The Curve Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 2) Page 9

  I pull the vibrator from my body, having to concentrate hard to turn it off before I set it back on the edge of the tub. I sit back once again letting the hot water relax me even further, hoping that once I get out of the water, I’ll be able to fall asleep.

  The water starts to turn cold, so I pull the plug and climb out as it drains. I wrap the fluffy towel around my sated body. The towel bar is heated, so my towel is warm and feels like heaven. I dry completely off then grab my favorite lotion to apply everywhere. Once I’m fully lotioned up, I scrub my face and brush my teeth before heading back into the bedroom. I pull on some sleep shorts and a tank top, my usual bedtime uniform.

  The hotness from the tub catches up to me, making me really want a glass of ice water to cool off before I fall asleep. I stand here in the room, wondering if I should risk going back out there. I really don’t want to run into JJ tonight. Not after what I just ran from.

  I stand with my ear pressed against the door, trying to listen for any noises coming from the living room. After a minute or so of not hearing anything, I slowly open the door as quietly as possible, looking down the hall. The coast appears to be clear, as the house is dark. I silently pad down the hall and into the kitchen. I grab my water bottle from the counter and open the freezer to grab a handful of ice to place in it. I don’t want the noise of the ice maker going off to alert JJ of my presence. I quickly add the ice and then close the door and just about jump out of my clothes when I see JJ standing at the doorway, leaning against the frame as he takes me in.

  “Fuck, you scared me!” I yelp, smacking my hand against my chest and about dropping my water bottle.

  “Sorry,” he says, not that I believe him one bit. The desire that is written all over his face is unmistakable, even in the darkness. The only light that fills the room is the small night light coming from the few under-cabinet lights that get left on overnight.

  I go back to filling my water bottle up, then secure the lid once it’s full. “Just needed some water before bed,” I finally tell him, attempting to break the awkward silence.

  “Did you have a relaxing bath?” he asks, a smirk still painting his lips.

  “Ho-how did you know I took a bath?” I ask, confused about his knowledge of what I did. The thought hits me about everything that I did in that tub and can feel my cheeks heat in a blush. Does he know I made myself come thinking about him?

  “I could hear the water running,” he says, and I blow out a huge breath.

  “Oh,” I say, so quietly, I’m not even sure if he could hear me with the distance that is still between us. “It was relaxing,” I finally tell him, realizing I never answered his question.

  “I’m glad. You were a little tense, there, before you went into your room,” he says, bringing my attention back to that moment.

  I don’t know what to say, so I just nod my head up and down as I stare in his direction. I can feel the heat start to leave my cheeks. Before either one of us can say anything else, Evie cries out, saving me from this awkward moment. “I’d better go get her,” I say, escaping past JJ and down the hall.

  I enter Evie’s room, heading straight for the crib. I pick her up, soothing her as I attempt to soothe myself. My heart is beating fast after that encounter with JJ in the kitchen. I don’t know what’s going to happen between the two of us, but I can’t deal with any of that right now. Right now, this little girl needs my attention.

  I lay her down on the changing table and quickly take care of her wet diaper. She feels a little warm to the touch, so once I’ve got her zipped back into her sleeper, I snag the thermometer from one of the bins on the table and swipe it over her forehead. As I figured, she’s running a little warm, so I grab the baby Tylenol and bring it with me out to the kitchen. JJ has retreated to the living room where he’s sitting on the couch watching something on TV, sounds like some sports channel recapping things that happened today in the sports world.

  I make quick work of mixing up a bottle for Miss Evie. Once it is ready, I take it, along with the medicine, and head for the living room. I sit down on one of the recliner chairs, placing Evie, so she’s facing me, propped up on my legs. She’s not fussing right now as she looks around the room. That gives me the chance to read the bottle of medicine so I can see how much she needs. I open the package and measure it out, I lightly pinch her lips, making it look like she’s got fish lips, then squirt it into her mouth, aiming for her cheek.

