Catching Ava (Spring Training Book 3) Read online

  She gasped at the total intrusion, fighting the urge to cry out. She didn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle it. But Lord, he was so big and thick. Nothing could have prepared her for the stretch.

  He didn’t move except to search her face with his eyes. “You okay, hon?” His words were choppy, gritted out. His jaw was set in a stiff line. This was hard for him.

  As her body molded around him, accepting his girth, she inhaled slowly. Finally, she wanted more. “Move.”

  A slow smile, and then he pulled out and thrust back in.

  This time, she did gasp. “Oh God.” She couldn’t keep her head from tipping back, breaking eye contact but exposing her neck to him.

  He lowered his face and flicked his tongue along her pulse point. Then he nudged her chin and took her lips. While he kissed her, he started moving in earnest.

  She couldn’t even return the kiss properly. Every brain cell was sending messages to her sex. Every nerve ending in her channel was enlightened. Like thousands of new sensual receptors all came alive at once.

  Xavier released her lips and watched her face again. He thrust harder and faster. He held her fingers threaded in his as if their lives depended on it. Every time he was fully seated, the base of his shaft hit her clit and she hitched a breath.

  “Come, Ava. Let it go.”

  She closed her eyes as another orgasm irrationally rocked her body. As if he could control them with his words, she came undone. He thrust two more times while she moaned around the sheer bliss. And then he stiffened deep inside her and growled out his release.

  For long moments he heaved, trying to catch his breath, still buried inside her.

  She was so relaxed she didn’t care what he did. As long as he stayed inside her and continued to hold her.

  He did, for a long time, though it must have cost him because his elbows started shaking eventually, and he slid out on a moan and lowered himself onto his side next to her. If he was half as worn out as her, it was amazing how well he continued to put her first. He rested on his elbow and stroked her cheek. “Thank you, Ava. That was the most precious gift anyone has ever given me.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. It was the best hour of my life. Hands down.”

  He chuckled. “Good, then every time we have sex, I’ll strive to improve on your best hour.”

  She turned her face toward him. “Not possible.”

  “Challenge accepted.”

  Chapter Seven

  Xavier watched her sleep. He couldn’t close his eyes for fear he would wake and find it was all a dream. He was going to be totally exhausted at his game tomorrow. But he didn’t give a fuck. It was worth it.

  He loved to stare at the contrast of their skin, his dark hand resting on her pale back as she slept on her stomach. Her equally pale hair haloed around her face.

  Damn, he was lucky. Now he needed to convince her this wasn’t a one-time thing. He wanted her in his life. He finally closed his eyes and allowed sleep to pull him under.

  Movement made him blink awake to find Ava easing out from under his palm. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Didn’t mean to wake you. Need to use the bathroom.”

  He leaned in to kiss her gently and then watched her slip from the bed and pad to the attached bath. She was gorgeous. Especially naked with her hair hanging in messy curls down her back.

  When she returned, he rolled onto his back, snaked an arm around her, and hauled her against him so that her luscious body was plastered to his side, her head resting on his chest.

  She sighed. “What time do you need to leave?”

  “Early. Come with me?” He tried not to let her hear the nervousness in his voice.

  A few seconds ticked by. “I think I should stay here.”

  “Why?” He held her tighter. Please, God, don’t let her slide back into that place where she hides from me.

  She shrugged. “I need to work. You’re…a distraction.”

  He smiled. “A good distraction, right?”

  “Yes, but I have edits to do, and I promised myself I would get more applications in this weekend. I need to find a job.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t want to push her. But the stabbing pain at her refusal made him nervous. How the hell had he fallen so hard for this little imp in such a short time? It bothered him to leave her for some reason, as if any headway they made overnight would disappear and she would retreat from him the second the door shut.

  Was his fear rational?

  “Come up tomorrow night?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound like he was desperate.

  She giggled. “Persistent.”

  “Always.”

  “Tomorrow night…” she pondered. “Maybe. Let me see how much I can get done today and tomorrow.”

  “So, yes?”

  “So, maybe.” She flatted a hand on his chest, her dainty palm making him crave more of her touch.

  His cock was stiff, mainly because it had never gone down after he’d taken her last night. And he needed to rein in the arousal this morning because she would be sore.

  He glanced at the clock as the sun peeked through the blinds. “I need to get going.”

  “Okay.” She drew a circle around his nipple with one finger.

  It was so hot that he grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips before he lost control. He kissed her knuckles and then rolled her onto her back and hovered over her. He glanced down her body and then teased the tips of his fingers up her hip, across her waist, and between her soft breasts before grasping her chin. “Come tomorrow night. Please.”

  She nodded. “Okay. I will.” She grabbed his biceps with her hand and squeezed.

  With a groan, he kissed her lips and then slid from her warm bed to head for the bathroom. He wished he could bring her into the shower with him and run soap all over her body, but if he did, he would be late.

  Fifteen minutes later, he stood in the door to her apartment kissing her again.

  She lifted onto her tiptoes and cupped his rough, unshaven face. “Thank you.”

