“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.”

“Oh please, like anyone will even come near me. They know better, Jack. You trained every male on campus well.”

He let out a loud hoot before smacking his palm against the bed. “That’s fucking awesome.”

“I’m glad you’re so pleased with yourself.”

“Do you know how shitty it would be if I had to worry about that kind of stuff? I want to go out of my mind right now just thinking about it.”

I placed my hand on his thigh. “Then don’t. There’s no point.”

“We’re good, right? Me and you?” His voice faltered slightly and I noticed the clouds forming in his eyes.

“I love you.” I longed to reassure whatever unpleasant thoughts were creeping into his mind.

“And you’re happy?” His eyes tensed.

“Extremely.” I smiled at him.

He exhaled. “You’re my game changer, you know that?”

“Game changer?” I shook my head, unsure of his meaning.

“The one girl who changes everything. The one you’d give it all up for.” He brushed his thumb down my cheek.

“I don’t want you to give anything up.”

“I know that. But here’s the thing about baseball, Kitten. There’s an expiration date for every single one of us who plays and we all know it. Eventually my baseball career will come to an end, and I can live with that. But I can’t live without you.”

I blinked back the tears forming in my eyes as I leaned into his chest, his warm arms wrapping around me. “The only time I feel safe is when I’m with you,” I admitted.

“Because you know I’ll kill anyone who hurts you. Because I’m a superhero,” he said seriously, his fingers twisting locks of my hair.

“You’re something, alright.” I laughed into his bare chest, my eyes closing.

“I’m your something…” His voice trailed off into a whisper as I drifted off.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Jack’s alarm beeping relentlessly. I shook Jack’s shoulder and he grumbled before flipping over.

“Jack, get up. Turn it off,” I whined.

He rubbed his eyes before slamming his palm down on top of the clock radio. “I don’t want to get up. I need sleep.”

“You get to pitch today,” I reminded him, my voice groggy.

“I get to sleep today.” He laughed before grabbing me in his arms and squeezing.

“You’re going to kill me,” I choked out sarcastically. “I’m dying. I can’t breathe. Hello? Earth to Jack?”

“Clearly you’re not dying if you’re still flapping your gums.” I wanted to smack him, his grin was so wicked.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

*****

The rest of our weekend together consisted of two more baseball games, floating around the pool, and the constant reminder of how much we enjoyed being together. Jack’s pitching was amazing during his outing on Saturday, which prompted rumors to spread that he’d get moved up to Double-A soon. Which was fast, even by baseball standards.

When he dropped me off at the airport on Sunday evening, I cried. It was like saying good-bye to him for the first time all over again. Seeing him made it harder to be away, which was sort of fucked up, if you asked me.

“I hate saying good-bye to you. It sucks.” I buried my face against his shoulder.

“I know. Me too.” He kissed the top of my head as his fingers caressed my back.

I pushed myself away from the protection of his arms. “I’ll call you as soon as I land, okay?”

“You better,” he teased before cupping my face in his hands. “I love you.” His mouth pressed against mine as his tongue swept across my lips.

“I love you too,” I said, pulling away from him.

I shut the car door before walking through the sliding glass doors of the airport entrance. I headed toward the security checkpoint, thankful that it wasn’t crowded. Once my bag and my body were cleared, I found my gate and plopped into an empty chair, the weekend’s activities catching up to me. I yawned as my cell phone rang with Jack’s song.

“What’s up, babe?”

“Cassie,” he shouted, the wind whipping through the air, forcing the reception to crackle. “Can you hear me?”

“Sort of. Are you okay?” I grabbed my bag and looked for a more private setting.

“I just got off the phone with Coach. They’re pulling me up to Double-A. I leave for Alabama in two days!”

“Oh my God, babe, that’s amazing! Congratulations. I’ve always wanted to see Alabama,” I added, so happy for my guy.

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“In that case, I can’t wait to fly you out.” He laughed. “I’ve gotta call Dean and Gran. I just wanted to tell you first.”

“I’m so glad you did. Congratulations again, babe. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Kitten. Love you. Call me when you land.” He hung up and I couldn’t stop my face from grinning.

FIFTEEN