Chapter 156
Riley
I stood on the pitcher’s mound, leaning in so I could read the sign from my catcher. His fingers were wrapped with reflective tape, allowing me to see more easily as he gave me an inverted peace sign. Two fingers. A change-up.
That was my weakest pitch. I shook him off.
He put down one finger, which meant fastball. I gave a single nod, and stood up straight with my foot on the rubber of the mound. I adjusted the ball in my glove, finding the stitches for the proper grip. I twisted my head 180 degrees to check the runner on second base, ensuring that he wouldn’t steal. Then I turned back to the plate, where the batter was waiting, and fired a fastball in there.
I was aiming for the inside part of the plate, where the batter struggled to hit. But my location was off, and the fastball shot right down the middle of the plate. It was a meatball, and the batter turned on it with ease. The crack of the bat was like a gunshot, and I flinched instinctively. The ball soared through the air and over the left field fence, but I didn’t have the stomach to watch it. I held my glove open toward home plate, waiting for the umpire to give me a new ball while the batter jogged the bases for his home run.NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
I had been struggling since returning to the team. The pressure was getting to me, and the coach wasn’t very helpful when it came to figuring out what was wrong with my mechanics. It didn’t help that I was genuinely afraid of the ball, terrified that every time the batter swung, he would send a missile directly at my head.
Up to this point, I had been avoiding looking at the scoreboard. I knew it was bad, but I hadn’t realized that was my sixth run given up in four innings. Prior to that pitch, we were up a run. Now we were down.
With every game I pitched, I could feel my draft stock tanking. The worse I did, the more I thought about it, which in turn made me pitch worse. It was a spiral of negativity that I couldn’t get out of.
Just focus on the next batter, I told myself. Get him out, and the inning is over.
But my coach was coming out of the dugout and walking toward the mound. I turned away and clenched my jaw. Not like this, goddamnit.
“Give me the ball, son,” he said when he arrived, holding out his palm.
I covered my mouth with my glove so nobody could tell what I was saying. “Let me finish the inning,” I insisted.
Coach didn’t say anything. He just stared at me, palm held out. I slapped the ball into it and stalked off the mound, avoiding looking at the bleachers where my roommates were watching.
Their presence did calm me down a little. As frustrating as my life was right now, I was lucky to have Leslie. Thinking about her soothed the burning anger in my chest. And not just because of the sex. Having her around the house was a joy. The teasing, flirty comments. The way she hummed a Taylor Swift song while brushing her teeth every night before bed. The way she got along with my roommates, Avery and Harper. The latter two had really hit it off lately, studying almost every night, their laughter filling the house.
And yeah, the sex. The sex with Leslie was great, too.
But there was still one thing I wanted to try with her. Something she seemed surprisingly interested in.
I was home alone on a Thursday evening when she got back from classes. “Whew, that midterm was hard.”
“The astronomy one you’ve been studying for?” I asked from the couch.
She nodded. “I hope I did okay. I really need a good grade to make up for the first test I bombed.”
“When do you get your grade back?”
“Maybe tonight,” she replied. “It depends on our class TA getting to them in time. I might have to wait until tomorrow.” She shuddered at the prospect.
“That would suck,” I admitted, rising from the couch. “I wonder if I can find a way to distract you until then.”
She gave me a knowing smile, then hesitated. “Where are the guys?”
“Harper is leading a study group until ten, and Avery is hanging out with the Kappa girls he sells weed to.”
Leslie frowned at the mention of the Kappa girls, but quickly covered it up. “A little distracting would be nice.”
I took her by the hand and led her upstairs. She was all over me before I could get to my room, tearing my shirt off and unzipping my pants right there in the hallway. I had plans for Leslie tonight, but I forgot all about them as she dropped to her knees and took my cock in her hand, gazing up at me through her eyelashes before flicking her tongue out against my tip. A shiver of excitement ran through my body, and then she was taking me in her mouth.
For a while, I closed my eyes and savored the way her lips dragged back and forth over my cock. I laced my fingers into her hair and guided her back and forth. She felt amazing, and I could have come like this after a few minutes.
