like it’s a new experience for her by the way she’s grasping onto the sheets beside me like her life depends on them. I only lick her for a minute before stopping to climb over her again. “Sorry, coach. I’ll try to read the signs better next time,” I quietly apologize with a peck on her forehead. I’m okay with being done; I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, and fuck, this is the most entertaining baseball game in my career.

  “Hey,” she abruptly says, placing a hand on my bare shoulder. “You’re a good base runner. I trust you. You were safe at third.”

  “God, I love when you talk baseball to me,” I blurt out as I look into her eyes and continue to survey her entirely naked body. Fuck does she have an absolutely killer body and insane confidence. I don’t know why I’m surprised; she’s been an athlete her entire life. But it isn’t just an athletic body- she’s curvy in all the right ways and fucking sexy. Finally she’s mine, and she knows it.

  “Good. Because I’m going to need you to score on this next play,” she propositions me.

  31 Bianca Ferrari

  Holy shit. I never in a million years expected to be fooling around with Skyler Swanson in my bedroom. Or at all, really. When he isn’t looking I pinch myself a few times to make sure it’s real and I’m not dreaming. The last time I really dig my fingernails into my arm, and it feels like a giant needle is piercing into me, so I finally accept that this is my reality. My childhood crush is definitely on top of me in only his plaid boxers, and I’m pretty sure he’s sweating from having just gone down on me. He’s definitely not only completely seen my boobs, but he’s fucking licked them. My God, if I’ve died, please tell me this is my heaven for eternity.

  Forget my theory on baseball hats and boys. These abs and the look in Skyler’s eyes are two of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen and instantly double his ranking to twenty on a ten point scale. I’m a goner.

  “God, I love when you talk baseball to me,” Skyler sighs while looking into my eyes, but then he drops his, and I’m pretty sure he’s noticing how perfectly we fit and look together. He also sees my completely naked body for the first time. Somehow it appears as though we line up flawlessly, even though I know he’s at least a half of a foot taller than me. I watch as his abs tighten and expand with each breath, and a daring nerve in my body tells my hand to reach for them. These abs are yours now.

  “Good. Because I’m going to need you to score on this next play,” I command, and his head snaps back up to see if I’m serious.

  “Buzz, no,” he tells me, rubbing the inside of one of my legs with his palm. With you rubbing my leg like that, uh yes.

  “I’m sorry. Are you talking back to your coach?” I fake gasp, smiling the whole time. I’m propositioning my dream guy for sex via baseball lingo; how can I not smile at this?

  “B…” he tries to get me to be serious again. But it isn’t going to work.

  “We need this run,” I say.

  “Why do we need this run?” he questions me, his brown eyes growing darker as he squints at me. His broody self wants this as bad as I do.

  “Because it’s the bottom of the seventh, two outs, conference finals, and we’re tied. It can go into extra innings, but it’s also ninety degrees outside. We’re fucking tired, and I’m not sure I can hold them another inning,” I explain. Then I break my role as his coach and girlishly admit, “Plus you smell how I imagine Luke Bryan would smell in bed, and it’s fucking amazing.”

  “Fuck, B,” Skyler moans as he drops his head
again.

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I want you to do,” I grin, pressing my index finger to the bottom of his chin to pull his head back up towards me. I lean up for a kiss and he comes the rest of the way to meet me.

  When he releases his lips, he sighs in complete disgust. “I’m not risking this by moving this fast. We’ve gone far enough; besides, I don’t have protection with me,” he mumbles, and I see one of his hands turn into a fist.

  “I have some in the drawer of my nightstand,” I say without even thinking first. Oh my God. Fuck. Mood ruined.

  Skyler flinches back and completely climbs off of me but still resides on my bed. I have never seen him switch moods so fast. He goes from sexually turned on to sexually frustrated to so pissed in a matter of five seconds.

  “Sky-” I try, reaching out for him but only feeling air. There’s so much space between us now, and it really makes my skin itch. We were about to really physically and emotionally connect and a second later we couldn’t be further apart.

