Page 56 of Bad Call

“And the worst team?” the reporter asked.

Casey looked right into the camera and smiled smugly. “The Padres, hands down.” He was talking to me! I had let it slip that I watched these interviews with him in the locker room, and he knew I would see this. The feeling warmed my belly, like swallowing a shot of whiskey.

“Do you know any Padres fans, Coach?” Sean asked.

“I might know one.” He winked.At me! “Of course, he has terrible taste in everything, so I’m not surprised he likes the Padres.”

Casey was probably on the field right now with his team, practicing. Was he thinking about last night? How he broke me down piece by piece out on that field and then put me back together again in the cab of his truck? I’d never felt anything like that in my life. Casey mademe feel…Everything. Safe, desired, completely wicked. Vulnerable. I didn’t think sex with him would ever become boring.

The Padres are only 12 spots behind the Mariners in the ranking.

Several minutes passed before he responded.

Coach:

they might as well drop out of professional baseball

Two minutes later, another text came through.

Coach:

How’s your ass?

The warmth in my belly spread up to my chest to my face.

Sore. Just like you wanted.

This time, his reply was immediate.

Coach:

I did. Reminds you who it belongs to.

Like I could forget. His was the only dick that had ever been inside of it.

Later that night, as I sat in front of the TV with the pizza I ordered, I received another text from him.

Coach:

Rawlings says hi. I think she misses you.

The text was followed by a picture of something she had gotten into and made a mess of on the floor. Something red. I zoomed in on the picture to try to see… my foam Padres finger! How dare she!

Rawlings owes me! Tell her I’m very, very disappointed in her.

Coach:

It seems my dog has better taste than you do.

The following day, I hadn’t heard from him by lunchtime, and I was jonesing for some attention.

Do you happen to have any more of those wooden boxes lying around? I asked the manager of my building and he said he wouldn’t mind having one out front.

And I wouldn’t mind watching him sweaty and shirtless as he installed it.

Coach:

No, but I’ll get started on making one right away.