Player Loves Curves Box Set #1-3 by Hope Ford
Trinity
I second-guessmyself at least a zillion times. I stand next to my car, watching as the sexy, lithe, and powerful Jasper walks away and out of my life. When he turns back to look at me, I finally slide into the driver’s seat of my used car.
Regret fills me and I fight with myself on not giving him my number. Did I make the right decision? What if he’s nothing like Carter?
I bang my hand on the steering wheel, I guess I’ll never know.
It’s getting dark and I know better than to be out by myself in a mostly abandoned parking lot. I put the key in the ignition and turn it over, but all I hear is click, click, click. I turn the car in the off position, wait a few seconds and then try it again. The same thing… click, click, click.
Can my night get any worse? “No! This can’t be happening right now!” I tell myself, trying the car again.
I get out and pop the hood of the car, looking at the dirty parts as if I’m going to know how to make them work. I should have listened all those times in high school when my dad tried to teach me about my car. I pull my phone out of my back pocket. After Sheena came up short with her half of the rent and I covered it for her, I’m not looking forward to a tow bill.
A thought stops me from dialing and instead, I start to call Sheena. I’ll just beg her to stop acting like a skank and come help me. The phone rings twice and then nothing. I look down at it and my phone is dead. You have got to be kidding me! My luck just keeps getting better and better.
Cursing, I kick the tire and then lay my face in my hands in frustration.
The sound of a car has me raising my head. A shiny black sports car stops right next to me, and Jasper gets out, walking around the car over to me.
* * *
Jasper
I regretted walking away as soonas I did it. But when she compared me to Carter, I had to get away. It’s sad, because most of the guys on the team are decent guys, but it’s the ones like Carter that give us all a bad name.
Knowing my mother raised me better than this, I drive back around to the fan parking lot and when I see her kicking her tire, I’m glad that I did. I would never have forgiven myself if I’d left her here stranded.
When I walk up next to her, I can’t wipe the smirk off my face. “Hey, Miss Independent, you need a ride or would you rather call Sheena and Carter?”
She’s sexy as fuck, but the look on her face is adorable when she has to eat her own words.
She blushes. “My car won’t start.”
“What’s it doing?” I ask her, but I’m no mechanic.
She makes the sound the car is making and when I laugh, the blush on her face deepens.
“C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home.”
I expect her to tell me no, but she reaches into her car, grabs her purse and turns to face me. “That would be great, thanks.”
I open the door for her and she slides down into my leather seats. I stare at her legs for a second too long, and then shut the door, running around to the driver’s side.
I no sooner sit down than she says, “Oh, shoot.”
“What? Did you forget something out of the car?”
She shakes her head. “No, uh, but I live like forty minutes away. I’m sure you live close to the field, right?” She doesn’t give me time to answer before she starts mumbling, “My phone is dead too.” She finishes with a laugh.
I laugh too, but she raises her hands up defensively. “Look, I swear, I’m usually not a mess like this.”
I just laugh and put the car into gear. “Trust me, you’re not a mess.”
She turns in her seat to face me and I have to fight with myself not to look at her.
“Uh, if I can use your phone, I can just take a cab home.”
Before she finishes, I’m shaking my head. “No way. It’s late, I’m not putting you in a cab. I can take you home, but first I need to stop by my house to let out my dog.”
Stopped at a red light, I turn and look at her. She’s looking at me like I’m trying to pull a fast one on her. “I promise, in and out, you don’t even have to come in the house.”
Satisfied, she nods her head and I turn back to the road. We chat on the way to my house. She tells me about her parents and her job as a bank teller. And she asks me about baseball. “So what made you want to be a professional baseball player?”
I pull off the highway and slow down the car. “I grew up playing it. It was everything to me and I always dreamed I would someday make it big.” I smile thinking about my childhood and all the memories. “My mom and dad took me to practices and games every summer growing up. I think they were probably happier than I was when I got drafted.”
Before I get caught up in my past, I decide to give it another go and ask her the same question from before that she avoided answering me. I pull down my street, slowing down to the 25mph speed limit. “So are you seeing anyone?”
She answers me this time, but it’s not what I want to hear. “No, but I’m not looking to date or anything else right now.”
I want to know more about her, I want to know everything, but before I can ask, we pull into my driveway.