  “Why the fuck do you have condoms in here?” he quietly demands to know. It’s a fair question, but I’m certain the moment and the rest of our night are already over, and the reason why I have condoms is only going to seal it shut. He’s so calm that it scares me. I’d be less scared if he was screaming and fuming in anger.

  “Relax. I’m still a virgin,” I confess, and then I realize how amateur I sound.

  “Then why the fuck do you have them?” he asks again, his horrified face not matching his serene tone.

  “Chase-” I begin explaining, but I know the moment I say his name Sky is going to leave.

  “Oh my fucking God,” he cries out and then glances at the door after realizing his voice is loud for 2:00 a.m. Or he’s about to make a getaway; I can’t figure out which.

  “Skyler,” I sit up, trying to shove the covers off of me so I can be closer to him. If he would just let me explain, he won’t be so mad about it. Okay, that’s not true. But I don’t think it should matter; it’s not like I used any with Chase. He just thought it would be funny to leave some in there, and okay, he probably intended on using some, but it never got that far thankfully.

  As I move closer to him, Skyler stands up and grabs his shorts from my bed, stepping in them on his way to the door of my walk-in closet. I attempt to stand up but immediately feel dizzy from having been lying down for so long. I’m naked and dizzy, such an awkward combo.

  “Sky!” I shriek, reaching my arms behind me to try to grab onto my bed. I can’t see him, but I can feel his hands on my shoulders. I’m grateful that he can distinguish between the two times in a row I yelled his name, that one I just wanted him back and the other I needed him.

  “You’re okay,” he promises me, gently massaging my shoulders. My eyes adjust after I sit back down, and I see the distraught look upon Skyler’s face. He’s torn between being upset with me for having Chase’s condoms in my bedroom and being concerned about me and my health.

  “You can go if you want,” I tell him, shrugging in defeat. My first time having sex was about to be epic, and somehow Chase fucking Morgan managed to ruin it. Okay, I am to blame, too.

  Skyler kneels between my legs, hands resting on my thighs and vows, “I’m not leaving. I just… I fucking need a minute.”

  Nodding, I let him go into my closet, so if someone comes upstairs our cover won’t be totally blown. I find his t-shirt and slide it over my head. There’s two reasons for doing so: 1. it forces Skyler to stay in my bedroom because if he leaves in just his shorts he will either be arrested by the police or killed by my brother and 2. I love wearing his clothes.

  Under my closet door remains dark as Skyler goes inside, and for a few minutes I wonder what he’s doing in there. When he isn’t coming back out right away, I find a sticky notepad on my desk and write “I’m sorry” and lay it on the sheets next to me on the unoccupied side of the bed. Facing the window on the other side, I close my eyes and pull up on the covers. I don’t intend on falling asleep, but I guess it happened anyways.

  I have no idea how long Skyler sat in my closet imagining me and Chase together, but eventually I feel my bed shake and his warm breath on the back of my neck. His arm wraps around my waist, and I instantly awaken from the sound of my own heart echoing throughout my quiet house. He didn’t leave.

  “Are you okay?” he asks me before kissing the side of my neck.

  “Yeah,” I mumble. “Are you?”

  “Yeah,” he copies me.

  “Are you sure? Cuz you just locked yourself in my closet for an extended period of time,” I chuckle, nudging him with my elbow.

  “I know,” he acknowledges, taking a long, guilty breath. I don’t think he’s going to tell me what he’s been thinking in all that darkness.

  “Well as long as you know,” I sarcastically banter, pushing my face back into my pillow’s crevice.

  Skyler’s hand slithers from my stomach to my hip, but it’s more out of frustration than anything romantic at all. But it doesn’t matter. I love how his hands feel on my body. “B, please don’t be mad… or sorry,” he pleads, crinkling my note in his hand. It’s easier to be upset when I’m not looking at him, but it also gave me perspective to lie in bed alone while he sat in my closet with all of my stuffed animals and shoes.

  All I could think about was is he even a virgin?

  “I’m not mad,” I tell him. “But my head is spinning.”