  “What are you doing?” JJ asks.

  “She’s running a low-grade fever, so I’m giving her something for it,” I tell him.

  “What was that with her face?”

  “Oh, just a trick to getting the medicine in her mouth and actually down. If she’d spit it out, it would have made a mess, but also, then it is hard to determine if she actually got any and, if so, how much. You have to be careful not to overdose a baby with this stuff. With a small body, too much Tylenol at once can cause damage to her kidneys.”

  “Good to know,” he states. “So, you just pinch her cheeks?”

  “Basically. Just make them look like fish lips,” I explain, stopping and showing him with my own. “Then you can slip the little dropper into her mouth and squirt it into the cheek. If you squirt it straight back, you risk it hitting her gag reflex or her choking on it.”

  “I would have never known any of that,” he says, scrubbing a hand down his face.

  “You’ll get there,” I remind him. “You have to remember that I’ve been babysitting for years. I’ve had a lot of time to learn all these things.”

  “Yeah,” he half-heartedly agrees with me. “I’m guessing that with the fever, we’ll need to call the doctor in the morning?”

  “Yeah, I’m still leaning toward the culprit being the teething, but she could have an ear infection, as well. Doesn’t hurt to get her checked out.”

  “Okay. Is that something that you can take care of, or do I need to make the call?” he asks.

  “I can call, but you’ll probably have to go with us, at least this first time. You should be able to give them permission to release her information to me. You’ll probably also have to add me to an approved list of adults that can seek medical attention for her. Since I’m not her mother, I don’t have any legal right to do so.”

  “That’s understandable. If you can call in the morning, first thing, I can make sure to be available.”

  “I’ll do that and then let you know when the appointment is. Once she’s down, I’ll look for that paperwork to see what office Erica was taking her to.”

  “Thanks, Riley.”

  “You're welcome, JJ,” I tell him as I offer Evie the bottle that I made for her. “I'll let you know as soon as I have an appointment scheduled for her. On second thought, does morning or afternoon work best, if I’m given a choice?”

  “I can be flexible; Coach will let me out of practice for this tomorrow without any issues. He’s aware of what is going on, and I’ve been assured that I have the full support from the team and front office for whatever I need during this transition time.”

  “Okay, sounds good. I’ll hopefully know first thing,” I tell him as Evie spits the nipple of the bottle out of her mouth. She starts to fuss, so I shift her until she's lying on my chest. I alternate between patting her back and rubbing it. I can tell she doesn’t feel right, and she didn’t drink much of the bottle, so I don’t really think it’s an air bubble trapped. She settles against my chest; I’m sure the sound of my heartbeat soothing to her little ears.

  “How’d you do that?” JJ asks, pointing to Evie on my chest. The bewildered look on his face has me melting just a little bit more for him. He’s so out of his element with this cute little girl that it's almost comical at times.

  “Babies are so used to hearing their mother's heartbeat while in utero that the sound is calming to them. It doesn’t have to just be the mom’s, that’s why you’ll see parents doing skin-to-skin with a baby on their chest. Not only does your body temperature help regula
te hers, but the sound of your heart will soothe her, as well.”

  “I would have never known that.”

  “You can’t learn everything in one day, JJ. Just give it some time. I know this is all probably very overwhelming, but I promise that you’ll get through all of it.”

  “If you say so,” he deadpans.

  “I think I’m going to go put her down and see if I can find that paperwork, then get some sleep while I can. I have a feeling she might be up throughout the night tonight. What time do you plan to leave in the morning?” I ask a few minutes later.

  “Not until around ten, unless we need to be at the doctor’s then.”

  “Most offices open between seven thirty and eight, so we should definitely know by then what time we can take her in.”

  “Sounds good. If you need anything during the night, don’t hesitate to come get me. I don’t expect you to do everything.”

  “I know,” I tell him, flashing him a quick smile, hoping that I don’t reveal that I have no plans to wake him up for help.

