My Angel is the Centerfold

Chapter 11

"What are ya dressed like that for?," Harley asked. She didn't wait for an answer before she asked her next question. "Are ya still comin' ta my game?"

River was quick to nod her head. She was most definitely coming to the game. Because she promised Harley she would. And maybe there was another reason she was so eager to go. The same reason she was wearing a sundress instead of leggings and Wren's ratty old green Go Eagles t-shirt. Harley's softball coach was dangerously hot. He gave her his number when she ran into him outside practice earlier that week. She saved it to her phone under his first name only. Negan. But she hadn't called or texted him yet. Partly because of the gross personal problem she needed to get rid of before she called. And she wanted to give him a little time to believe she wasn't interested. A man like that would appreciate a challenge.

"I just wanted to look nice," River said, hoping that Harley might be distracted enough by her upcoming game to let the subject drop. Harley gave her one last stare down, narrowing her icy blue eyes at her mother. But when River didn't react, she quickly lost interest and headed into the kitchen to fill her water jug with ice. Harley's long blonde hair was straightened and slicked back into a tight ponytail that swung as she moved. Her softball uniform consisted of a kelly green jersey and snug fitting gray pants. She looked adorable in it, not that River would ever dream of telling her that. Not unless she wanted the silent treatment for the next few days.

"Why are ya so dressed up?," Daryl asked, eyeing River with more suspicion than her daughter had. It was no secret that Daryl had a habit of watching her and then reporting anything of interest back to his brother. But he'd been questioning her more than usual over the last few days. Since she started sending Merle's calls straight to voicemail and ignoring his texts. River guessed the asshole was hounding Daryl for information, trying to figure out what she was up to.

"Can't I just look nice without being hounded by everyone in this house?," River grumbled. Before Daryl could start playing twenty more questions with her, her phone rang. The number wasn't familiar. And River almost sent it straight to voicemail in case it was Merle calling from someone else's phone. But the number was from a different area code. So the chances of it being him were more slim. And she'd missed a few bakery call orders already because she'd sent them to voicemail thinking it might be Merle. River flipped the phone open and offered the caller her standard greeting.

"This is River, what can I do for ya…"

Upon hearing a familiar friendly voice on the other end, River perked right up. She bantered back and forth with the man for a moment before she lowered the phone from her ear and hollered for Carol.

"Carol, there's someone on the phone for ya!"

Carol stuck the pitcher of cold water she was using to fill her glass back into the refrigerator, heading into the living room with a curious expression on her face. She and River shared River's phone. But it was unusual that anyone called for her. Unless it was her divorce lawyer. And Carol didn't think she'd hear from her on a Saturday morning. She usually just emailed if she had any news. Carol glanced at River as she reached for the phone, hoping for some clue as to who was asking to speak to her. But River just giggled and shimmied her shoulders.

"Hello?," Carol said, nervously speaking into the phone. It was a smooth deep voice that responded to her. One that she didn't recognize until he reintroduced himself as the DJ she met at the club.

River smiled as Carol headed out onto the small patio, shutting the sliding glass door behind her. There wasn't much privacy in their tiny apartment. Even on the porch, everyone could hear Carol's nervous laughter. And the rising pitch of her voice. River leaned slightly to her left as she tried to listen in and hear what she was saying as well. Her eavesdropping was rudely interrupted by Daryl.

"Who's she talkin' to out there," he demanded, knocking his foot into the side of River's cowboy boot.

"None of yer business," River replied, shoving him away from her. It was bad enough that Daryl had been spying on her for Merle. He didn't need to start involving himself in Carol's business as well. If he wanted to worry about someone, he ought to start with himself. He'd been loafing around her apartment for weeks, eating up all her groceries and stinking up her bathroom. Normally she liked having him around. But at the moment, she was pissed at Merle and therefore, pissed at Daryl by association.

River narrowed her eyes at Daryl, watching as he brought his hand up to his mouth and began gnawing at the side of this thumb. He was staring at Carol through the sliding glass door. And for the moment, River forgot that she'd decided she was angry with him. He was so focused on Carol's phone conversation that he didn't notice River was focused on him.

"Holy shit," River hissed. She leaned forward, thumping the back of her hand against Daryl's thigh to get his attention. "You've got a thang fer Carol," she said, her face lighting up with excitement. Daryl swatted her hand away. River was hard to ignore. But he gave it his best try. "Ya know she's out there talkin' to Zeke…," River teased. Like she knew it would, that got Daryl attention. He headed towards the sliding door. But he stopped, unsure of what he meant to do once his hand was on the door handle. After another moment of hesitation, Daryl spun on his heel and stomped back across the living room. He went right out the door, slamming it shut behind him to the sound of River's high pitched laughter.

"The fuck is his problem?," Harley groused, scowling towards the direction Daryl stomped off in. She enjoyed having her uncle around. But she still didn't have much patience when it came to any man. Especially if they were stomping around the place slamming doors.

"He's got a crush on Carol," River announced. Harley rolled her eyes.

"Ya think?," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "He only stares at her twenty four hours a fuckin' day." Harley's brutally honest observation of her uncle's behavior only made River laugh harder. Now that Harley mentioned it, Daryl did tend to follow Carol with his eyes any time she was around. He must really have a thing for her. River was surprised she didn't really put two and two together until now. Thinking about them together made her happy. Because they'd be great together. And selfishly, because if Daryl married Carol then Carol would be her sister. And that sounded almost too good to be true.