  “What? Why?” Skyler asks in a slight panic. He climbs over me to examine my eyes and my head. “You said you were okay.”

  “Sorry. Poor choice of words,” I admit, swatting his hands away from me. He looks so relieved, and I feel bad for toying with his emotions, even if it wasn’t on purpose. “But you got mad at me even though I’m still… in tact. I don’t even know what’s going on with you, and I don’t know if it’s fair of me to ask, but I’m curious!” I ramble, taking a few deep breaths at the end to compose myself.

  “What do you want to know? You can ask me anything, B,” he assures me.

  I put my hand up like a visor on my forehead so I can still breathe but I don’t have to look at him when I ask him this. This one is probably the worst embarrassment I could ever imagine: asking my crush if he’s had sex with someone else. I’m not even sure if I really want to know anymore.

  “Haveyouhadsexbefore?” I slur everything together very quickly and close my eyes.

  I wait.

  And wait.

  I hear him breathing, but he’s not answering me.

  When I briefly lift my shield, I see his remorseful eyes, guilt suffocating him to silence. Shit. He must’ve fucked Makenna. Or someone else. Ugh, it doesn’t matter who; he’s already been with someone else.

  If I can’t be his first, hopefully I’ll at least be his last? Ugh, who am I kidding?

  “Sweetheart,” he finally acknowledges me, grabbing my hand to move it away from my face so he can caress my head. He’s going to let me down gently, and I appreciate that. I’m still curious even though I’ve accepted that he’s lost his virginity to someone else.

  “It’s fine; I was just curious,” I tell him. I smile at him so he knows it’s okay, that this won’t turn into me leaving him for a little while to wonder what the fuck I’m doing in my closet.

  “B… you know how McCallum is always telling you to wait for your pitch?” Skyler begins to drift into story time. Or maybe he’s just getting back into baseball mode from before. I nod at him although I’m unsure as to where this is going. “And you know how I always wait for my pitch? Like sometimes I wait until I’ve seen two strikes to even think about swinging?”

  “Is there a point to this? Cuz I’m getting more confused by the second,” I innocently grin at him.

  “There is…” he sighs. That’s when I realize all of this hesitancy from him isn’t a game or frustration. It’s nerves. “You’re my curveball.”

  I squint at him. That didn’t help my confusion at all. “Your curveball?” I question. />
  “You’re my pitch… I waited for you,” he confesses, and I feel my stomach flip upside down a bunch of times while my heart simultaneously flutters.

  “Oh,” I gasp. “But I thought with Makenna…”

  “Fuck no,” he doesn’t even let me finish my inaccurate thought. All this time… I had no idea that Skyler and I were holding out for each other. “I waited for you; I’ve always been waiting for you.”

  I’m beyond overwhelmed. The only way to channel this energy is to kiss him. I reach up for him, and our lips connect, but there’s an understanding that we’re done with the physical advancements for the night.

  “But you didn’t want to hit a grand slam tonight,” I say in a joking tone despite being completely serious when we break apart. I was on first base, and I wanted to score, too.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologizes, completely heartfelt. “I fucking promise we’ll do it another night. Soon. But there’s no rush; this isn’t a race.” A kiss soothes my forehead as we lie side by side, and I know this amazing night is over because I’m already aching for him to come back. I roll over to face away from him as I anticipate his departure.

  “Are you leaving now? To go back downstairs?” I assume. God there’s nothing worse than fooling around with a guy and him leaving the second it’s over. I know that lonely rejected feeling all too well, but I’ve also learned to expect it and accept it. Plus there’s a pretty good chance my mom or others residing in the house will chop off Skyler’s balls if they find him in my bed tomorrow morning.

  “Fuck no,” he tells me, tightening his arm around my waist again, almost taking my breath away.

  “Sky… you know the rule,” I remind him, curling over my shoulder to see his determined eyes.

  “Fuck the rule. I’m not leaving you after tonight,” he promises.

  I don’t argue with him after that. I just let him hold me as his for the first time, and I feel a sense of urgency and possessiveness in him that makes me feel exhilarated in a new way, an amazing way.