“My condo. My thermostat. My rules.”
“Okay then, fine. When you find my frozen corpse tomorrow morning, please tell my father I loved him, and that his decision led to losing his daughter.”
He let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Give me a minute and I will get you another blanket.” Evan glared, making his way down the hall to his room.
“Great!” I called out. “I will strangle you with it then turn up the heat.”
Evan returned to the living room with a smirk on his face as he stepped closer to me, inhaled, and then reached over my shoulder and turned up the temperature as he stared into my eyes.
“Compromise. I have turned it up to sixty. Good night, Bianca.”
Friday Night
I sat in the restaurant across from Tate, brushing a loose strand of hair out of my face. This entire week had been hell, so when Tate approached me earlier today and asked me again to join him for dinner tonight, I agreed to go. Now, as I sat here across from him, I was still trying to figure out why I’d said yes. A part of me wondered if it wasn’t just to piss off Evan more than he already was.
Regardless, we were thirty minutes into our date, and I was already regretting saying yes because of the question he’d asked me right after we’d placed our order. He wanted to know about my father’s draft strategy. The moment he’d asked, disappointment had flooded me, mostly because I didn’t want Evan’s accusations to be right.
While he had appeared to be joking at first, as more time passed, the questions continued, moving into a territory I wasn’t comfortable with. He’d asked me questions about the team’s playoff chances, casually mentioned an upcoming trade deadline, and by the time our entrees arrived, he had pivoted, asking me which prospects my father was eyeing and whether he had mentioned any roster changes for next week’s upcoming games.
I’d learned my lesson after Tyler, and I had vowed to myself to keep men like this out of my life. Yet, here I sat once again, trapped in a meal with a man who’d have rather gone out with my father than with me.
“Tate, I don’t talk about my father’s work,” I said, my voice tight and controlled.
Tate laughed, leaning across the table and taking hold of my hand. “It’s not like I’m asking for state secrets, Bianca. I was just looking for a little insider perspective, which I am sure you have. After all, you guys must discuss these things.”
Almost instantly, my appetite was gone, and the steak, potatoes, and mushrooms that sat in front of me were making my stomach turn. Tate had asked me out, but not because he was interested in me. He was interested in access, just like Evan had said. I yanked my hand out of his and stared at him across the table, angry that I’d thought otherwise.
“Tate, I won’t tell you again. I don’t discuss these sorts of things,” I warned.
“Oh, come on, Bianca.” He laughed as if I were overreacting. “Look, I bought dinner. The least you could do is tell me if the team’s looking for new goalies, and what new prospects they might look for.”
I stood up abruptly and ripped my coat and purse from the back of my chair. “I think we’re done here.”
I didn’t wait for a reaction. I just walked out of the restaurant determined to get a cab to take me home. Halfway to the door, I noticed Tate had followed me, and just as I turned to head to the parking lot, he reached for me. I was just about to the front of his car when I felt his hand on me.
“Bianca, you’re being ridiculous. I was just making conversation,” He said, finally grabbing my arm and spinning me around so I could face him.
“No, Tate. You are using me for an opportunity to get inside information that you can use for whatever you see fit.”
He took a step closer, causing me to take a step back. Evan had been right. I was right, and now that I’d called him on it, the look in his eyes made me feel threatened.
“Look here. I just spent three hundred bucks on dinner tonight that you didn’t even take a bite of. I think you owe me something. A conversation, a meeting with your father, or maybe a roll in the sheets. Something.”
My heart hammered against my chest as Tate kept approaching me until I was firmly pressed against his car, leaving me with nowhere to go.
“I owe you nothing,” I spat, meeting his eyes.
“Bianca, don’t be a bitch about this…”
A voice rang out in the darkness that cut right through the night like a blade.
“Get your hands off her.”
We both whipped our heads around, and that was when I saw him. Evan, standing at the edge of the lot, his shoulders broad,chest rising and falling as if he’d run the entire way here. I didn’t need to see him to know his eyes were dark, menacing, and furious, a look that would make anyone take a second thought at what they were doing.
“This doesn’t concern you, Callahan,” Tate called out.
Evan didn’t take the warning. He stepped forward, his motion slow, controlled, and dangerous.
