“Now that’s enough out of you,” he said, rubbing the place he’d just smacked. “You’re all mine for the next hour or so.”

As we headed out the door, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the fact that I was letting Jackson carry me away, literally, after only really knowing him for a few days. I wasn’t sure what to think about it, but I was having fun so I was just going to go with it for now. Char was right. I needed to live a little. And I certainly felt alive around Jackson. It was worth exploring, even if it meant that I’d get hurt in the end.

CHAPTER 10

Jackson

I surprised myself when I picked up Kaylie and carted her off with me. But damn it felt good to hang out with her. I had to do some quick thinking since I hadn’t had a plan in mind. I hadn’t been expecting to see her today, but something had pulled me towards that dance studio, and when I saw her moving across the floor, I’d been stunned. I’d thought she had been hot on our date, but seeing her dressed up like that had done nothing to prepare me for the sight of her with a leotard hugging her body and sweat dripping down it. And the way she moved—It sounded cheesy, but she was flat-out beautiful. It was like she’d been flying across the room.

I must have been a goddamn pervert, too. Because I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how flexible she must be.  And thinking about her flexibility led to me thinking about spreading her legs as far as they would go so I could bury myself deep inside her body. I swear to God, I’d been walking around with a perpetual hard-on since I’d met her. And the way she’d wiggled when I smacked her ass—fuck!

I had to think quickly or else I was going to go back on my word and find someplace private for us. This waiting thing was a hell of a lot harder than I’d thought it would be. But the more I learned about Kaylie, the more I thought it would be worth it in the end.

We got plenty of looks as I marched out of the building with her in a fireman’s hold. After Sasha had caught us making out in the dorm, I’d figured word was going to spread across campus pretty quickly. She’d never been any good at keeping stuff to herself. So I might as well enjoy myself while we were the topic of conversation. I’d never really been one to worry about what other people thought anyway. But if people didn’t like the idea of us dating, they’d better keep that shit to themselves or take it up with me because there was no way I was going to let anyone make Kaylie doubt her decision to give me a chance.

I dropped Kaylie onto her feet once we’d made it to the sidewalk. Looking across the parking lot, I had an idea. “Did you play little league when you were a kid?”

“No, I was too busy with dance classes. Why?” she asked.

“Because I have an idea what we can do. C’mon,” I said as I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me to the batting cages. This was going to be perfect. I’d played a lot of baseball over the years, and the crack of the ball hitting the bat was a sound that brought back good memories for me. I was pretty good at it, so I could show off a bit. And it was a great excuse to get my arms around Kaylie again. Between this and sledding the other night, it seemed like I was going out of my way to find things we could do that involved me holding her. It was a pretty ingenious plan if I do say so myself.

I knew the guy working the cages from around campus, and he had no problem with giving me a couple helmets and a bat for Kaylie and me to use for an hour—although I hadn’t appreciated the grin he’d flashed her when he realized who was with me. So I picked the cage the farthest away from everyone else to give us a little privacy.

“Here. Stand right here for a round and let me get a feel for the machine before you give it a try,” I said, maneuvering Kaylie to a safe place outside the fence.

“Get a feel for the machine?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just want to see where the best place to stand is, how fast the pitches are, that kind of stuff. That way I’ll be able to show you exactly where to be when it’s your turn. I wouldn’t want you to get hit by the ball because I didn’t check everything out first.”

Kaylie looked at the pitching machine and back at me. “So it’s better if you get hit by a ball instead? And this is supposed to be fun?”

“No, neither of us should get hit by a ball. But it’s better safe than sorry where you’re concerned. Besides, it’s not like it would be the first time I’d been hit by a ball. You can’t grow up playing baseball without catching a few pitches.”

I grinned at her before pressing the button to start up the first round. I could feel her eyes on me as I squared up to hit the first one, and I totally missed it. Major whiff. Damn, she was a distraction. Not the best way to show off if I completely missed the ball every time.