Excerpt Day: Hitting Streak by Julia Talbot

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Two Games: A Matched Pair of Sports Stories by Julia Talbot and B,A, Tortuga
Release Date: 06/2009
Publisher: Torquere Books
Publisher Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2017

Blurb: Two Games features two tales about hot, sporting guys, from tennis and football studs to a former pro baseball player. In Volleys and Touchdowns, by BA Tortuga, tennis-lover Mitch and football man Jackson have a friendly argument about who gets to control the TV remote. The argument might just end in a little game of their own. Will the boys settle things like men? In Hitting Streak, by Julia Talbot, Jose is a former baseball player who's out of the game due to a freak accident. Dave thinks Jose might just be the hottest thing going, and has no idea baseball is a sensitive subject and not the best ploy to get a date. Can Dave make it up to the blind Jose the best way he knows how? Both stories previously published in the Play Ball anthology.

Excerpt:

From “Hitting Streak” by Julia Talbot

It was the fifth inning, the Braves were ahead two to four, and supper had been incredible. Whether Dave made the enchiladas or bought them, they were superb. All in all, Jose was a happy man.

He sprawled on the couch, with Dave in the big chair across from him, feet on his coffee table. That was okay, as Jose had his feet up there, too, every so often tapping Dave with his toes or his ankle.

Flirting.

Man, it had been like years since he’d flirted this hard.

That had the game going on the TV, not the radio, so Dave could watch, which actually worked, because Dave was good at the play-by-play. Maybe not as good as Skip Carey, but he filled in all the things that Jose couldn’t see, including the way the current batter dug at his crotch.

“Okay, I’ve never understood that, man. You were a player. Tell me why they do that.”

He kicked Dave’s foot lightly. “You played football, right? That cup is damned uncomfortable.”

“Dude. In football we have so much padding and shit we can hardly feel the cup.”

“Oh.”

“Strike three and that retires the side. We’ll go to commercial now, but stick with us as the Cardinals come up to bat in the bottom of the inning.”

The sound jacked up at least two notches as a beer commercial came on and Jose smacked the remote, muting the damned thing. “I hate that. It’s jarring, you know?”

“Sure.”

Jose tilted his head, searching for something to fill the lull, settling on, “You know, I don’t even know what you look like.”

Silence reigned for a moment, before Dave drew in a breath. “So what, you want to feel my face or something?”

“No. You’re a good play-by-play man. Give it to me. Head to toes.” Somehow it seemed important now, when it hadn’t before.

“Okay. Uh. I’m six-one. Just over one-ninety. I kinda don’t have a neck.”

Chuckling, Jose shifted, letting his toes run down the underside of Dave’s foot. “Neanderthal, huh? Do you have two eyebrows?”

“Asshole.” Dave’s laughter flowed as sweet and smooth as his voice. Like a great chaser to a shot of Gold. “Yeah. They’re brown. Like my hair. Light brown. I have blue eyes, a killer smile, and the most annoying chin. It’s like, pointy.”

“That’s nice. Get to the good stuff.”

Laughing harder, Dave moved, feet hitting the floor audibly. The other side of the couch sagged, the warmth of Dave’s body palpable, even three feet away.

“The good stuff, huh? C’mere.” Cautiously, slowly, Jose went, hands out in front of him to feel his way. The forgotten remote dangled from his fingers and Dave took it, setting it on the table with a thump. “Here. My shoulders are still nice and wide.”

His hands moved as Dave urged them to, settling on wide, heavy shoulders. Definitely football shoulders, ever without the pads. He tested the muscles under Dave’s shirt, digging his short nails in a little. Nice. The pecs next, he thought, sliding his hands down to test them, feeling Dave’s little nipples rise under his palms, even through the cloth.

“If you want I can take my shirt off.”

Did he want? Jose breathed deep, smelling cologne and a hint of sweat, along with a deep, male scent that actually had his mouth watering. “Yeah,” he said. “Off.”