Dixon Foxx is a baseball prodigy, though a perfectionist father stole any joy he might find in the game. He only sticks with it because it’s all he knows—and because of Tucker, the man Dixon’s wanted since they met. His dreams come true one night, only to turn into a nightmare the next morning when Tucker blows off their incredible time together as a drunken mistake, never to happen again.
The life of a switch hitter is all about mixing things up. Tucker excels at it. Only this time, the game isn’t on the line—his heart is.
This was another fun read in the Shifter Hardball series!
Told in the dual POV’s of our resident second and third basemen for the Preston Predators, we meet Tucker Wilde - a wild dog and Dixon Foxx - a gray fox as the teammates fight to win a game.
We know from go that Dixon has had a thing for his teammate since the gray fox saw the wild dog take his position on the diamond at second base. But Dixon has always known Tucker was straight with his revolving door of women and self-regulated himself to the friend/teammate zone. But when things go south for Tucker, it’s the friend in Dixon, the caring what happens to his teammate that may possibly get him everything he’s ever wanted.
Tucker loves playing baseball and being part of the Predators. The team has become his home and his family which is important since Tucker is a shifter without a pack. But, Tucker is slipping and his game is off. When Coach Banner calls him on it and benches him from his starting position until he can earn it back, Tucker takes it hard and so does his girlfriend. Well, his girlfriend takes it like an opportunistic bitch, but I'm glad she's gone.
Anyway.
Tucker decides to drown his sorrows and after far too many drinks even for a shifter with a fast metabolism, he’s rescued by his friend and teammate Dixon who decides the wild dog needs to sleep it off at his house. But when a simple request for keys opens Tucker's eyes to something he never thought of, we get one hell of a hot night. I won’t spoil the night for you but I will just say there is ass virginity lost, there is one man who is born to be a power bottom, there is KNOTTING, alpha behavior, begging and it’s so fucking hot. All of it.
If this wasn't shifters I might have an issue with the first night Tucker and Dixon spend together but shifters and the inner beast that rule the men in this series get a pass. They get a pass and get a pat on the butt because that was ridiculously hot. I don't care that Tucker's gate only swung one way before he finally notices Dixon and his inner beast begs to be claimed.
By the way, the shifters having chats with the inner beasts is one of my favorite things about this series. It cracks me up when they talk to their beasts and then get all snarky and argue with them.
So, when the morning after brings in new light and Dixon wrapped around Tucker, he has a hard time with this new side to his sexuality and runs farther than a shot to the gap. He can admit he loved what he did with Dixon but doesn’t quite understand never being attracted to a man before and how all of the sudden he and his beast were sitting up and panting like it was mating season. At least Tucker has an understanding team, a very understanding friend in Dixon and two mated pairs on the team with one who is bisexual.
It was great to see Ram and Wiley again as well as Trigger and Graham. I like that Tucker was able to talk to Ram about being bisexual while also doing a bit of research on it. It was clear that he was sexually attracted to Dixon and liked being his friend but getting his mind wrapped around the fact that he isn’t as straight as he thought he was would take a bit of time. It’s a damn good thing that Dixon has wanted Tucker long enough that after getting a taste of him, he’ll wait for Tucker go unfuck his shit and decide what he wants.
Both Tucker and Dixon had less than stellar childhoods. Tucker’s mom was kicked out of her pack because Tucker was a hybrid and Dixon has a famous baseball player for a dad so he ate and slept with the diamond. The bond between the shifters of having what each wanted while lacking, fuels the friendship and adds to the slow burn to the teammates being mated.
This really was a fun read. The shifters on the Predators are always a blast to hang out with and loved the moments they would all shift and chase each other around the field. Tucker is lover of pranks and he brings fun to the team while letting them remember playing the game is supposed to be fun but that doesn’t mean Tucker isn’t ready and willing to work his ass off to earn his starting position back. When Dixon offers to help him and they develop a pre-practice and pregame ritual, the shifters begin to get even closer as friends and Tucker starts to take his walls down piece by piece.
This does have fast and hot kind of one night stand in the beginning of the book but from there I would call this more of a slow burn. We get Tucker with his new bisexuality and really taking in what that means to him and we know that Dixon is there and will be there when Tucker is ready.
Switch Hitter… that title implies exactly what it should both on and off the field. Tucker and Dixon have a great friends to lovers to mates romance that really shows that, fate is a fickle thing, but sometimes she does nail it on the head.
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