Rookie Mistake: A Sports Romance Novel (The Beasts of Baseball Book 1) by Alice Ward Page B

tiny needles digging into my ears.
    “You realize that the only mess I had at home was yours,” I snapped back sarcastically and offered up the same crooked smug smile he was famous for. I watched his jaw jerk back and forth, and his eyes twitch as he worked on a response.
    C’mon, make it good. Can’t let the kid, the hot shot, get the better of you. Can ya, Ace?
    “If you’re referring to Holly, she’s the one who clamped her small town lips around my big league dick and wouldn’t let go,” he finally said.
    Marty began pushing towards Frank to move from the booth, and after a few good nudges, Frank got the hint, and they were both gone and moved to seats at the bar, away from whatever they feared was about to explode between the two of us.
    “That’s just it, women line up to suck your dick, why fuck with my girlfriend’s best friend?” I asked.
    The brunette who brought my first round showed up to drop off two more beers and a couple shots of Patrón. Her perky smile quickly washed out once she realized the tension floating between Ace and myself, and quickly left, leaving only the drinks and the wafting odor of her cheap perfume.
    “You were there. She practically jumped on my dick. What do you care?” Ace barked and then gripped his beer. He leaned back in the booth, relaxing as he took a long swig from the bottle. “Is that your little side piece or something?”
    My fists clenched, and my jaw tightened as the offense of his words fuel my anger. “She’s like a sister to me, Ace, and Whitney thinks she may be falling for you,” I blurted out.
    Ace’s face turned pale. He sat up in the seat and slid one of the shot glasses towards me. “That’s fucked up, brother, it was just one week,” he said with a defeated tone I’d never heard before.
    “One week is all it takes sometimes.” I gripped the glass, downed the shot at the same speed as Ace and then took a long swig of my beer.
    “I never led her on,” he insisted. “Hell, I even told her not to get too close. And she said she was just looking for some fun.”
    “Well, she had too much fun,” I admitted, realizing that Holly was just as much to blame for all this as Ace, maybe even more. Ace never pretended to be anything other than a player, but Holly pretended to be okay with sharing him, when all along, she was hoping to win him all to herself.
    “This is why I don’t do relationships,” Ace said. “Too much fucking drama.”
    He wasn’t wrong.
    I lifted my arm and waved the waitress back over to the table. Her face looked strained as she tried to force a smile as she approached. I felt foolish suddenly for being such an ass, even if I had good reason. “Another round, and tell those pussies at the bar to get their tails back up here.” I motioned to Marty and Frank who were pretending to not look in the mirror across the bar at what was happening behind them.
    “See, you run from relationships, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Whitney,” I admitted once the waitress was gone.
    “Too much pussy to play with to settle for one. That’s like committing to one flavor of ice cream for the rest of your life,” Ace argued. He slapped me on the shoulder and let out one of his cocky chuckles that insinuated that his words were pure wisdom.
    “Vanilla,” I said. His look was full of confusion as I reached under the table and into my pocket. I opened a small box that contained a large diamond ring inside, the best clarity for a 2c stone, the jeweler had said. “I could eat vanilla my entire life and never miss any other flavor, and Whitney is the only woman I need.”
    Marty and Frank approached the table and started laughing their ass off. Apparently, me holding an engagement ring out to Ace was hilarious from their side of the booth, because Marty dropped to one knee and held out a fake ring to Frank.
    “Glad to see you two made up,” Frank teased, “but, I think marriage is a little sudden.”
    “Put that fucking ring