Triple Dare

“We were just messing around, Cap.” Cade dropped Trey’s hand.

His buddy smirked at him, barely suppressing a laugh, and mouthed, I win.

“Well, quit messing around.” Cappy thrust an equipment bag at Cade and gestured to the balls, bats and gloves strewn on the ground around home plate and near the dugouts. “You struck out three times tonight, more than anyone else on the team. That means you get to pick up the gear. And don’t forget the bases.”

Cappy strode off, and Cade turned back to his friend. “Looks like I’m gonna be a while. Save me a seat at Valentino’s.”

“Don’t you mean three?” Trey looked over Cade’s shoulder.

Cade followed Trey’s gaze and saw Sasha and Ivy bearing down on him from opposite directions. “Shit. Can you run interference for me?”

“Which one do you want me to waylay?” Trey snickered. “The blonde or the redhead?”

“The blonde. Keep her busy while Ivy and I grab the equipment and run.”

“Ivy?” Trey squinted at her. “Damn. Is that Jabba the Mutt?”

There was that stupid nickname again. Cade clenched his fists at his sides. “Don’t call her that.”

“Sorry, man.” Trey stepped back, holding his hands up, palms out, in a show of surrender. “I didn’t realize things were like that.”

Cade frowned. “Like what?”

“When a guy rushes to his woman’s defense, he’s hooked. Not that I blame you. If I’d known she was gonna turn out this hot, I would’ve paid more attention to her in high school.”

“I don’t have time to argue with you.” Cade’s eyes pinged from Ivy to Sasha. Both women were gunning for him like a couple of F-14 fighter jets. He turned to Trey, just shy of begging. “Will you get Sasha off my back or not?”

“Damn. You’ve got Jabba the...”

Cade gave his friend a murderous look, stopping Trey in midsentence before he corrected himself.

“...Ivy and the Gibson’s girl after you?” Trey whistled. “Lucky stiff.”

Stiff didn’t even begin to describe how he’d feel after those two were through with him. And not in a good way. “Yes or no?”

“Fine.” Trey headed off to intercept Sasha, calling over his shoulder as he went, “You owe me one.”

Cade was tempted to respond that distracting Sasha wasn’t much of a hardship. After all, she was blonde and beautiful, with a killer rack and legs that went on for days. But she was also self-centered and not too bright. And at a certain point in a guy’s life, the pretty package wasn’t enough to outweigh the personality flaws.

He was definitely at that point. He wasn’t so sure about Trey.

“Geez, you weren’t kidding about your ex,” Ivy said as she approached him. “That girl can’t take a hint to save her life.”

Cade took her elbow and ushered her toward home plate. “You can tell me all about it later. Right now we’ve got to pick up this gear and get out of here before Sasha figures out Trey’s blowing smoke up her ass.”

“Trey Brannigan, from high school?”

Ivy seemed to shrink before his eyes. He tried to ignore the lump of guilt in his stomach. He’d been her friend back then, but when push came to shove he was no better than the assholes who’d ridiculed her. Like Trey.

Fortunately, most people grew out of that bullshit. For the most part Trey had, although once in a while he slipped back into his old ways, which usually earned him a smack upside the head from Cade.

“Trey can be an idiot. But the ladies love him. He’ll keep Sasha out of our hair until we can split.” He handed her the bag. “I’ll pull up the bases if you get the equipment.”

“No problem.” She went right to work. Yet another difference between her and Sasha, who would have made some excuse about ruining her designer duds or breaking a nail.

Not that the comparison mattered. Because he wasn’t any more interested in Ivy than he was in Sasha. Despite her obvious charms. Charms that were on full display as she bent to gather the gear in that tied-too-tight shirt and shorter-than-short shorts.

It took him twice as long as it should have to pry up the bases thanks to the repeated glimpses of Ivy’s ample cleavage and biteable bottom. When he was done, he met her behind the backstop, where she was zipping up the bag.

“All set.”

“I’ll get that.” He reached for the bag as she hefted it over her shoulder.

“Are you kidding?” She shook him off and started for the parking lot, not even breaking a sweat. “You’ve seen the stuff I work with, right? I haul around twice this much every day.”

“I thought you had people to do that for you.”

“Not always.”

She hitched up the bag, and for the first time he realized what had struck him about her in the studio. Not so much that she was thinner than he remembered her, but that she was stronger.

No, that wasn’t right, either. It was a strength inside, not just physically, that hadn’t been there before.

“Quit dawdling,” she called to him, not missing a step.

“Right behind you.”

He jogged a few paces to catch up and they walked to his SUV in silence.

“Home free.” Cade hit the button on his remote to unlock the doors.

“Hey, baby.”

So damn close, but yet so fucking far.

Sasha’s high heels crunched in the gravel as she bore down on them across the parking lot. “Wait up.”

“So much for your diversionary tactic.” Ivy tossed the equipment bag onto the backseat. “Guess Trey’s not the ladies’ man either of you think he is.”

She slammed the door and turned to face him, hands on her hips in that way she had, the one that made her breasts strain against the fabric of her shirt, her nipples clearly visible under the SFD logo. He cleared his throat and adjusted the crotch of his baseball pants.

“Come on.” He reached for the car door handle. “We can still make it if we hurry. This puppy may not look like much, but it can go zero to sixty in under seven seconds.”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Ivy put a hand over his, stopping him from opening the door. “Kiss me.”

His breath caught in his throat. “What?”

“Are you deaf or dense?” She leaned in to him, pressing those damn delicious breasts against his chest. “Kiss. Me. Like you mean it. If that doesn’t convince her you’re not interested, nothing will.”