“I don’t have anyone to pair you with, so you’re playing with me,” he informed me, and he winked as we reached a bag with about ten bats inside.

“Owen. No. I didn’t sign up for this. I’m just here to watch.”

“Ah, come on,” he said with a boyish grin I couldn’t say no to. “It’ll be fun.”

His blue-gray eyes twinkled, and I found myself agreeing but reminded him about my lack of hand-eye coordination.

“This isn’t some new competition for you to prove you’re better at something else, is it? I am well aware you’re better at baseball.”

Leaning down, hovering his lips over my ear as he gently slipped a bat into my grasp, he teased, “Maybe I just want to see you handling my big, long stick.”

“I have a big stick too!” an innocent voice called out, and Owen and I jumped apart to find Roman standing close by. Thankfully, it was clear the young boy was referring to his actual baseball bat.

“Hey, kiddo. What’s up? Shouldn’t you be over there with Johnny, practicing your hits?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to come say hi to Miss Aspen.” He turned to face me. “Hi!”

“Hi, Roman. When your mom picks you up, please tell her I said hi to her too.”

“Okay.” He looked back and forth between me and Owen before he scurried off to his partner.

“All right, we probably only have a few minutes before we’re interrupted again.”

I tried to assure Owen that I was more than content watching him coach for the afternoon, but he wasn’t hearing any of it. He set up an area away from the kids for their own safety. Stepping behind me, he pressed his hips against my backside as he adjusted my grip around the bat and then directed me on my stance. I felt ridiculous as I stood there in the grass, watching Owen walk away while he grabbed a ball from his cargo shorts.

“Just try to hit it, okay?” he called out as he positioned himself across from me.

Nodding, I narrowed my stare, hoping it would help me focus. Owen threw the ball much slower than I’d seen in person or on TV. I forced my eyes to stay open, fighting every intuition to close them. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, the ball made contact with my bat with just enough force to bounce it back toward Owen.

“I did it!”

“Great job, baby!” he exclaimed as he collected the ball. “Let’s see if we can get one more.” He called over one of the older kids to pitch, while Owen came and stood behind me again. The ridge of his cock was pressed against my ass again, and I could barely concentrate.

“You’re going to make me miss it with you standing behind me like this,” I told him.

“Naw. We got it.”

Owen adjusted his grip on the bat around my hands. The moment our hands touched, I felt… powerful. Like I could actually get a grand slam.

“You’re controlling it. I’m just the added muscle.”

The pitcher wound and then released the ball. Taking a deep breath, I swung the bat with every ounce of strength I had. Not expecting to hit anything, the thunk of the bat hitting the ball startled me. A flash of white soared through the sky, landing on the other side of the park.

“Oh my gosh! We did it!” I dropped the bat as I twisted around and jumped into Owen’s arms.

“You did it. I just gave you a little extra strength.”

“Wow. That was… so cool.”

“It is pretty cool.”

I peered over Owen’s shoulder and saw his camp had formed a little crowd, watching us. “I think you’re wanted over there. I’m going to go sit by the lake and watch. Okay?”

“All right,” he said, then pressed a chaste kiss to my lips.

The remainder of the camp lasted another two hours. I spent my time listening to music on my phone and watching the kids play. A couple of young families came and went on the playground while the town’s walking group made a few laps around the lake.

It was the most relaxing day I’d ever had.

When camp was over, Owen and I agreed to meet back up at his house. He needed to run back by the school to drop off the equipment, and I was tasked with grabbing dinner from the local Chinese restaurant.

We arrived at the rental around the same time, and he helped me carry in the bags of food.

“What all did you get?” he joked as I sorted through the five bags on the kitchen counter.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted. I got beef and vegetables, pork fried rice, General Tso’s chicken, shrimp lo mein, egg rolls, and crab ragoon.”

“We will never eat all of this.”

He underestimated my love of Chinese food.

We sat on the couch, watching a movie that was already playing. It was an action flick I wasn’t overly interested in, but with Owen’s thigh pressed against mine, I don’t think even Hidden in Plain Sight could have kept my attention.

“Everything okay? You seem a bit quiet.”

“Yeah. Just thinking about something Andrew said this morning.” The lie slipped out of my mouth with ease. I’d been thinking about Owen and my pesky virginity.

“Oh. Anything important?”

“No. Just work stuff. Speaking of, how is the therapist?”

“Good. She thinks my shoulder will be good as new before the season. Coach says he’ll need me back before long, so she’s going to transfer all the documentation to the team’s official therapist.”

“Are you…? I mean…,” I stuttered, unsure how to voice what I was feeling. Owen reached over, took my plate from my hands, and set it on the table.

“Hey, I wish I could stay longer. At first, when I came back, I was dreading having to be here for five or six months. Now, the thought of going back after just two kills me. If it wasn’t my job, I’d tell him where he could shove his sponsorships.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

Owen leaned forward, capturing my lips with his. These were not the soft kisses from earlier in the day. These were demanding, punishing, addictive. Our tongues dueled and danced while our hands explored. Gently, Owen guided me down onto the couch. The soft material felt like heaven against my heated skin.

Within his large hand, Owen gathered my wrists and pinned them above my head and against the arm of the sofa while his mouth assaulted my neck.

“I love your skin, cricket. It’s so soft.”

“Owen,” I whimpered, squirming underneath him. His strong hips nestled between my legs, pinning my hips in place.

“What do you need, sweet girl?”