Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (The Hawke Family Book 1) (20 page)

“Wow, it’s HUGE!”

Dani’s jaw hangs open and she turns in a circle to take in all of Minute Maid Park. The drive to Houston took over five hours, but it didn’t seem that long in the back of the limo. We made good use of the time. When Dani told me she’d never been to a MLB game, I couldn’t resist, even with the distance.

“It is, but there are actually parks that are a lot bigger. This only holds about forty-two thousand. Dodger Stadium holds over fifty-six thousand.”

She turns to me and grins. “This is awesome. Thanks so much for bringing me.”

“Anytime,” I reply with a wink. “Let’s get to our seats before the first pitch.” She follows me over to the handicapped seating area behind and just to the left of home plate and settles into her chair.

I haven’t been to a major league game in probably five years. I forgot how much I enjoyed the energy of the crowd. Baseball had been my mother’s response to my discontent with not being allowed to box anymore after my dad died. And while I never loved it the way I did boxing, there’s a familiar feeling of euphoria from being in the stadium.

Dani’s knee bounces up and down as she looks around the park and the field. The pitcher is on the mound throwing a few pitches to the catcher while the rest of the team is stretching and throwing around a ball for warm-ups. The smell of popcorn and hotdogs is mouth-watering, but all I can think about is how incredible Dani tastes.

The memory of licking my fingers after getting her off in the limo on the way here is crystal clear and I can still taste her on my tongue. My cock twitches in my pants and, for once, I’m thankful I’m sitting down and my inappropriately-timed hard-on isn’t noticeable to the families wandering around the ballpark.

I can’t help it. I can’t get enough of her.

She reaches down and grabs the bag from the gift shop, rifling through it until she finds the Astros hat I bought her. She pulls it down over her long hair and turns to me.

Damn. It’s ridiculous how hot she looks in that.

“How do I look?”

A grin spreads across my face and I reach out and cup her cheek, urging her to lean in closer to me. “Fucking adorable, actually.” I kiss her gently. She smiles against my lips.

She pulls away slightly and offers me a coy smile. “Oh, really? Then maybe I should wear hats more often?”

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “That would hardly be fair.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Because I already have a hard time controlling myself around you. If you become any more adorable, I will be in serious fucking trouble.”

She laughs and grins at me. “Good answer.”

Christ, how can I be this obsessed with this woman?

The last week has been a whirlwind. We’ve both been really busy, but we managed to see each other on Tuesday night and have talked on the phone every night we weren’t together. Well, maybe “talking” isn’t the right word because, God knows, our chats haven’t exactly been PG.

The start of the National Anthem alerts me that it’s time to stop daydreaming about Dani and pay attention to what’s going on around me. She stands, pulling off her hat and putting it over her heart.

I don’t know what I expected to hear, but when she starts singing, I can barely stop myself from laughing. She is truly and utterly awful. There isn’t a single note sung on key and yet she plows on, at the top of her lungs.

And fuck if it doesn’t make me want her more.

She doesn’t care about what anyone thinks, not one single iota. In fact, I’m pretty sure if anyone said anything to her about her lack of vocal skills, she’d probably have some witty retort about how she has other oral talents.

What I wouldn’t give to have those talents used on me.

It’s not from her lack of trying. On Tuesday, when she was over, I managed to avoid the situation completely by just making her come repeatedly. If I never gave her reprieve, she couldn’t put me in a position to have Deflate Gate again.

She didn’t seem to mind. The constant stream of moans, cries, and grunts as she came all over my face let me know I’m at least doing that right.

The anthem ends and she sits back down and glances over at me. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why do you have that shit-eating grin on your face?”

Apparently, I suck at hiding my reaction to her—on my face or in my pants.

“I was just thinking about Tuesday.”

She blushes and the corners of her mouth tip up as she squirms in her seat.

Yeah, she’s definitely thinking about it now.

I want her remembering how hot it was. It helps distract from the fact I haven’t let her touch me. I just need to get my head in the game and be mentally prepared for it next time.

“Ooh, the first pitch!” Her excitement matches that of the crowd as a roar goes up all around us. Our seats are pretty awesome—one of the few perks of being in a chair is the seating at places like this. Although, if it were an option, I would have her down in the first row, right behind the net, so she could experience having a fast ball flying right at her—it’s the closest she’ll ever get to being on the field.

For me, the exhilaration of being part of the game was only ever matched by being in the ring. I’m sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that I did it with my dad. I spent every possible minute with him at the gym when he was training. He would put me in the ring and “spar” with me, letting me believe I was actually able to put him down with my eight-year-old punch. It wasn’t until after his death that I realized what being in the ring really meant to me. Mom tried to keep me out of competition—and she did, I never fought again—but she couldn’t keep me from the gym and the bags. It was my tie to my dad, and there was no way she was taking that from me.

