Baseball and Other Lessons (Devil's Ranch Book 2)

by Aubrey Gross

  He stood suddenly, needing to get out of her house and away from her before he did something stupid or said something he couldn’t take back. “Anyway. Thanks for listening to me whine. And don’t worry about the video. I’ll…” he reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys, feeling out of sorts, “I’ll see you later.”

  He walked out of her house and to his JEEP, feeling even more conflicted than he had when he’d arrived on her doorstep earlier.

  #

  Jenn sat rooted to the couch for long moments after Matt left, feeling relieved and yet a lot like crying. She’d seen the look of hurt that had flashed over his face after her “mistake” comment. Sure, he’d hidden it quickly, but it had been there, and he hadn’t been able to completely hide it from his eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes that had haunted her dreams and waking thoughts far more than she cared to admit over the past ten years.

  She drew in a shaky breath, opened the video file and watched it for the hundredth time that day. Betsy had managed to capture that moment when she’d given in just a little and allowed herself to relax against Matt for far too brief a time. His hands were on her waist, his front to her back, and while her eyes were closed—reveling in the feel of his body against hers, she remembered all too clearly—his were watching her. Focused. The expression his face was clear, his emotions undeniable.

  He was looking at her like a man looks at a woman he wants with a burning passion, like a man who cares.

  The song and video came to an end and Jenn hit play again. Over and over she watched it until her phone battery was almost dead and she could no longer deny the obvious truth—they were playing with fire and it was only a matter of time before they got burned.

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt didn’t come back over for four days. Jenn tried to convince herself she wasn’t disappointed, but she kind of was.

  Hey, the man was gorgeous and it was nice having all that hotness to look at.

  Or, rather, she tried to tell herself it was only his face and his body she missed. If she were being honest with herself, though, she had to admit that she kind of missed him. Even though it seemed like they always ended up arguing, in a very short period of time she’d started to enjoy watching baseball with him and occasionally picking his brain regarding strategy. She liked the way he relentlessly tried to make her laugh, and that he respected her personal space and stayed on his end of the couch (even if she did kind of wish he would move a little closer sometimes).

  Unfortunately, she was finding out that Matt Roberts was actually a decent guy and possibly a good friend to have in her corner.

  This whole kind of sort of friends thing they had going on was making things really, really complicated in her head.

  So Friday—in an effort to clear her head of Matt Roberts and all of his sexiness—she booted up her laptop and set about making lesson plans for the upcoming school year. Hours later she was startled out of her planning by the ringing of her doorbell. She glanced at the clock in the bottom right hand corner of her laptop screen. It was past six in the evening. How had it gotten so late? As she walked to the door she rolled her shoulders to ease some of the knots that had taken hold.

  She looked through the peephole. Matt was on the other side looking slightly disgruntled. She fought back a smile.

  You’re supposed to act like you hate him, remember?

  Yeah, except that wasn’t working out very well at all.

  She opened the door and tried to affix her snarkiest expression to her face. “What do you want?”

  “Well, hello to you, too.”

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that he wasn’t exactly phased by her snottiness. Resigned—and, yes, weirdly happy to see him——Jenn stepped aside and let him walk past her.

  He glanced towards her open laptop and back towards her. “Am I interrupting your work?”

  She shut the door behind him and rolled her shoulders. “Kind of, but I needed a break anyway. I’d been at it for three hours without even realizing it. Besides, I need to take the towels out of the dryer and get them folded and put away.”

  She hated having laundry lying about.

  Matt shrugged and followed her to the laundry room off the kitchen. “Need help with those?”

  “I’ve got it. Besides, I’m kind of weird about how I like to fold my towels.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Do you fold them into swans and stuff like they do on cruise ships?”

  “Please. Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

  He laughed and she pulled the towels out of the dryer and piled them into a laundry basket, which she then took back to the living room. She sat on the couch and began folding them.

  “So what’s up? I thought maybe my bitchiness had finally gotten to you and you’d given up.”

  He sat down beside her. “Nope. I’ve just been busy.”

  “Doing what? You’re on the DL and you’re kind of limited on what you can do right now.”

  “Visiting my parents, talking to my agent and the team.”

  Her heart almost stopped. “Everything okay?”

  “They still haven’t seen the video, if that’s what you’re wondering about.”

  She exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Okay. That’s good.”

  He watched her as she folded towels, and her skin was hot and itchy under his gaze. She finished as quickly as she could, uncomfortable with his gaze upon her, and got up to put them in the linen closet in the bathroom.

  He followed her.

  Why did he follow her?

  The hot, itchy feeling spread, making her feel prickly and edgy. Jenn shoved the stack of just-folded towels into the linen closet, using the mundane chore to gather her emotions.

  “Matt, really, why do you keep showing up here? We don’t really know each other. We’re not friends. Don’t you have better things to do with your time than harass a seventh grade teacher?” She asked as she stuffed the towels into the closet, her words harsher than she’d intended them to be, but dammit, he was making her feel too much, too many things she didn’t want to.