But like I said: I had other plans for her tonight.
I pulled her up and gave her a ferocious kiss, then led her into the shower. The water was wonderfully hot when we both stepped in, lips locking together once again while the steam rose all around us. She was drenched when I touched her, and it had nothing to do with the hot water sluicing down our bodies.
When I couldn’t wait any longer, I spun her around and began grinding against her ass. My cock slid between her cheeks, up and down, pushing against her back door. She moaned and gazed over her shoulder at me as I took hold of my shaft and guided it down, then up into her waiting lips.
For a while, I fucked her like that-slow and steady from behind while the water ran over us. Leslie always felt amazing, and tonight was no exception. I reached forward and cupped her breasts, and she responded by arching her back and letting a moan echo off the tiles.
Then I licked two of my fingers and slid them down between her cheeks, caressing until I found her tight little ass.
I felt Leslie tense as I pressed my fingers against her, coating it with my saliva. As she relaxed, I slid a fingertip inside. Another sigh filled the shower this time, and she even pushed back against me a little bit. Begging for more.
“You like that?” I crooned into her ear.
She leaned forward more, nodding. Slowly, I slid a second finger inside of her. Her sigh became a moan this time, the muscles of her pussy clamping down around my cock as I fingered her ass.
Leslie was pushing back harder now, demanding that I keep going. I resumed fucking her doggy style, longer strokes this time while my fingers slid in and out of her ass. She made soft whimpering noises, and clenched a hand against her breast, squeezing her nipple between two fingers. Then she was reaching down beneath her, rubbing at her clit with renewed enthusiasm. I fucked her harder, slamming my cock into her with every thrust.
“God, I want to fuck your ass,” I breathed.
“I want it too,” she moaned.
I hesitated. I had been intending to only warm her up tonight with my fingers, easing her into the world of ass play. But if she wanted me…
“I don’t think you can handle it,” I said, leaning forward to breathe right in her ear.
She twisted her head and brushed her lips against mine. “Only one way to find out.”
I didn’t need any other encouragement. I was fucking her rapidly at this point, my climax almost visible on the horizon, spurned on by the thought of having anal sex with Leslie. Slowly, I slid my fingers out of her. My cock was out of her pussy and sliding between her cheeks now, grinding against her backdoor. Leslie gazed over her shoulder and bit her lip as I took hold of my hard length, guiding the tip up against her tight little ring. Her eyes were wide with anticipation, and excitement, and maybe a little bit of fear. Trying new things could be scary.
But that’s part of what made it so damn hot.
There was a bit of resistance, and then suddenly my crown slid inside of her. Her forbidden entrance tightened around my tip, holding it inside her.
She let out a deep breath.
“You okay?”
She bit her lip again and nodded. “Go slow.”
I moved as gently as I could, back and forth about an inch at a time. She winced once, and I began to worry that we had moved too quickly. But then I felt her relax again around me, and she drove her ass back, taking another section of my cock into her.
“That feels good,” she moaned. “That feels really good…”
Her words trailed off as I fucked her ass. Never more than an inch or two per thrust, but it definitely fell under the category of fucking. Her hand moved furiously at her clit, and she leaned her head against the tile wall ahead of her.
“Oh fuck,” she groaned. “Oh it’s so intense, yes, keep going!”
She’s into it, I thought with joy. Her pleasure turned me on even more, and I took hold of her ass with both hands and drove into her, knowing I was reaching my own shuddering climax. I drank in the sight of my cock disappearing into the round globes of her ass, admiring the way she took it. As my manhood began to tingle, I desperately wanted to bury my hard length as deep into her ass as I could, all the way to the base. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to hold myself back.
“God, your ass is so tight,” I gritted out.
“Yeah? How tight?”
“So. Fucking. Tight.”
My body came alive with the supernova of an orgasm. I let my own moans fill the shower, soon joined by Leslie’s, as I erupted inside of her. I cried out and gazed down at my cock, watching it spasm and tremble inside her ass, filling her behind with every drop of my seed. She arched her back in a way that looked almost painful, screaming her own ragged, intense climax in the bathroom, reaching behind her to grab hold of my forearm like I was a life preserver in the tumultuous seas of her passion.