  I take Evie to my room and place her in the pack-n-play to sleep. I’d rather have her close by than in the nursery. Thankfully, I’m able to transfer her successfully without her waking up. She’s still warm to the touch, so hopefully, the medicine kicks in soon and helps take that fever down. I grab the thermometer and baby Tylenol and stash it in the side pocket of the pack-n-play so I can easily find it in the middle of the night if needed.

  I dig through the little bit of paperwork that Erica left and, thankfully, found the doctor’s information that saw her when she was first born, and again for the necessary checkups she’s already had. I leave the papers out so that it is easily accessible first thing in the morning for me to call. I pull the clinic up on my phone and realize that it is a clinic not far away and might just be the same one that Jillian takes the girls to.

  I quickly brush my teeth and use the bathroom before I’m sliding between the crisp sheets. I hardly get a couple of pages of my book read before I can’t keep my eyes open and allow sleep to claim me.

  I startle awake, feeling like I fell asleep just a few minutes ago, but realize that it’s the alarm on my phone waking me up. I look around and see Evie sleeping right where I left her last night. I’m shocked that she’s still asleep and jump from the bed to make sure that she’s still breathing. Upon closer inspection, she’s perfectly fine, breathing like usual. I gently touch the back of my fingers against her cheek and then forehead to check on her fever, and unfortunately, she’s once again warm to the touch. I snag the thermometer out of the side pocket the pack-n-play and scan it across her forehead. She’s a half-degree or so higher than she was last night, so I go ahead and ready another dose to give her once she’s awake.

  Since she’s still asleep, I grab the paperwork I set out last night, taking it back over to my bed. I pull my cell out and dial the number. I take both the paper and my phone out of my room as I don’t want to wake Evie up while talking on the phone. I pad out to the kitchen, my phone to my ear as it starts ringing.

  Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to reach a receptionist, and they’re able to get us in to see the doctor in just over an hour. Once I’m off the phone, I flip the coffee pot on, turning to head back to my room. Except, when I turn around, my ovaries about explode as I find a shirtless JJ holding Evie in his arms. Her cheeks are all rosy from the fever. She just looks miserable and like she doesn’t feel right. “Morning,” I say just above a whisper.

  “Morning,” JJ replies, his voice still deep, gravely, and sleep-filled. My mind quickly dips into the gutter with thoughts of what his voice would sound like if woken up with some morning sex. I promptly shake that thought from my mind. I need to concentrate on Evie and not JJ and sex.

  “I’ve already talked to the doctor's office, and we have an appointment at nine fifteen.”

  “Sounds good,” he says, his eyes flicking over to the clock. “It looks like we’ve got to get ready then.”

  “Yep,” I tell him. “Want me to take her so you can go do just that?”

  “I can keep her while you get ready,” he says, walking over to start a bottle for her.

  “Are you sure? I just need to toss on some clean clothes.”

  “Yep, I’m good. Go get ready. I’ll drink some coffee and give Evie, here, her bottle,” he assures me as he starts shaking the bottle up to mix it.

  I take two more seconds to observe him with his daughter before I run down the hall and into my bedroom. It should be illegal how good the man looks with a baby in his arms. He might not have ever thought of himself as a family man, but that guy is a natural. Before he knows it, he’ll be a full-fledged, proud card-carrying member of the girl dad tribe.

  I head for the bathroom and take care of business, then run a brush through my hair before I pull it up into a ponytail. I pull out a pair of shorts, a tank top, and sandals. Within ten minutes, I’m fully dressed and ready for the day, so I head back out to the kitchen, where I find JJ sitting at the table with Evie sucking down her bottle.

  “Want me to take her so you can go get ready now?” I offer as I grab a mug and fill it with coffee, adding creamer to the top.

  “Maybe in a minute or so. I’ll let her finish the bottle,” he tells me.

  “Did you want to take separate cars so that you can leave from the appointment and go straight to practice?” I ask.