"I'm ready to go," Harley barked, tugging the strap of her equipment bag up higher on her shoulder as she moved towards the door.

"Gimme just a sec," River said, rising off the couch and tugging the hem of her dress down. "I wanna bring the phone and Carol's on it."

Harley dropped her bag to the ground with a dramatic thump. She crossed the living room with her long mannish strides and proceeded to pound on the glass sliding door. Carol jumped and spun towards the noise, rolling her eyes when she saw the only emergency was Harley's impatience. River could tell Carol was making her quick excuses to the man on the other end of the phone before she ended the call and opened the slider door.

"He asked me if I wanted to go to the zoo with him," Carol said, clearly eager to have River help her dissect the phone conversation she just had. But before Carol could say anything else, Harley snatched the phone from her hand and hurled it forcefully in her mother's direction.

"I'm gonna be late fer my game!," she huffed.

River grumbled a few expletives under her breath, rolling her eyes as she followed her daughter out the door. Not only was Harley rushing her for absolutely no reason. They had plenty of time before her game was going to start. Once they got the car, she also insisted on driving them to the game. And then drove like a goddamn maniac the whole way there. River white knuckle gripped the door handle, knowing that telling Harley to slow down would only make the girl press down harder on the gas pedal.

When they arrived at the ball field, Harley's entire demeanor changed instantly. The reason she was so impatient to arrive was immediately obvious to River. Harley's boyfriend was waiting in the parking lot for her. The young man offered River a polite greeting as he leaned into the backseat and picked up Harley's equipment bag for her. River laughed after them as they headed towards the field. She wasn't sure what the rules were about assistant coaches dating students. But she guessed it probably wasn't allowed. Because Harley and Spencer only held hands for a few moments, breaking the contact and moving slightly away from each other when they got close enough to the field for the other players to see them.

River climbed from the car and leaned against the side of it, taking a moment to recover from her near death experience on the drive over. It was still early in the day, but it was already getting hot. She shaded her eyes and scanned the area, hoping the concession stand was open early so she could get a snow cone or at least a cold drink with lots of ice. But across the parking lot, she spotted something even better. There was a small food truck set up, selling ice cream and frozen lemonade. River headed that way, waving at a few of Harley's teammates as they climbed out of a minivan. It seemed she wasn't the only parent that was already feeling the Georgia heat. River got in line behind the few that were already waiting, twisting her long dark hair with her hand and holding it up off her neck.

Like a bird might feel a cat watching it, River sensed Negan there before she heard him. All the tiny hairs on her exposed neck stood on end, her skin prickling with gooseflesh despite the Georgia heat. He was standing as close as he could to her without actually making contact. And then he leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"You never called me," he drawled. Negan's hot breath fanned across the skin on her neck. And she had to lock her knees to keep them from going weak. He really was a gorgeous hunk of a man. Tall and lean in his team jersey with just the right amount of gray hair in the stubble on his face.

"Oh!," River exclaimed with as much fake surprise as she could muster up. "I didn't see ya there…" She glanced back over her shoulder at him and gave him a smug little grin. "Call ya? Was there somethin' goin' on with the team that ya needed to talk to me about? If ya need a donation fer the team uniforms, yer gonna have to call the bakery directly."

River turned back around, biting down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She was toying with him. And he knew it. But the look on his face was still priceless. There was a momentary expression of disbelief. And then his smile widened and a dangerous twinkle formed in his eyes. If they weren't surrounded by a small crowd of softball parents, she suspected she'd already be bent over his knee. And the thought of that made her nipples go rock hard against the lacy fabric of her bra.

"You're not fooling anyone," he teased, hissing the words under his breath. "I know your tight little kitty is dripping wet for me right now…"

River's mouth dropped slightly open. After being married to Merle, River naturally assumed she'd heard it all. But that was a new one, especially for ten in the morning before a girls softball game. And before she could even begin to react to his cocky commentary, Negan snaked his hand forward and pinched her ass. Hard. River squealed, startling the hell out of the portly softball dad in front of her. She'd let out a high pitched shriek almost directly into his ear.

"There was a big bug on me," she lied as Negan stood behind her, his chest shaking with silent laughter. "I'm so sorry," River told the man she startled. He smiled at her, his eyes lingering on her cleavage before he quickly accepted her apology. River was hoping that would be the end of their interaction. But the overweight dad offered to buy her a frozen lemonade. And since she just screamed like a loony bird into his ear, she felt like she couldn't refuse him. She tried her best to ignore Negan. But she had a feeling he was getting quite a bit of amusement out of her situation.

Once River had her frozen treat in her hand, she told the overeager and recently divorced father of three that she had to use the bathroom. Making her escape, River ducked into a stall in the ball field ladies room and pressed her frozen lemonade against her forehead. Negan definitely rattled her. Not that she didn't like it. But damn, she wasn't expecting that. And now she was going to have to sit on a hard bench for an entire ball game with her pussy practically throbbing.

River's lips turned up into a wicked smile. If he wants to play then lets play, she thought. Digging through her purse, River pulled out her phone and flipped it open. Then she slipped the straps of her dress down over her shoulders. Pushing her bra down, she bared her breasts. Her nipples were already pebbling up. But she took the cold cup in her hand and pressed it against them, making the skin around her hard nubs pucker as they tightened into hard little pink points. She pursed up her lips, blowing a kiss as she snapped a picture of herself with her naked tits on full display. Negan wanted her to call him, but she decided she was going to send a text instead. Right now.