Baseball and Other Lessons (Devil's Ranch Book 2) (38 page)

Wordlessly, he led her back to his bedroom where he slowly, reverently removed her clothes until she stood bathed in moonlight filtering through the window, her nipples hard and goosebumps covering her flesh. She trembled a little, and Matt quickly removed his own clothes before leading her to the king size platform bed in the middle of the room.

As he lay her down, he showered kisses over her body, loving the feel of her under his hands and mouth.

She sighed, a small, breathy sound that had his cock straining, so hard it almost hurt. Her hands drifted up and down his arms, his back, cupping his ass before sliding around and exploring his abs before trailing lower. She fisted his cock, stroking it as their mouths met in a hot, open kiss that had turned from slow and sweet to fast and dirty in an instant.

He played with her nipples, rolling each one between his fingers and pinching lightly, making her gasp against his mouth. Her hand around his cock tightened.

Matt reached for the nightstand and blindly searched for a condom. He found one, pulled it out and ripped the foil packet. “God, Jenn, I need to be inside of you.”

“Hurry, Matt. Please.” Her quiet begging almost undid him.

He quickly rolled the condom on, settled between Jenn’s thighs and slid home.

Home.

As his hips pumped in and out, he reached up, found her hands and grabbed them, holding them tight above her head. She surged up and kissed him, nipping at his bottom lip before licking it and kissing him fully.

He groaned into her mouth and let one of her hands go so he could touch her. He worked a hand between them, moving his thumb in circles over her clit. She moaned and tightened her legs around him. He slammed in to her, high and deep, hitting that place inside of her that she liked, and her pussy tightened around his dick.

“Come for me, baby.” He slammed into her again.

Jenn tightened her hold on his hand and grabbed the comforter with the other. His name on her lips was a curse, a prayer, a command, as she climaxed, her inner muscles milking his own orgasm from him. With a groan, Matt felt his own release.

As their breathing slowed he shifted so that he was propped on his elbows, keeping at least a little bit of his weight off of her. Jenn’s eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed and her hair wild on the mattress. He could just make out the pulse beating in her throat, and fought to get his own pulse under control.

The longer he looked at her, the longer he stayed there suspended while still inside of her, though, his pulse quickened until his heart was almost hammering out of his ribs.

This woman.

God, this woman was everything to him.

More than baseball.

More than another championship.

More than the World Series ring and the NCAA championship rings.

More than the accolades, the awards, the MVPs and the records.

Looking down at Jenn, at her beautiful face so relaxed post-sex, Matt finally felt the pieces fall into place. The pieces he hadn’t even realized he’d been looking for, but had been missing in his life.

#

“I’m retiring.”

Jenn’s eyelids flew open at Matt’s quiet, casual announcement. She could still feel him inside of her—let’s face it, physically and emotionally—and she vaguely realized that now was a bit of an odd time to make that sort of an announcement.

Matt, though, had always done things his own way.

“You’re retiring?”

He nodded, looking much more at peace than she’d figured he would when he made that decision. “After the end of the season. It’s time, and while my stuff’s still as good as it was, my heart isn’t in it anymore.”

She rubbed her thumb over his chin, along his jawline. “What changed?”

“It stopped being fun a while ago, which I never told anybody. When I got hurt and it forced me to step away from the field, I had to face the fact that in chasing a dream I’d neglected a lot of other areas of my life.”

“Like family,” she said quietly, knowing that while the rift between Matt and Chase had definitely lessened over the past few months it would still take some time before that relationship was truly whole.

“Like family,” Matt reiterated. “And like love, too.”

Her thumb stilled on his jaw as her gaze flew up to his. She swallowed, but couldn’t seem to form words. She blinked, licked her lips and finally squeaked out, “Love?”

His expression was serious as he looked down at her. “Yes, love.”

Her heart beating like a hummingbird on crack, she managed to ask, “What about love?”

“You don’t realize it, do you?” he asked as he traced the lines of her face with an index finger.

“Realize what?”

“How could you not know I love you?”

Her stomach dipped and her pulse kicked up another notch. “You love me?”

“More than anything.” He kissed her slowly, sweetly before continuing. “I love you more than baseball, Jenn. More than records and awards and championship rings. I’ve loved you for ten years, and I’ve spent all this time running from it because you didn’t fit into my plans. But I’m tired of fighting it, I’m tired of living half a life and coming home to a cold, empty condo every night. I love you more than I ever knew was possible, and I think you love me, too.”

Jenn’s nose and eyes stung, and she rapidly blinked away tears. “You love me more than baseball?”

“More than baseball.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his weight fully down onto hers, unable to hold back the tears any longer. She’d loved him for so long, had felt so much heartache and so much joy because of him that hearing his words was like a balm to her soul.

“I love you, Matt,” she said as he pulled away to watch her. He wiped away tears and she smiled. “They’re happy tears. I promise. It’s just that no one’s ever made me feel the way you do—happy, sad, complete heartache and utter joy. I’m so sorry I wasted so much time being a bitch towards you and blaming you for so many things, including the loss of Tyler.”

He opened his mouth to speak, and she held two fingers against his lips, keeping him quiet. “No, I need to say this. I did blame you for the loss of Tyler. It didn’t seem fair that you were out playing a game while I was miserable and heartbroken, having to bury our baby. A baby you knew nothing about, because of me. I was an idiot—no, I was a total fuckwhit—and I’m sorry.”

She moved her fingers and let him speak. “Jenn, you don’t have to apologize. We both made mistakes, but the past is the past. I don’t know that we were ready for each other ten years ago, or would have even made it for the long haul ten years ago. Fate played a certain hand here, I’m sure, but what matters now is that we’ve put all the past stuff behind us and have a future to look forward to. Together. Hopefully.”