  Behind her, she could feel his body heat and briefly closed her eyes against the sheer potency of him.

  “I caught Jo and Chase having sex on the kitchen island tonight. Figured I would give them some privacy.”

  Jenn raised an eyebrow and murmured, “Go Jolene.”

  Matt chuckled. “Believe me when I say Jolene is definitely going.”

  She ran out of towels to straighten and reluctantly backed away from the linen closet, closed the door and turned around to face Matt. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

  Matt held his hands up, palms out, and shook his head. “Believe me, I don’t either. I’m glad Chase is happy, but there are things I just don’t need to know about my little brother. Or Jo, for that matter.”

  Jenn snorted and brushed past him to make her way back to the living room. Matt’s hand on her elbow brought her up short. She looked down at his hand and up at his face and asked, “Do you mind?”

  He couldn’t touch her. If he touched her she might just lose it.

  Matt removed his hand and lifted it to rub over his buzzed head. She’d never admit it, but she kind of missed the crazy do he’d sported after the surgery. It had made him oddly approachable. The buzz cut only accentuated his strong facial features and penetrating hazel eyes.

  In other words, Matt was most definitely bringing sexy back.

  “Sorry.”

  “For what?”

  He shrugged. Glanced away. Brought his gaze back to hers. “Everything.”

  Jenn was suddenly all too aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing more than yoga pants and a thin tank top and no bra. Defensively, she crossed her arms over her chest (okay, so she was also trying to hide the fact that her nipples were hard enough to cut glass—no reason to give the man false signals). “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be clearer, Matt. Everything could mean a lot of thing
s. Are you apologizing for putting a frog down my bikini when we were kids? For grabbing my arm just now? For inviting yourself to my house constantly despite the fact that I keep telling you to go away?”

  “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

  She didn’t respond, just gave him her best teacher stare and waited for him to continue.

  It was the hardest teacher stare she’d ever given.

  Matt sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry for grabbing you just now. I’m sorry for coming over when you clearly want nothing to do with me. And I’m sorry for walking out ten years ago without so much as a note or a phone call. Happy now?”

  A heavy weight settled somewhere in between her throat and her stomach. She’d waited ten years to hear those words, but now that she had, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with them. What she should do with them.

  She swallowed, opened her mouth to accept his apology and instead said, “It wasn’t so much the fact that you snuck out like I was the worst one-night stand of your life, it was the fact that you didn’t even seem to care that I wasn’t just another jersey chaser.”

  Matt turned and began to pace in the small confines of the bathroom. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that, Jenn. I know we’re not exactly friends and never have been. But I shouldn’t have walked out. I knew that then and I certainly know that now.”

  “Then why did you?” Her voice was surprisingly level, despite the emotions that were swirling inside.

  He hesitated, looked over at her, and began pacing again. Shook his head. Wiped his hand over his face. “Truth?”

  “Truth.”

  “I was scared shitless.”

  Jenn barked out a laugh. “Somehow I doubt that, Matt.”

  He stopped in front of her and placed his hands on the countertop behind her, caging her in. His expression was reminiscent of the one she’d seen on his face dozens of times just before burning an opponent with a nasty slider for the last out of an inning.

  “If you don’t want to believe me that I was scared, fine. But believe me, Jenn, when I tell you that that night was the most intense of my life. You came out of nowhere and blindsided me. I’d never felt that way before, and haven’t since. So yes, Jenn, I was scared shitless and ran rather than trying to figure out what was going on between us.”

  Jenn stared at his ear rather than looking him in the eye, afraid that if she did he would see the truth reflected in her own gaze.

  Matt lifted a hand and gently caressed her jaw. “Jenn.”

  Her name, spoken so softly, caused heat to pool low in her belly. Resolutely, she locked her liquefied knees and without looking at his face said, “I think you need to go.”

  Matt sighed and pushed away from the sink. “If you want me to go, I’ll go. But ignoring this doesn’t make it go away.”

  Jenn shook her head. “There is no ‘this,’ Matt. You’re just bored and looking for a distraction.”

  “Is that really all you think of me?”

  She had to believe he was just bored, for her own sake.

  She shrugged a shoulder and kept her gaze focused on the photo on the wall across from her. At least she thought it was a photo. Her vision was a bit blurry.

  “You know what? Fine. Whatever.” Matt made his way down the hall and into the living room.

  Jenn stood in the bathroom, still as a statue and her back against the countertop, trying to push down the pain and longing and simple want that she felt any time Matt was near. The photo on the wall blurred even more, its lines wavering and moving as she dimly heard her front door open.

  She closed her eyes. Heard it slam closed. Exhaled. Took long moments to try to steady herself.

  “I changed my mind. Fuck this.”

  At the sound of Matt’s voice her eyes flew open. She barely had time to register that he hadn’t actually left before his hands were cupping either side of her face and his mouth was crashing down on hers.

  His lips were soft, despite the fact that she could feel the anger humming through him. Jenn brought her hands up to his chest to push him away, but then his tongue slipped between her lips and somehow her hands ended up clutching his shirt as if it were a lifeline.