  He winced. “That sounds like goodbye.”

  She shook her head. “No. It was just a thank you. Don’t read anything into it. I had a fun night. I’m letting you know.”

  He swallowed and kissed her forehead, forcing himself to turn and walk away afterward without looking back. He was at the end of the hall before he heard her door snick shut.

  Why the hell was he so uneasy?

  * * *

  Ava leaned against the door for several minutes before she finally made her way back to bed. She dropped her robe on the floor, eased between the sheets naked, not wanting to wash Xavier’s scent off her skin, and buried her face in the pillow he’d used.

  As tired as she was, sleep didn’t drag her back under. Instead, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her mind racing with the memory of Xavier’s father warning her away from him.

  She had two problems. One, she didn’t know what to do with that threat. And two, she hadn’t told Xavier, who was probably going to be pissed when he found out.

  Last night had been about sex. There hadn’t been a good opportunity to get into something serious. She rationalized there was little chance his father knew Xavier was with her, so she was surely safe from the older man’s wrath at least.

  She found it interesting that Xavier had not mentioned his father being in Miami. What did that mean?

  Did Xavier know his father went around behind his back chasing off women? Did he even know the man was in the States?

  His father’s brother, Raúl, obviously loved Xavier to pieces, enough to reside in Florida to watch him play ball as often as possible. And Raúl’s entire family had been more than welcoming of Ava. Not once did Raúl mention his brother or his whereabouts.

  Ava grew more nervous as she pondered the strange situation. She should’ve told Xavier. Days ago. But she hadn’t.

  There was nothing she could do about it now. No way was she going to talk to Xavier about anything this
serious over the phone. She didn’t want to mess up his game.

  She had no choice but to wait until tomorrow night to talk to him.

  The last few days she’d believed whatever burgeoning relationship the two of them had started had fizzled out. But now…

  If Xavier hadn’t shown up last night and shoved his way back into her life, she could have simply walked away, ensuring his father got what he wanted, and Xavier would’ve been none the wiser.

  Now, she needed to think about what to do next.

  The way she saw it, she had two problems. One—his father. Two—her job. She couldn’t keep going back and forth to Jupiter to see him at the expense of job hunting. It had already been months since she graduated, and she was holding on by a thread financially. The trust money her parents left her was dwindling. She was grateful it carried her through college, but now she needed to stand on her own. Enough of living off her sister and her trust.

  The reality was Lily didn’t know how dire Ava’s situation was. She had no understanding of the publishing world. Lily was an artist. She owned a gallery. She bought and sold art. If she had any idea how tight Ava’s finances were, she would freak out. The trust was dwindling. In a few months, Ava would be broke.

  She was between a rock and a hard place. What she wanted to do was write. She had started a novel, and every time she worked on it, her heart raced with excitement. But writing a novel didn’t pay the bills.

  Unfortunately, neither did editing—her fallback plan. Although Ava forced herself to divide her time between writing—which paid her nothing—and editing—which paid her enough to buy a coffee—she was falling farther behind each month. Her grand idea of landing a job with a publisher so she could edit by day and write by night was a total bust.

  Editing jobs were few and far between. She did some freelance, but never made enough money to afford groceries, let alone rent. If she didn’t find something more substantial in the next few months, she was going to have to abandon her dream and take a job waitressing or in retail. What she didn’t want to do was live off her sister any longer. Lily had done everything for Ava for sixteen years. It was time to make a clean break, fend for herself, and let Lily move on also.

  And now she had a potential new time-consuming component to add to her life. Xavier.

  She groaned, knowing she wasn’t strong enough to let Xavier go without a fight. That would be the easier solution. Maybe it would’ve been possible before she’d spent the night with him. Now he was under her skin. She could still feel his hands on her body, his thick length sliding into her.

  Sex had been elusive before yesterday. An apparition. Not something tangible she could easily understand or relate to. Maybe sex was just as incredible with any partner, but she found that hard to believe. She had a connection with Xavier that intensified her emotions. Her entire body jumped to attention as soon as she was near him, and her arousal shot through the roof when he touched her.

  Nope. Not an illusion. She’d dated lots of men. None had ever brought anything like that out of her at any point. No one had ever made her wet with just a touch. No one had ever caused a tight ball of need to form in her belly. No one had ever made her lose sleep.

  Yeah. She needed to start off this relationship with honesty. She had to face Xavier and tell him about her confrontation with his father. Allowing Carlos to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her without a fight wasn’t an option.

  And then she needed to make sure he understood where she stood as far as life choices. She needed steady income, and that wasn’t conducive to running around playing all the time. Reality check.

  Ugh. She hadn’t meant to get this emotionally involved. He was hot. She wanted to sleep with him. Why did it have to get complicated? And when did she realize it? She knew the answer. She’d been aware of the heat between them as far back as the night of their first double date. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit this had never been a simple matter of getting laid.

  Chapter Eight

  Ava couldn’t keep from smiling as she located her seat in the stands Sunday afternoon. Several things happened in her favor.

