Ballers: His Game (Ballers Series Book 1)(16)

I shuttered at the feel of her walls grabbing and squeezing me. She was so tight and wet it was driving me insane. I looked in her eyes and she looked back at me watching me with her lips parted. She was so beautiful my breath shuttered to a stop. I cupped her face and kissed her longingly. I never wanted this to end. I was already inside her but I needed more.

“Baby, yes,” she moaned against my lips.

“You feel amazing,” I groaned.

I shake the memory from my mind and whip my head around to search for the laughter that brought it back. I hear the joyous noise again and zone in on a small group a little ways across the tent. There are two men and a woman. She has large curls pinned around her head like a crown, but that’s not what gets my attention.

It is her shoulders. I would know those shoulders anywhere. I have spent five years obsessing about those silky smooth chocolate brown shoulders. They are now glowing in the off the shoulder black dress that is hugging the top of her body and showing off her legs in a pair of sexy red heels.

I shake the thought off, there is no way. I am imagining things. The woman’s back is to me and I want it to be her so badly that I am making things up. It couldn’t be her. Bethany the sponsor’s daughter pulls me back into the conversation and out of my reverie.

“Bradley have you been to Paris,” she asks touching my arm.

“Actually, I have been a few times when I was younger. My mother loves to travel and she would take us on trips when my father needed us kids out of his hair,” I reply.

My response sends her into another long winded tale about her family’s travels. My attention is drawn by that laugh once again and I just stare. At that moment another man and a little girl walk up beside her. The girl takes the woman’s hand and the man wraps his arm around her, kissing her forehead.

I feel physical pain at the sight. I have no idea if it is really her, but the thought of her being with another man hurts so much more than the thought of never seeing her again. I watch as they interact with the group and then the one with his arm around her whispers something to her.

“Bradley, I think you should join us on the yacht sometime. Daddy loves to get to know the players. We can trade numbers,” Bethany coos drawing my attention with her hand against my chest.

I reluctantly pull my eyes away from the group across the room and turn back toward the group I am standing with. The guys are looking amused and the women look expectantly at me. I’m not sure what she’d just said but I go with what I think is the safe response.

“Sure,” I reply with a smile.

“Great, give me your phone,” Bethany beams holding out her hand to me.

I raise my brow at her in question and stare down at her hand. One of the players, Rodney, stifles a laugh and shakes his head at me. I know I just missed something important and my answer may have been wrong.

I look at her red finger nailed hand again then up at her green expectant eyes. I guess you could say Bethany is an attractive girl. Not too thin, nice curves, not that I believe them all to be real. She has big blonde hair that I am sure is assisted like her breasts. She has a false tan and too much make up on, which takes away from the appeal instead of adding to it for me.

“Hand me your phone silly, so I can program my number and send me yours. I’ll give you a call sometime to invite you to Daddy’s yacht,” she says like I am a child needing her overenthusiastic help.

I mentally kick myself as I pull the phone from my pocket and hand it over to her. I don’t want to be rude now and tell her no. With a smile on her face she programs her number in, then grabs my arm and pulls me close holding my phone out to snap a picture.

“Smile,” she sings before snapping a couple of pictures. “Great, we look good together in this one,” she coos. “I’ll just text it to my phone and then I’ll have your number and a pic to remember you by.”

“If you all would excuse me I see some friends I want to say hi to,” I grab my phone and make an exit while I still can.

I cross the room to the group I had been watching but sometime during the phone incident the woman disappeared from the group. The man she had been hugging is still here as is the little girl. As I get closer I realize I know the guys, Teddy, Eric and Ellerie.

I know Eric the best of the group. I played with him for half a season before he was traded here. I know Teddy through a mutual friend back in LA and Ellerie is the reason the team wants me here. I have been in meetings with him over the last few weeks as the team made their pitch.

Ellerie is a great wide receiver and from what I can tell a really cool guy. We hit it off right away, there is just something familiar and welcoming about him. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it yet but I feel like I know him from somewhere. It dawns on me as I stop to join their group that Ellerie was the one with his arm around the woman. He is now standing with the little girl in his arms as she is talking to the guys in her little voice.

“It was great. He pulled a rabbit out of his hat and a quarter from behind my ear,” she gushes.

“Speaking of quarters the man has arrived,” Eric announces grabbing my hand for a shake and pulling me in for a hug. “Good to see you.”

“Good to be seen,” I nod back and take Teddy’s hand as he mimics Eric’s gesture.

“You want to tell us something Monroe?” Teddy says looking at the little girl in Ellerie’s arms and then at me. She is looking up at Ellerie still talking away with her back to me. “Oh man, I think I just stepped into a fun house.”