  Her eyelids fluttered closed, tears still burning her eyes, as his kiss turned gentle. Instead of taking, he gave, his hands never leaving her face. Her grip on his shirt relaxed as she gave herself over to his gentle, unexpected onslaught.

  Slowly, Matt backed away, kissing her lightly on the nose before withdrawing completely.

  “Goodnight, Jenn.”

  It wasn’t until he’d closed the door behind him that she was able to whisper, “Goodnight, Matt.”

  #

  Matt sat in his JEEP in silence, barely resisting the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel. Instead, he stared at Jenn’s front door, wondering what the hell had just gotten into him.

  Sure, the apology was long overdue, and he may have been a guy, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that that particular conversation was over and done with. He’d acted like an ass that night in San Antonio, and his actions had never sat well with him.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t know where to begin when it came to explaining to Jenn why he’d high-tailed it out of her room like his ass was on fire. He honestly wasn’t sure she would believe him—hell, she obviously thought the only reason he was coming around was because he was bored and not because he simply enjoyed her company and wanted to get to know her better. He also had a hard time believing his reasons himself.

  Matt rubbed a hand over his face and tilted his head back. Jesus, this was such a freaking mess, and that kiss just then hadn’t helped matters at all.

  Oh, it had helped him to at least prove a point—that their chemistry was still red fucking hot—but that was about it. The only other thing that kiss had accomplished was leaving him with a hard-on for a woman who sometimes acted like she would be fine if he jumped off a bridge.

  Knowing that going back to Chase’s right now probably wasn’t a good idea considering he had no desire to catch Jo and his brother having sex yet again, Matt started his vehicle and pulled out of Jenn’s driveway, driving aimlessly with his head lost in thoughts and memories.

  #

  Ten Years Ago, San Antonio, Texas

  Matt waited until Jenn had fallen asleep to make his escape.

  The only problem was, he didn’t want to escape. Instead of sneaking back to his hotel room he wanted to stay right there with Jenn, watching her sleep before waking her up so they could go for round three.

  That way madness lies.

  He figured she would appreciate the Shakespeare reference, even if it wasn’t exactly appropriate. That being said, it did feel like madness to want to simply watch her sleep.

  It made him feel a little bit like a pansy.

  But she was so pretty with her red hair wild around her shoulders, a lock curling over one naked breast. He’d never been into chicks with small breasts, but he was thinking hers were just about perfect.

  And her skin. God, it was so soft and lightly dusted with freckles, making him think of cinnamon and sugar, which made him think of that stupid nursery rhyme about what little girls are made of.

  He traced the curve of her hip with his gaze, burning the image of her like this into his brain.

  Something told him he’d want to take that image out later, to remember fondly.

  He’d never realized how beautiful Jenn was. Sure, he’d thought she was kind of cute, but she’d suddenly gone from the cute girl next door type to a beautiful, sexy woman. He wasn’t sure if it was because they’d both grown up, because of a little bit of alcohol or the fact that this was the first time they’d been around one another without Chase or his parents around, but he’d been struck senseless from the moment he’d watched her walk into the hotel bar.

  Gone was the little girl he used to tease when he bothered to give her the time of day at all, and here was a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman capable of gre
at conversation and who kissed like every guy’s wet dream.

  No wonder he was smitten.

  Smitten? What the fuck kind of word is that, Roberts?

  Disgusted with himself, Matt gently eased himself out of the bed. He waited, made sure he hadn’t woken her up before finding his scattered clothes and putting them on piece by piece. And then he stood there, watching her some more.

  His fingers itched to pull his shirt back over his head, to unbutton his jeans and climb back under the covers with her. Instead, he clenched his hands into fists and fought back the panicky feeling that had begun to beat at his chest. He should leave considering he needed to get back to his room before he was caught, and before he climbed back into bed with her and gave in to the fanciful thoughts and emotions roaring through him.

  What if she’s The One?

  What. The. Fuck.

  Shaking his head, Matt clenched his fists harder and forced his feet to move.

  Panic beat at his chest, harder, like a prisoner in a cage.

  You can’t just walk out without saying goodbye or leaving a note.

  Except what would he say? “Hey, Jenn, thanks for the mind-blowing sex. Wanna do that for the rest of our lives?”

  Jesus Christ what the fuck was wrong with him?

  The panicky feeling in his chest grew, spread until it churned in his gut. He turned away from the bed, tried to swallow the panic down, but it beat harder and harder, like a bird’s wings flapping fruitlessly against the jet stream.

  Oh, God, he was going all poetic all of a sudden.

  He had to get out of this room, before he did something he would never be able to take back.

  As quietly as possible, he hurried to the door, turned the knob and slipped out. He looked one last time at Jenn, still sleeping peacefully in the middle of the king size bed, and shut the door behind him with barely a sound.

  #

  Present Day, Del Rio, Texas

  Jenn’s hand shook as she lifted her fingers to her mouth. She could still taste Matt on her lips, feel his skin on hers. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Her cheeks were hot, so she turned and opened the tap on the sink and splashed some cold water on her face.