"Alright. You ready for this? Keep your head outta the clouds and make this shit happen tonight, McAdams." Our pitching coach, Rick, gave me a stern look as I walked out of the bathroom into the locker room.

"Got it, coach." I walked past him, not really in the mood for him singling me out. I'd do what I did best, which was pitch. That's what the fuck they paid me to do, and I'd do it.

Rodriguez walked up and clamped his hand down on the back of my neck, leaning around and smiling at me. "Word on the street is that you used to date our new owner."

"Oh yeah?" I'd been trying like a mother fucker not to think of Terra over the last two weeks. She'd made her move to Seattle with Lance's help, and they'd gotten a few other guys on the team to pitch in, but she hadn't wanted me there. It stung like a bitch and left me wanting to fuck her up emotionally. Did she think she was the only one who lost out on something all those years ago? What the fuck had she been running from when she high-tailed it down to Oakland? Me? Well, fuck her too.

"He's right man." Another pitcher moved up on my other side. "Tell us about her, Danny. Was she as sexy back then as she is now?"

I hesitated, not wanting to talk about her like a piece of meat, but what did it matter? I was hurt over her words and pissed at myself for not grabbing her and shutting her up with my tongue down her throat. I knew what she needed, and yet I refused both of us.

I should have locked the door and fucked her senseless. She wanted me to... without a doubt.

"She's always been a beautiful girl." I opened my locker and pulled a few things out.

"She means something to you, man?" Rodriguez asked.

"If she does, you need to get over that shit." The other guy laughed as Jeremy walked up.

"Cut him some slack, dick-hats." He pushed them away.

"I don't need slack." I shrugged. "We dated back in high school for a short time but it wasn't nothing to write home about. She wouldn't even put out."

"Guys. This is Terra Harmon. I think most of you know her from Martin talking so much about his baseball-loving daughter." Joe's voice filled my ears, and by the tone of it, I knew he and Terra had heard my comments.

Shit.

I turned to find her in a pair of jeans and a Seattle t-shirt. Her breasts were just a little over a handful, but her ass was way more than I could handle. I loved it. Fuck me. I loved her.

"She wanted to come down and talk to you guys for a few minutes. Give her your attention, or I'll have your balls removed before you jog out onto the field." Joe gave everyone a stern look, but his eyes narrowed when he came to me.

"Firstly, thanks for everyone who attended my father's funeral." She stepped farther into the center of the group and locked eyes with a few players. "It meant the world to me, and I know my father would have been pleased and proud of all of you."

I could almost see them swooning as she moved around the room. She had no clue how much power she had over all of them. It was a million times worse for me.

"I am taking over the team as my brother Lance wants to help cure a rare disease instead. He's into saving lives, and I'm into making them better." Everyone laughed but me.

She moved back and reached up, flinging her long dark hair over her shoulder. I could almost see the fucking boners rising in everyone's pants. It was beyond disturbing and the caveman in me wanted to fling the teasing little bitch over my shoulder and spank her ass all the way to the shower.

Who did she think she was? Making me look like an idiot in front of my guys?

She went on to talk a little more about the structure of the team and keeping things the same. Her speech was well put together and had she been anyone but my dream lover, I'd have listened to every word and decided she was probably better than Martin for us. But she was my girl. My lady. My future wife and the girl I wanted creaming on my cock every night.

To watch the fuckers around me falling in love with her was almost too much.

"We're going to be late," I barked out, looking like the asshole I felt like.

"We have three more minutes." Alan gave me a look and turned back to Terra. "Go ahead."

The light in her eyes died a little. "Any questions from anyone?"

Rodriguez stepped up, and my stomach turned sick as he glanced back at me and smiled. "I hear you used to date McAdams over there. Poor thing you." Everyone laughed, and I almost drowned in embarrassment. "You guys aren't still together, right?"

She locked eyes with me, and I knew it was going to be downhill from there. "No. We were really more like friends back then. It was nothing to write home about." She shrugged. "He tried and tried to get me in bed, but I was a prude." Everyone laughed again. "I still am."

My heart sank. It was me who was a prude back then and her that had tried to get me in bed a million times. The coldness I felt coming off of her reminded me that I didn't know the woman in front of me. Not even close.

I rolled my eyes. "She's an ice princess, boys. Respect her and you'll be fine. Anything else and she'll drink you dry." I turned my back to the group as everyone let out a few sounds of surprise.

"Enough out of you McAdams!" Alan yelled my way.

I lifted my finger in the air and got my stuff out of the locker. I ignored everything until I heard some of the guys laughing over me throwing her haughty ass under the bus. The conflicting emotions inside of me were almost too much. I should have beat my own ass for being such a jerk.

"You got her, man. Shit," Rodriguez moved up beside me. "She must have fucked you up good back in the day. You just served that shit up on a silver plate...."

The guys around me whooped and hollered like a bunch of apes.

I turned around, being who they expected me to be and grabbed my cock. "She couldn't handle this shit back then, and she sure as fuck couldn't handle it now."

"Yeah. Who does this lady thinks she is?" One of the younger guys moved into the center of the locker room. "She doesn't know nothing. I'd teach her a few lessons. Did you see how juicy her ass was?"

I turned back to my locker, hating myself.

"Hey. What are you doing right now?" Gary barked at me as he moved up beside me. The noise in the room behind us hid our conversation.

"She started it, old timer. You know that."

"And you're a grown-ass man. Where's your respect for Martin, boy? You think he'd want you to turn this goddamn team into a bunch of horny teenagers over his daughter? You're not the man I thought you were at all."

"Gary." I turned to face him as he popped me in the face with the back of his hand.

"No. You don't get to talk to me. Fuck you for that." He turned and walked off, leaving me to feel more dejected.

"What the hell was all of that?" Jeremy walked up and stood in front of me as I stewed in self-pity.

"I don't know." I pulled my shirt over my head and tucked it in. "Terra is my high school sweetheart. She's pissed about what didn't happen back then, and I'm pissed about what did. I thought seeing her at Martin's funeral would clear things up and maybe mend our friendship, but all I could think about was fucking her until she submitted to me."

He nodded. "She's got an ass just like you like."

I popped him in the chest. "Shut the fuck up."

"I see that smile." He winked and grabbed his glove. "Come on. Let's put this shit down and hit the bars. You can find someone else to worship your cock tonight, dude. There are a million women waiting to do it."

Sadly enough I didn't want a damn one of them. I wanted the one I couldn’t have.