Axel grinned like it was the best news he’d ever heard. “She say yes?”
I leaned back on the bench, blood still drying on my knuckles. Voice low. Controlled. “Not yet.” I looked up. “But she will.”
Another beat of silence.
Then Williams let out a low whistle. “Fuck me. You weren’t kidding.”
Sam raised both brows. “You seriously dropped a ring on her after one night?”
“After one taste.” I met his gaze dead-on. “That’s all it took.”
Rhys made a noise—half scoff, half warning. “This isn’t the kind of league where scandals get swept.”
I shrugged. “Let ’em try to clean this one up.”
Axel sat down across from me, elbows on his knees, still grinning like a lunatic. “What if she says no?”
I tilted my head, slow and deadly. “She won’t.”
He leaned in, clearly entertained. “You threatening her?”
I shook my head once. “I offered her protection.”
Let that hang for a second.
Then added, “I’m not the villain. I’m the way out.”
Wyatt muttered under his breath across the room. “Sounds like the same fucking thing to me.”
Greyson laughed, slow and low. “Christ. The league’s not ready for this.”
I stood, grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder like a weapon. “They better get ready.”
And with that, I walked out.
Phone still silent.
But she’d wear it.
Soon.
I left the locker room without another word.
Shoulders back. Steps steady.
Like the decision was already made.
Because it was.
Let the others laugh. Let them doubt.
They hadn’t seen her face when she fell apart for me.
They didn’t feel the way she shook—like surrender had never tasted so sweet.
She was mine.
Even if her mouth hadn’t said it yet… her body had screamed it.