My eyes squeezed shut against their will, and the world disappeared in a haze of bright light and soundless vibration.
Leslie was giggling when I finally recovered. With my cock still halfway inside her ass, she twisted around and cupped my cheek, giving me a long kiss.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She giggled again and gave me a look. “I’m very good. Are you?”
I grinned back at her. “I’m the best I’ve ever been.”
“I would agree with that assessment.” She moved forward, allowing me to slide out of her, then twisted around to wrap her arms around me. “How long have you been thinking about doing that?”
“Since I was fourteen,” I said without missing a beat.
She playfully slapped me on the arm, spraying water. “I meant with me.”
Ever since Jess, I was a pretty big fan of anal sex. It was different, and kind of taboo, and hot in all the naughty ways that turned me on. I couldn’t explain why-it just was. Since meeting Leslie at the party, I had thought about all the filthy ways I wanted to explore her body… including this way.
But all I said was, “A little while.”
We finished showering, dried off, and then went into Leslie’s room to cuddle. She stretched on the bed, folding her body over mine. I was sad that we were now clothed; I would have loved to feel her naked skin against mine.
“Sorry about the game today,” she said.
I had forgotten all about it thanks to Leslie. Anger and frustration bubbled up inside of me at the memory of my poor performance.
“I haven’t been myself,” I said. “On the mound. I feel like I’ve lost it.”
“What happened?” she asked softly. “Avery mentioned something in the spring. Some event that changed things.”
I tensed. I didn’t want to talk about it with Leslie. Or anyone. Hell, I didn’t even like thinking about it. I wanted to keep it tucked away in the past, like a bad dream that could no longer hurt me.
But Leslie had shown a lot of vulnerability to me, both tonight and since moving in. If she could do that, then surely I could open up just a little bit.
“It was a playoff game in April,” I explained. “I was on the mound, and I
was cruising. Six shutout innings, just one hit given up. I was facing their best hitter, their first baseman. A big gorilla of a man with a permanent scowl. I had struck him out during the first two at-bats, and I thought I had him beat this time, too. But I threw a slider that caught too much of the plate, and he made good contact on it. He hit a line drive up the middle… and it hit me in the head.”
Leslie jolted upright in bed. “Oh no!”
“Technically it was a deflection,” I said. “I got my glove out in front of me, and it ricocheted off the leather before hitting me in the cheek.” I touched my face. “I can still remember the sound it made when it hit my flesh. Like a wet smack. Miraculously, it didn’t break any bones-although it messed my nose up. I’ll show you the pictures later if you’re curious. I was taken out of the game, and we went on to win.”
“Okay…” she said, waiting for the other half of the story.
“But when I pitched again a few days later, something was wrong. All I could think about was getting hit with the ball. Every time the batter swung, I cringed to myself, because I was certain he was going to hit a line drive up the middle to me. I only lasted two innings in that game. Six runs given up.
“I haven’t been the same since,” I said. “I played in two other games that postseason before we were eliminated. I took a few months off, then tried pitching in a summer league. I lasted one start before realizing I couldn’t do it. I quit the team. I intended to avoid pitching on the school team, but then…”
“Then your coach blackmailed you,” Leslie finished for me. She rubbed my thigh. “Oh, Riley. I’m so sorry. That must be awful.”
I grimaced at her. “I’ve never been afraid of anything in my life. And suddenly I’m afraid of doing the one thing I’m actually good at. Yeah, it’s awful.”
“Has it gotten better?” she asked. “You’ve been pitching for over a month, now.”
I shook my head. “I can’t make myself relax on the mound. I’m tense, waiting for that line drive to hit me again. It’s impossible to pitch like that. Which is why I’ve lost all five games I’ve pitched.” I sighed. “I wish there was a way to get over my fear. I would do anything to get back to the way I was.”
A light flickered in Leslie’s eyes, and she looked down at me with determination. “I think I have an idea.”