Long Ball(20)

“That’s really sweet.” Megan concedes. “Albeit, still very egotistical, but….”

She flashes me a smile, and my whole body warms. “I guess I’m not being totally honest. I like coming here because it’s dark, and when you look this good, hiding from the general public is a necessity.”

She snorts, and then clamps her hand over her mouth. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “I’m glad to see being a poor kid from South America hasn’t hampered your ego.”

“Never.” I flash a full grin and nudge over the wine list. “Anything catch your fancy?”

“Oh.” She blushes, I can see it in the pale lighting. “No, thank you.”

“You don’t drink?”

“I do,” she laughs uncomfortably and fidgets with her hands. “I’m just not interested.”

“Megan.” I place my hand over hers. “I’m here to treat you to a great date night. I’d love for you to pick us out a bottle of wine, because sometimes I’m shit at it.”

“I couldn’t…”

“I bet you could.”

“I only drink the cheap stuff.” She doesn’t look at me. “Like, the boxed, really cheap stuff.”

“Well, then we’ll order the most expensive bottle they have. See how they compare.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I wave over the waitress. “Red or white?”

“You really don’t— “

“I like reds, but I know some people prefer whites. Personally, if it’s alcoholic I’ll drink it regardless.”

She chews on her lip, and finally says, “Red. Cabernet.”

“Perfect.” I squeeze her hand. “Becky, can I have your most expensive bottle of Cabernet?” Becky disappears and I take Megan’s hand in mine. “Money is no object, Megan. I want to give you everything.”

“You barely know me,” she whispers.

“I know your heart. It’s amazing. I can feel your soul. It’s deep and warm and comforting. I see the love in your eyes when you look at Cora. And we have that night together, years ago, where you proved to me you were one of the funniest, most beautiful, compassionate women I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Even if you didn’t like pigs.”

Megan laughs and snorts again. “Oh, god, I forgot about that! They were so horrible. Like, really horrible. One of my favorite thinks about KC is not being around those pigs anymore.”

“So you’re saying we should get a bacon pizza.”

“Bacon and ham, duh.”

“Done.”

The conversation flows freely, like a brook. We talk and laugh and tell jokes and catch each other up over the last five years that makes it feel like five minutes. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone like this since… well, since the night we were last together.

“Where are you on Facebook?” Megan pulls out her phone. “I’ll bet you have a super-secret Facebook page so none of the rabid Royals fans can find you.”

“I do!” I wink at her and then flush a little. “Oh, god, you are going to think it’s so lame.”

“Try me.”

“I’ll just add you first.” I type her name in the search box and find her instantly. It hits me then that had she told me her name in the first place, my last five years would have been so different. “Okay, sent.”

She looks at her phone, brow furrowed, and then she looks up at me, laughter etched in her face. “Seriously?”

“Look, it was a nickname I had as a kid that literally no one in baseball would ever know about.” I scratch the back of my head and try to look thoroughly unembarrassed. “And it’s totally worked, by the way.”

“That’s wonderful, El Jamon.” She lowers her voice and winks at me, and then dissolves into a fit of giggles. “No wonder why you remember my brother showed pigs!”

I laugh, but I’m immediately serious. “I remember almost everything about that night, Megan, clear as crystal. I remember your laugh and your smile, the way you felt against me as we danced, how your friends quizzed me for hours about all things Americana to prove I was a worthy fair date. I remember… the very intimate things from later that night.”

Megan is beet red again. I want to say more. I want to tell her how I remember how she tastes, the way her voice turned breathy whenever I licked her clit, how her breasts remain my favorite pair in the entire world. To think, I was the first man to touch her. I was the first man to taste her. I could very well have been the first man to give her orgasm after orgasm.

She’s mine. Forever. I just have to prove it.

“So why did you sleep with me?” I turn the conversation, so she doesn’t just think I’m in it for the sex. “If you hadn’t done it before? You were, are, the kind of girl who could have anyone she wants.”

Megan flushes again and grabs for the wine glass as soon as Becky sets it down. “This is going to sound so cheesy. I don’t know.”

“Come on, you know I’m El Jamon.”

“That’s different.”

She looks at me, sizes me up, and burns bright red. She exhales slowly and says, “It just felt… right.”

My stomach acid turns to fizzy bubbles. “Being with me?”