  One, she had gotten a ton of work done on Saturday after making the definitive decision to come to Jupiter. That permitted her to see Xavier play, and she hadn’t told him she was coming this early. He still expected her later in the evening. Two, there was no sign of Xavier’s father at the game. And three, both Zia and Lily were at the game, which meant they would have enough to talk about between them that they wouldn’t have time to hound Ava to death about her own relationship.

  Lily looked surprised when Ava sat next to her. “So it’s true,” she teased, her eyes not expressing the happiness she tried to demonstrate with her smile.

  Zia smirked. “I tried to tell you. For sisters, the two of you don’t talk to each other much. You could have consolidated and driven here in one car.”

  Lily continued to look at Ava. “I’m sorry. It was a rough week. I didn’t call you.”

  “I’m sure it was. I was there when you and Dominic fought over God knows what. I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would’ve called.” Maybe Ava should’ve been hurt by her sister’s lack of contact, but frankly, she had been too invested in her own issues to think hard about Lily’s.

  Besides, Ava wasn’t willing to share much about her tentative relationship. She didn’t quite know what to make of it herself yet.

  “Well, we worked things out.” Lily smiled.

  “I figured, since you’re here.” Ava hugged her sister from the side.

  “And you’re here,” Lily added, a brow lifted. “So you hit it off with Xavier? Or have you moved on to another ballplayer?”

  Ava chuckled. “How many men have you known me to date in the same week in the past?”

  “Zero.”

  “Then it’s safe to say I’m exploring the waters with Xavier.”

  Lily frowned for a moment. “And this is a good thing?”

  “Yes, Mom.” Ava rolled her eyes. “I’m a big girl. You can stop worrying about me.”

  “Hey, you’re my sister. I’m always going to worry. And Xavier… He’s…”

  “What?” Ava grinned. “Sexy? Nice? Polite?”

  “Yeah, those things…”

  “What he is right now is looking at you in shock with a huge smile on his face,” Zia announced.

  Ava jerked her gaze to the dugout and found Xavier staring at her with his head cocked to one side and a grin plastered on his face that made her squirm in her seat.

  Yep. This had been the right decision. She had made his day.

  When he jogged out to third base after the national anthem, he melted her. He was fine to look at. Those damn pants he wore…and the muscles on his arms that flexed every time he threw the ball.

  She listened to Zia explain the game a little better. She was really talking to Lily, but Ava knew about as much as her sister—the basics and nothing more.

  Two line drives went straight to Xavier in the first inning. He caught them easily, making it look routine. Maybe it was.

  His first at bat he hit the ball to left field, but the fielder caught it.

  During the third inning, a ball was hit over his head, but he turned around and caught the throw from the outfield to make an out at third.

  Ava found herself incredibly stressed watching him play, knowing how important it was to him. Even though he was in his third year with the team, he didn’t take anything for granted. He was hardworking, and it showed in his expression every time he went back into the dugout between innings. He didn’t make eye contact with Ava again, and she was glad he could separate and keep his head in the game.

  After the fifth inning when several of the players headed for the clubhouse, Ava, Lily, and Zia ambled that way too.

  “How’s married life?” Ava asked to deflect any conversation the women might want to have about her love life.

  Zia’s face lit up. “Perfect. I haven’t
painted a thing since we got back from the honeymoon, but I’m loving being married.”

  Lily hugged her friend. “I’m so happy for you.”

  Zia smiled. “Maybe you two could join me in this crazy life and we’d have each other to commiserate over days spent alone when the men are out of town?”

  Lily’s face pinkened. “Maybe.”

  Ava shot her a glance. “Seriously?”

  She nodded. “I’ve asked Stephan to cover for me for a while so I can spend more time with Dominic.” Stephan was Lily’s assistant at the art gallery she owned. Ava knew he would do a great job and her sister didn’t need to worry about her business. “I’m sorry I haven’t called for a few days. I’ve been…busy.”

  Ava bit her lower lip to keep from grinning. “Is that what it’s called now? Busy?”

  Lily turned her gaze toward Ava as they walked. Her face was flushed. Interesting. Lily Phillips embarrassed. She changed the subject. “I was hoping to enlist you to help out too since you haven’t found the perfect job yet, but it would seem you’re spending a lot of time in Jupiter yourself.”

  “Maybe. We’ll see. It’s only been a week. And I can’t keep running back and forth. I need to find my own job.” She stopped walking to face her sister. “I know you probably need me to help out, and you know I’ll do everything I can, but I can’t work for you forever. I have to make it on my own. It’s important to me.” Half of her thought if she had any good sense, she’d offer to work as many hours as possible for Lily in order to earn enough money to make ends meet, but in her mind, working for Lily did not equal making it on her own.

  “I know.” Lily nodded. “You’ve worked hard to get your degree, but I don’t want you to kill yourself getting a job to make a point.”

  “It’s not a point I’m making to you or anyone else, Lily. It’s for me. I have to stand on my own. I’ve been mooching off you and my trust fund for a long time. It’s going to run out soon.” That much wasn’t a secret. Lily was fully aware of the amount of money in the trust fund.