  “That’s okay; I can drive the two of you there. Like I said last night, Coach won’t have any issues if I have to sit today out. I already shot him a text that I’ve got to take her to the doctor this morning and I didn’t know if I’d be there. I don’t want to miss anything they tell us.”

  “Okay.”

  Eleven

  Justin

  I watch Riley from across the kitchen as she sips from her coffee cup. She looks so relaxed, but also sexy as hell in her shorts and tank top. It might just be my favorite shirt of hers that she’s worn around me so far. It’s cut just low enough to show off the very top swells of her breasts, but not so much cleavage that it is trashy or off-putting. The way that her waist nips in and her hips flare out have some dirty thoughts running a constant loop in my mind of how they’d be the perfect place for me to hold on while I pound into her from behind. Her ass looks like it would make the ideal place to grip or spank while I’m balls deep, as well.

  “JJ!” Riley says my name, snapping her fingers not far from my face. “Did you hear me?” I look up at her, standing just in front of me now instead of across the room where she just was a few seconds ago.

  “Yeah, sorry. I zoned out there for a few seconds. What were you saying?”

  “You should probably go get ready, we need to leave soon.”

  “Right,” I tell her, standing up and grabbing my coffee cup to take to the sink. “Here, can you take her?” I ask, holding up a sleepy Evie to her. She easily transfers Evie to her arms, making sure she’s settled nicely. I look down at my daughter, sleeping peacefully against Riley's chest, and I can’t believe it, but I’m fucking jealous of my own daughter. Her head is centered right between Riley’s breasts, Evie’s ear is against Riley’s chest, and I’m sure she’s listening to her heartbeat as she sleeps there so peacefully.

  I force myself to turn away from the two of them, heading for my bedroom. I drop the shorts I pulled on when I got up this morning, heading straight for the shower. I’ve had a permanent hard-on since Riley has been around, and this morning is no different.

  I flip on the shower, leaving the temperature on the cold side. It doesn’t really do much for my situation, it just makes me fucking cold, so before long I crank it up until it’s almost scalding. I lather the soap on my chest, making sure not to miss an inch of my skin. As I make my way down my body, my cock stirs once again, and with a soap-covered hand, I slide my palm down my shaft. It hardens at the friction as my palm slides from the root to the tip. I give myself a few pulls before I move on to wash the rest of my body. Once I’m all rinsed off, my co
ck is still begging for a release, so I plant my right hand against the wall and allow my left to stroke up and down my shaft. I circle around the head, giving it a little extra tug. Thoughts of Riley flood my mind. She’s all that fills my spank bank these days. That kiss from last night is filling a good part of my fodder. I think about what her lips felt like. How pillowy soft they were. How perfect it felt to be kissing her and have her body pressed up against mine. When our lips collided, it was like an axis inside me shifted that I never knew wasn’t aligned correctly.

  I can feel my orgasm starting to tingle at the base of my spine, so I increase the speed of my strokes. My head falls forward and I think of licking Riley’s pussy, bringing her to an orgasm as my own releases, spraying on the tile wall of my shower. I stroke myself through my orgasm, letting my body empty all of it. I’m sated and spent, but know I can’t slack off. We’ve got to get going soon, so I grab the removable shower head and spray the wall, washing away the mess I just made. I quickly finish up before shutting the water off and getting out. Once I’m toweled off, I head for my closet. I pull on a clean pair of boxer briefs, then a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I quickly run a comb through my hair then toss on my baseball hat.

  I slip into some sandals and then head back out to the kitchen, where I find Riley placing Evie in her car seat. The diaper bag is sitting next to her, looking like it’s already been packed for our morning outing. “Need any help?” I offer a few seconds later.

  “I think we’re all good,” Riley states, looking up at me for a split second before her focus returns to Evie and getting her ready for us to leave.

  “Here,” I say once Evie is buckled, but before Riley can pick the seat up. “Let me carry her. You can grab the diaper bag,” I say.