She nodded, her heart flip flopping in her chest and her body and soul feeling freer, lighter than it had in years. “You really love me more than baseball?”

“Absolutely.”

“That must mean you love me a whole, whole lot.”

His grin was wicked. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.”

And with the same determination he’d had had every time he stepped onto the pitcher’s mound, he proceeded to show her just how much he really did love her.

It was definitely more than baseball.

Epilogue

“We’re here in the
bottom of the ninth of Game Seven of the World Series. The Giants are down to their last batter and the Wranglers currently hold a one-nothing lead over San Francisco.”

“This has definitely been a pitcher’s duel, Craig, with hits hard to come by for either team.”

“Roger that, Nathan. This has definitely been a hard-fought battle that is indeed coming down to the wire. Meanwhile, Wranglers ace Matt Roberts is still in this game, refusing to hand the ball over to pitching coach Troy Matherson or the skipper, Toby Prince.”

“Well you can’t blame him, Craig. Roberts has pitched lights out this game and is only at a hundred and one pitches. We’ve certainly seen him go deeper pitch count-wise before.”

“Plus, Nathan, there’s all the speculation that this will be Roberts’ last game and that the veteran right hander will retire after this season.”

“Absolutely, Craig.”

“And it appears the Giants have substituted Fox as a pinch hitter here. Fox steps up to the batter’s box. Roberts goes into the windup. Fires a fastball down the middle for strike one.”

“That thing was clocked at ninety-eight miles per hour, Craig.”

“Roberts has certainly been on top of his game tonight, Nathan. I can’t recall him ever pitching this well. Fox steps back into the box. Roberts winds up. Curveball just outside for ball one. He shakes off a couple of pitches to catcher Miguel Rodrigo, finds one he likes. Sets. Goes back to the curveball for strike two.”

“That was a nasty pitch, Craig.”

“Indeed it was. Fox calls for time, steps out of the batter’s box and back in. Roberts sets, nods to Rodrigo. Winds up and oh my, Fox smokes a ball towards left field
.
This could be trouble for the rookie Carpenter. He’s back to the warning track and oh my goodness makes a leaping catch to win the game! Wranglers win! Wranglers win! The hometown crowd just erupted in celebration.”

“Man, this stadium is rocking right now, Craig. What a sight to see.”

“No kidding, Nathan. Not only did they just see their team win a World Series Championship, but they also just witnessed a Game Seven perfect game. The last time a perfect game was thrown in the World Series was by Don Larsen in 1956…”

#

Matt stood on the makeshift stage that had been erected in the middle of the infield after the game. He was sticky from the champagne that had been sprayed liberally around the locker room immediately following the Wranglers win, but he had a hard time caring. Diane Johnson, the on-field reporter, stood beside him and signaled they were ready to go.

“Matt, I know you must be feeling all kinds of emotions right now, but tell us what was going through your mind on that last out.” She pointed the microphone towards him.

“Oh, sh—crap.”

The crowd in front of the stage, and his teammates gathered around him laughed. “What’s it like, knowing you’re the first person since 1956 to pitch a perfect game in the World Series?”

Matt shook his head and fought back tears as emotion overtook him. He found Jenn down in the crowd, wearing that old shirt of his that she’d turned into a tank top, tears streaking her face as she beamed up at him and said, “It’s a hell of a way to go out, that’s for sure.”

“Does that mean the rumors are true? You’re retiring?”

Matt smiled at the cameras. “It just means it’s a hell of a way to go out. And tonight’s not about me. There were eight other guys on that field with me who provided amazing defense in a couple of sticky situations.” Matt looked around. “Carpenter, where are you? Get over here.”

Carpenter grinned as he shoved through bodies to get to the front of the stage. Matt clapped him on the shoulder and said into the microphone, “This guy right here? We might not be standing here if Carp hadn’t made one of the best catches I’ve seen in years. I didn’t even know you could jump that high, man.”

Carp blushed before turning on every ounce of southern charm he had. “Aww, shucks. That was nothin’. I’ve jumped higher tryin’ to get away from a freshly castrated bull on my daddy’s farm.”

The crowd laughed, their attention drawn to the likeable rookie, and Matt casually sidled away until he was able to jump off the stage and head towards Jenn. She jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and showering him with kisses.

“You threw a perfect game, Matt! A perfect game! In the World freaking Series!”

He laughed. “I know, baby, I know.”

“Why do I seem more excited about this than you do?”

He shrugged. “It’s just a game. Like I said, it’s a great way to go out, and one day I’ll probably look back on this and think, ‘holy shit, I actually did that,’ but right now? The only thing I really want to do is get you home, naked and on top of me.”

She kissed him then, long and deep and Matt felt a peace he’d once thought would be impossible to achieve. When she broke the kiss, she nuzzled his ear and whispered, “Would now be a bad time to tell you I’m pregnant?”

He drew his head back and looked at her, searching her face for any signs of worry or stress. Instead, she simply looked happy, and was actually kind of glowing. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

He grinned. “Now that’s what I call a perfect game.”

She smacked him on his left shoulder but couldn’t hide her smile. “Oh, and I totally forgot to tell you, but my parents are going to be on that
Doomsday Preppers
show. You okay with the possible media backlash?”

He laughed, a deep belly laugh that made their bodies shake and brought tears to his eyes. “For you? I’m okay with just about anything. I love you, Jenn.”

“More than baseball?”

He looked around at the confetti that still lazily flew through the air, the crush of fans around them and his still-celebrating teammates and said, “More than a Game Seven win in the World Series.”