Only the accident could do that.

Dani slides her hand over mine. “Hey, you all right?” She’s staring at me, concern in her blue eyes.

“Yeah, just thinking about when I used to play. That’s all.”

She frowns and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry. Is this too hard, being here? We can go.”

“Fuck no, we aren’t leaving. There are a lot of things I’ve had to deal with not being able to do anymore. This is just part of the deal.”

He sounds sincere, but the sadness in his eyes when he watches the field give him away. This is hard for him in a way I can never even begin to understand. Even after three years, he’s still coming to terms with what happened, what he lost, and things like this are going to continue to mess with him emotionally.

What the fuck do I do?

I don’t know how to handle this “feelings” shit. Dates, in and of themselves, aren’t a typical occurrence for me. Usually, it's meet someone at bar, go somewhere to fuck, repeat. Maybe I should have stressed to Savage how out of my element I am here. I don’t want him thinking I don’t care, but I have no fucking clue what to say right now.

Returning my attention to the field, I say the first thing that pops into my head. “More women should come to baseball games. The tight white pants are really doing it for me. I don’t think they know what they’re missing.”

His laugh is music to my ears. He reaches over and cups my cheek, turning me to look at him. “Have I told you how much I love that you have no filter?”

I freeze and try to school my features.

Love?

Holy hell.

My mind tells me to run screaming but I try to use logic.

It’s just a phrase. Relax.

He’s not saying he loves you.

Deep breaths.

I manage to plaster a smile on my face before he leans in to kiss me. When our lips meet, I remember why I decided to show up at his club last weekend. The electricity between us is palpable and I melt when his tongue slides along my bottom lip. The memory of our ride here and his expert hands has me squirming for the second time since we sat down.

How Savage can affect me like this is a mystery. No man has been able to hold my attention for this long, certainly not without sex. Despite my mother and Nora’s best efforts, they have been unable to get me to want anything more than a good bang. Maybe my logic for avoiding commitment is flawed, but when my dad died, my mom fell apart, and I was left caring for Nora while mom spent weeks on end in bed. I can’t say I blame her. My father was an amazing man, father, and husband. She didn’t know how to function without him.

I can’t imagine loving someone that much. I can’t say I’ve even been with anyone I remotely missed when we weren’t together—unless it was missing the orgasms they gave me. But Savage has me second-guessing my stance.

His tongue tangles with mine and a thousand ideas of how we can make use of the five-hour drive back flash through my mind. Images of me straddling him and riding him until his head explodes have me gasping against his mouth.

He pulls away and his eyebrow quirks up. “Dani, we’re in public, remember?”

A cheer from the crowd reminds me we
are
very much in public. I need to keep my libido in check, at least for the time being.

I glare at him for his chastisement. He knew what he was doing when he kissed me. He knows exactly what he does to me. He’s been doing it since the moment we met. This week has been no exception. Even though we’ve only seen each other once, the memory of the multiple orgasms he gave me on the couch while we were “watching” NCIS is still very fresh in my mind.

God, it had to be at least five times.

I clench my thighs together against my pulsing clit at the memory and grin to myself like a fucking idiot.

He is so damn talented with his mouth, I swear, it’s like a drug and I’m already addicted to this man.

It’s not just the sexual attraction either—if that was it, the fact he hasn’t fucked me or barely let me touch him would have sent me running, again—he’s generous, caring, and makes me laugh. Nora was right, although I refuse to admit it to her.

At dinner on Sunday, Nora called me out in front of our mom about me spending the night at Savage’s the night before. I don’t remember her seeing me at the club, but then again, I don’t remember a whole lot considering the amount I drank. Apparently, being carried out completely passed out did not go unnoticed by my little sister.

“So, are you and Savage a thing now?” she’d asked, looking at me with a strange mix of trepidation and interest.

I hissed at her to shut up, but it was too late. Mom heard and immediately jumped on the interrogate-Dani bandwagon. “Oh, a new guy? Who is this Savage?”

With a not-so-subtle eye roll toward Nora as thanks, I decided the best way to answer was with the truth. “He’s Nora’s new boss.”

The fuck-you glare I got from Nora could have frozen molten lava.

“You have a new job?” my mom had asked, innocently enough.

Talk about awkward.

Nora managed to dodge the truth by explaining she’s working part time and redirecting the attention to my love life. My mom has no idea Nora quit school, let alone what she’s doing for a living now. I had to bite my tongue about a thousand times when Nora answered Mom’s questions about her classes. Who knows how long she plans on lying to her, but the truth will come out sooner or later. She will have to face the consequences of her deception.