on deck; a. judge

3.

[a]

"We get to take out first little trip together!" I say with a quirky smile on my face, looking over at Ellie who clearly had no interest in talking to me.

"What do you mean, we?" She questions me, walking to the fridge in just an oversized t-shirt and her hair up in a messy bun. I try hard not to admire, but her body was so petite and perfect, it was hard to keep my eyes off of her.

"Uh, we, as in you and me. As in, we need to go grocery shopping and run errands. What housemates do.." I tell her, leaning against the counter.

She just sighs, "Give me ten minutes." She says before walking upstairs and I watch as she struts away, looking at her perky little ass.

I watch ESPN on the television while waiting for Ellie to walk back down. She comes back down, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and left the baggy tee on.

When we get out to the driveway, we get in my car. I take the aux cord, but it's immediately ripped from my hands.

"Who said you had control over aux? You probably listen to Harry Styles and that shit." I tell her as she just rolls her eyes and plugs in her phone.

I sigh, "One song. That's it." I say as she just nods and turns on some R&B type of song. I never heard it before, but my thumbs tap against the steering wheel as the beat goes.

"What is this?" I ask her, glancing over.

"Lean on You by Russ. He's one of my favorite artists."

I nod. "I like it."

"So I don't listen to teeny bopper shit." She smirks at me.

"Don't flatter yourself, Davis. This is only one song. The rest of it could be shit."

Ellie ignores me as she hums to the song playing. We get halfway through the second song she plays before pulling into the parking lot. It wasn't far from my place, it was one I frequented since being out here.

"Let's go," I say to her before getting out and locking it once we're both out. I grab a shopping cart and am greeted by some people that knew me as a regular.

"How are you guys?" I ask them as we walk by, going into the first aisle. "Alright, I have a list in mind, but I'm sure with your perky little body, you like to maintain your figure."

Ellie scoffs, "Just because I'm tiny doesn't mean I don't pig out here and there. I can eat a whole pizza by myself, I'll have you know," She sticks her nose high up int he air like she's some bad bitch. Wasn't cutting it.

I push the cart around, wandering through aisles, grabbing food and things to drink before going down the aisle where all the feminine products were. I saw Ellie grab a box of tampons and I just look at her all disgusted. She laughs, shrugging. I look at her then smirk, grabbing a box of condoms.

"Just in case, you never know." I say as she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, for the trashy girls you're bringing home? Definitely. Don't wanna catch anything from one of them." She spits back. Damn, she was bold.

"Bold of you to assume that I'm hooking up with different girls every night." I tell her as we make our way into another aisle.

"Well the girl the other night sounded like a piece of work. That fake ass laugh, was she a blonde?" I nod slowly, looking at her, "Knew it. They're always the dumb ones."

"But...You're blonde?" I question her and she nods,

"I know, but I'm a smart blonde. I know my boundaries and respect my body." She says before walking away from me.

I pay for the groceries and she helps me load them into the trunk and she just laughs to herself. I grab her hips, backing her against the car door.

"You're cocky and bold, I like it." I tell her, looking in her eyes and I can feel the goosebumps creep on her arms. She gulps, nodding and unable to say anything.

"Why don't we get home and get these unpacked? Don't want the ice cream to melt." I tell her, changing the mood before we drove back to the duplex.

---

I learn a lot about Ellie on the car ride home and as we unpack the groceries. I learn she's the youngest of three: Having a 32-year-old brother, and a 29-year-old sister. She's from Boston, and she said she didn't want to live out there anymore as it was becoming a tourist trap.

I told her a little about myself and how I was adopted and so was my brother John. She seemed interesting in learning more about me, and we had a pretty decent conversation over it.

"So what are you gonna do with the Yankees?" I ask her as I finish unloading everything.

"I am gonna work with both the PR department and marketing department. Making sure things are running smoothly, how they can better the organization. Since I also have experience with stats, I'll get to do a little sideline stuff." She explains, and I nod, cracking open a bottle of water.

"So you're good with math, I assume? Since you have to deal with numbers.."

She shrugs. "I'm alright, I guess. When you really sit down and look at everything, it's not a lot of math, but it's a lot of numbers to look at and piece together to make something make sense."

I nod, listening to her talk, looking in her eyes as she sat across from me on a different bar stool. "I never really pay attention to stats, honestly. I do when it comes to my batting averages and where I rank among the league, but other than that, I just play baseball."

"I mean, I didn't really participate a lot in sports growing up. I did softball for a little bit and volleyball, but my dad worked for the Red Sox while I was growing up. I grew up around baseball, so I came to grow an interest in everything." She tells me, and I just listen to her talk, it's almost soothing to hear her voice.

"As a girl with a petite model body like you...I wouldn't expect you to be on the numbers and business side of sports," I say, grinning.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellie laughs.

"I dunno, thought you would be the one on the sidelines during a Dallas Cowboys game or something dressed up in those skimpy outfits." I joke, and she hits my arm, causing me to laugh more.

"You dick," She mutters.

"I have one, yes. Wanna see? Examine that for stats?" I smirk, teasingly tugging at the band of my sweats. Ellie stays quiet, finishing up her bottle of water.

"I think I'm good, I have other things to focus on." She says before going back upstairs.

How did she have me so hooked?