“Cassie, don’t.” Jack shook his head and swallowed hard before turning toward the blonde. “You dropped this,” he said, crumbling her number up into a little ball before flicking it past her.
I choked back a laugh as he pulled me toward his car. There were scraps of paper scattered on the front seat and envelopes under his windshield wipers. “What is all this?” I asked, reaching for the papers.
“Phone numbers, mostly. Some pictures too.”
“Seriously?” My eyes widened as I leaned into the seat.
He scooped up the loose papers, grabbed the envelopes from under the wipers, and placed them all in a stack on his lap. He turned the key and the engine roared its familiar sound. We drove a few feet before he hopped out and tossed the stack of papers into a blue garbage bin.
“Does this happen every night?” The surprise in my voice still lingered.
“Pretty much.” He leaned his head toward my face before reaching across the seat and pulling my mouth to his.
We drove the short distance from the stadium to his house and Jack hopped out before opening my door for me. “I don’t want to socialize tonight, okay? I just want to go straight upstairs.”
“Jack, jeez.” I smacked his arm.
“No, I don’t mean because of that. I just want to spend time alone with you. I hate not seeing you every day.”
“Me too,” I admitted, partially relieved.
The noise of the housemates filtered through the front door and they erupted in cheers as we walked through. “Hey, guys. Sorry, we’re going to hit the sack,” Jack informed them with a wink.
“No, don’t go to bed yet! Come on, Jack,” Nick shouted before he chugged a beer.
“We’ll see you ladies tomorrow.” Jack laughed and slung an arm over my shoulders.
“Goodnight, you guys,” I said with a shrug before heading up the carpeted stairs.
We shared the same space in the bathroom as we got ready for bed. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and quickly changed into a tank top and boxer shorts as Jack stripped down before hopping into the shower.
“I’m gonna go get in bed, okay?” I called out into the steam-filled air.
“I’ll just be a minute,” he responded, his wet face peering from around the white shower curtain. “Come here.”
I narrowed my eyes at him before leaning toward him. “What do you want?”
“A kiss.” He puckered his lips together, beads of water falling from them as I leaned in, pressing my mouth to his.
“Ugh, you’re all wet.” I pulled away, wiping the water from my lips.
“See you in a minute.” He disappeared behind the curtain.
I shut the door to Jack’s room and hopped into bed, noticing the framed picture of the two of us from the day he got drafted sitting on his nightstand. I reached for it, running my fingers across the glass as he walked in.
“I love this picture.” I smiled up at him before placing the picture frame back on his nightstand.
“Me too. It’s one of my favorites,” he admitted, his voice sincere.
“I had an interesting talk with Amanda tonight,” I noted as he slid his well-defined body into bed next to me.
“Yeah? What about?” He threw his arm around me and pulled my head against his chest.
“She just said she thinks it takes a certain kind of girl to date you guys. And she wasn’t sure if she could handle it.”
“Really? Well that would suck for Tyler, but she’s not wrong.”
The muscles in his abs tightened as he twisted down to look at me. I pushed my body up and sat, angled toward him. “How so?”
“It takes a certain kind of girl to date any athlete,” he started to say. “Most girls can’t handle the stress of it. It’s hard to deal with other girls throwing themselves at your man constantly. But you’re already used to that.” He winked and I smacked his shoulder, rolling my eyes.
“Kitten.” He pointed at me, his voice rumbling before he continued. “And a lot of girls can’t handle the amount of travel we have to do. We’re gone a lot and even when we’re home, we’re not really home. Baseball is our job so it’s our number one priority. It has to be or we’ll get cut from the team for someone younger, faster, or better than we are. The amount of dedication it takes is more than most girls can handle.”
“I’ve never even thought about it like that before,” I admitted, my eyes drifting past his face, landing on the earthy tone of his wall.
“Because you can handle it,” he stated with confidence.
I tilted my head. “You’re that sure, huh?”
Jack frowned. “Aren’t you?”
“I don’t know. Tonight was sort of crazy with all the phone numbers and the girls waiting outside for you and stuff…” My voice trailed off as he reached for my chin, tilting my face up.
“I know it’s not easy, but please remember that I’ve been dealing with this craziness for a long time now. It’s not new to me like it is with some of the other guys. They have fucking stars in their eyes when they walk out those stadium doors at night.”
“And what about you?”
He huffed out a breath, as if surprised at my question. “Honestly? All I’m thinking about when I walk out those doors at night is how long it’s gonna take me to get home so I can call my girl.”
“Uh-uh.” I shook my head and tried to hide a smile.
“It’s true.” He bent forward to kiss the side of my head before leaning back into his pillow.
“You’re not even tempted? At all? Some of those girls are really pretty.” I hated like hell to admit that, knowing that Jack could hear the disbelief in my voice.
“Why would I be tempted by any of those girls when I have you?” He grinned before his expression fell flat. “What I should be worried about is someone stealing you away while I’m out of the picture.”