The Trade(83)

“Yeah, why the fuck not? We’re adults.”

She glances at the half-eaten cheesecake and says, “What about that?”

“I’ll take it home, have it as a late-night snack at some point. Come on, indulge with me.”

She pats her stomach and lets out a long sigh. “Fine, but if I have a food belly when I stand up, you’re going to have to accept that it’s on you, not me.”

“I’ll make sure to hold your food belly in my palm, as if it’s my own baby.”

I call the waitress over and order another mousse, telling her it was the best thing we tasted all night and we need more. She was very happy to oblige, which I’m sure she was since the dessert is thirty-two dollars a pop. Ridiculous, but worth it.

“You never told me about a crazy fangirl story.”

We scooted our chairs a little closer so we’re not directly across the table anymore, but more side by side. I made the excuse that I didn’t trust her around the dessert and accused her of swiping it before I could have a taste. But honestly, it’s because I wanted to touch her.

Reaching behind her chair, I drape my arm on the back and pick up a piece of her hair, twirling it in my finger. “I thought I got away with that conversation.”

“No way. I’ve been waiting for the right moment to bring it up again. Don’t be shy.” She pokes my leg. “Tell me.”

“Fine, but you asked for this.”

“I did.” She leans on the table, facing me, which pulls the strand of hair out of my finger. I settle for her shoulder. Her skin is so damn soft.

I think back to probably the most horrifying moment of my young career and can’t hold back my grimace, followed by a laugh.

“Oh, it’s good, I can tell.” She sets her hand on my thigh. “Entertain me.”

Drawing small circles on her shoulder, I say, “I was fresh from the minors, I think second year in with the Storm. I was still getting my feet wet and learning my way around the outside world and the attention I was getting. Like a douche, I was out at some club with some of the guys. I wasn’t much of a dancer, but I knew I wanted to hook up.”

“Classic.” She chuckles and rolls her eyes.

“There were these girls that kept trying to get VIP access into our suite that overlooked the club. Mind you, Baltimore wasn’t the place for clubbing, but there was one establishment downtown that we would go to. Good music, drinks, and they treated us like kings.”

“Because you’re the hometown heroes. Let me guess, you didn’t pay for much?”

“Not really. They were just happy to have us there. They would tweet about it whenever we showed up; it’s why there was a line of groupies always waiting outside to be let in. Bogsie was on the team at the time.”

“Brad Bogsie?”

Surprised she knows who I’m talking about, I nod. “Yeah.” I lean forward and press a kiss to her cheek. “Kind of hot you knew that.”

“Brother is a baseball player, so it’s in my blood to know those things.”

“Well, Bogsie was a huge player before he met his wife and settled down. I honestly am surprised he didn’t wear his dick down from how much action he chased. He was always in charge of vetting the girls before they came in, but one crazy one slipped by without us knowing. She had her eyes set on me and made it known.”

“Please tell me how,” Natalie says, far too amused by all of this.

“It started innocent. Sitting on my leg, arm around my shoulder, practically speaking with her breasts.”

“Ah yes, I do love a good nipple talk.”

I chuckle and kiss her again because fuck, she’s amazing. “We were just enjoying the music, she would lean in occasionally and nip at my neck, simple shit, you know, and then “In Da Club” came on and it was like Pavlov’s dog-type shit. She straightened in my arms, twitched a few times, and then whipped her top down so her tits were smacking my face.”

“Wait, what?” Natalie laughs out loud. “She slapped you with her boobs?”

“Straight-up lifted her tit and slapped my cheek. I was so fucking caught off guard, I didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, Bogsie is on the other side, watching her lift her breast to my face, attempting to give me a black eye and he kept encouraging her. Hit him again, hit him again, he called.” Natalie laughs so loud, she draws attention from another table. “Encouraged from the chants, she straddled my lap, lifted up on her knees, gripped my shoulders and whipped her chest so hard that the pillows of her breast felt like a goddamn mallet cutting across my cheek.”

“Oh, this is too good.” Natalie wipes under her eye.

“I could barely see as whack after whack took over. It was hard to breathe, hard to gain control. I was being heavily motorboated to death. Her nipples were like razors, slicing at my face and the sheer power behind this woman’s ‘shimmy’ could have taken down any Navy SEAL.”

Natalie’s head falls back as she laughs, and I take in the long length of her neck. She has no idea how hot she looks right now.

“So you got a black eye?” she finally asks.

“Oh, I’m not done.”

“There’s more?” Her eyes nearly fly out of her head. “What else could she have done to you?”