Player Loves Curves Box Set #1-3 by Hope Ford
Jackie
Getting home from the office,I barely get the door of my apartment unlocked before my phone starts ringing. I drop everything I’m carrying onto the couch and start searching my purse for it. I’m hoping it’s my boyfriend, Major League baseball player Carter Arnold calling me from his practice. I mean, he sort of owes me an additional call after canceling our date last night at the last minute. I was all dressed up and ready to go out when I’d gotten the call. He said it was some sort of baseball-work thing so I understood, but I can’t help but have a bad feeling about it. It’s already been hard to ignore all the rumors I’ve heard about Carter. They say he’s a player and moves from one woman to the next. With me, he’s been a total gentleman, so until I find out otherwise, I’m giving him a chance.
I finally find my phone and the display shows it’s Milo from the accounting department at work. He keeps asking me out and I’ve turned him down just this week before telling him that I’m going out with Carter Arnold.
I debate answering it, but I feel obliged in case it’s something work related.
“Hello,” I answer, carrying the bag of groceries into the kitchen.
“Hey, Jackie. It’s Milo.”
“Hey, Milo.” I put the carton of milk in the refrigerator. “What can I do for ya?”
He clears his throat. “Well, I wanted to tell you I was sorry about the breakup and was wondering if I could take you out to cheer you up?”
I shut the door of the fridge and lean against the island of my kitchen. “Uh, Carter and I haven’t broken up.”
Milo starts rambling and stuttering.
“Slow down, Milo. What did you say?”
He lets out a soft whistle into the phone. “Uh, well, have you seen the news?”
I pull the phone from my ear and stare at it before hitting the hang up button and running into the living room. I turn it on and flip it over to the sports entertainment channel. I only have to watch for two minutes before Carter’s face fills the screen.
Well it looks like Carter Arnold is at it again. Just last night he was seen at the Underground Club with this unknown woman… I tune out the reporter as I watch Carter making out with some slutty looking hussy. The broadcast is having to fade out parts of the woman’s body that are so explicit they can’t put her on television.
I feel myself start to sweat as my heart starts racing. I’ve never been the kind to just lie down and take it. “Oh hell no! He can’t just blow me off and get away with it.” I grab my keys and purse and drive over to the Maverick stadium where I know he’s practicing. I get there in record time and when I see the guard, I wave and smile at him. He’s seen me before and doesn’t check the old pass I hold up in the air as I walk by the gate. He just smiles and waves me on.
I pass one of the players in the tunnel. Jasper Reilly stops in front of me. “Uh oh, I’ve seen that look before. Carter?”
I barely refrain from clutching my stomach to keep from being sick. Why didn’t I listen to all the rumors? I nod, and he points down the hallway he just came from. “He’s in the locker room.”
When I get outside the door, I stop and catch my breath. When I push the door open, I barrel inside just as Carter’s pulling up his jeans.
His eyes get wide when he sees me, but he still has that smirk on his face. “You couldn’t wait until after practice? Miss me that much?”
The sound that comes out of me is something like a growl. “You blew me off last night for some skank!” The room is silent and I see all the players standing around staring at Carter and me. It’s in this moment that I’m thinking, What am I doing? I’m making an ass of myself. Maybe I should have thought this through a little bit. Determined, though, I’m not backing down now. I’m tired of men like Carter getting away with their shit.
He tries to deny it, but when he sees I’m not buying it, he smirks at me. “You’re stupid if you thought a baseball player wasn’t going to play the field. It’s in the name.”
I can feel my face get even hotter. I want so badly to wound him like he did me.
* * *
Reagan
Carter Arnold isthe biggest loser. Everybody has been talking about how it’s his last season, his batting average is suffering and since that’s all he has to offer he’ll be out. Carter’s clearly heard the rumors as well because he’s been talking shit about the position players who can play both offense and defense. I’ve been catching most of Arnold’s sour grapes since my locker is near his.
Then to top it all off I’ve got to listen to the asshole treat a sexy, gorgeous woman like shit. The dude should have realized what he had with this little spitfire before he screwed it up. I can’t take my eyes off her. Her long black hair is in curls down to her waist. She has to have the brightest green eyes I’ve ever seen and they make me want to get closer to her to see if they get darker when she’s excited. But probably the kicker is the way her curvy body is almost begging me to run my hands down her backside. She’s beautiful and in a class of her own. She doesn’t seem like the skanks that Carter usually hooks up with.
Listening to Carter say that all baseball players are no-standard losers like him is just too much. I snort loudly at his remark.
The woman with the black hair and fire in her eyes looks at me and so does Carter. I can see just a flicker of interest on her face and as if it’s an answer to my earlier question, her eyes change to a dark jade the longer she looks at me. I don’t – I can’t – take my eyes off her.
Carter seems to take offense and adds to his comment, “Unless you thought I was some kind of pussy like Reagan Kline over there.” He points at me, then asks me, “You do like women, don’t you?”
I stand up to my full height and both Carter and the raven haired beauty bend their heads backwards to look at me. “If being a position player who isn’t a walking STD makes me a pussy, then fine by me.”
It was just the right words to piss Carter off. He’s a little sensitive about not having a secure spot on the team. He starts to move toward me, but I don’t even care because the woman walks over to me. “Carter, you’re right. I do deserve a lot better than you.” She stops right in front of me. “Reagan, would you go out to dinner with me?”
I’m surprised but also pleased. Her soft floral scent hits my nose and right now she seems like the complete package. Her not wanting to put up with Carter’s bullshit is just a bonus. I accept her invitation and then make sure I thank Carter.
