"Hungry?" I ask.
She nods.
"If you need anything else, let me know," our waitress murmurs.
We both thank her before she hurries away, leaving us alone again. Tia doesn't waste any time unrolling her silverware to taste her food. Her eyes light up before she digs in.
I eat more slowly, just watching her. I never knew my dick could get this hard over watching someone eat.
"What?" she finally asks, wiping her mouth on the corner of her napkin.
"Nothing." I dip my head, focusing on my plate.
We eat in silence for a few moments before I feel compelled to speak again. "Does Kingston know what happened?" I ask.
"No. I never told him."
"Why not?"
"Maybe because I didn't want him to ruin his career over someone who didn't matter?" she asks, prodding at her pork chop. "Daniel was never going to be on the same level as my brother. He thought he was that great, but he'll never make it out of the minors. Watching Kingston break his face would have given me momentary satisfaction, but the satisfaction wouldn't have outlasted the guilt. The tradeoff just wasn't worth it." She shrugs. "So I didn't tell him."
But she told me. Something about that twists my heart all into knots. She trusted me with the secret she hasn't even told her brother. Fuck yeah, that feels good.
"I promise not to ruin mine over him, either," I say.
Will I tell everyone I know that he's a fucking creep who makes bets about sleeping with women and then publicly shames and humiliates them? Absolutely. But I'll leave her name out of it. My teammates and friends on other teams will do what needs to be done. If he thinks he has a shot of making it to our league, he's fucking dreaming. It'll never happen once every team in the league refuses to work with him.
Some of these guys may sleep around, but there's a line you don't cross. There's no room in this league for those willing to cross it. I've seen what happens when shit like that is allowed, tolerated, or ignored.
An entire team, the Bucks, was just restructured because their captain, Jamison Peters, was a fucking predatory asshole. The shit he did to Tye's wife when she was in college is beyond fucked up and unforgivable. No one wants to be associated with pricks like him and the teammates who let him get away with the shit he did to her.
We don't want to be associated with the Daniel Jordans of the world either. They can rot in hell. I can't undo what he did to Tia, but I can damn sure make sure he doesn't get to win in life after doing it. He'll languish in the minors, and no one will ever even remember his fucking name.
"Maybe I told you so you'd ruin yours, you ever think of that?" Tia asks.
"Liar."
Her lips twitch, her expression soft. God, she's beautiful.
"You told me because you like me."
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes, taking a big bite of her bread, but I know she isn't really annoyed. The truth is written all over her face. As much as she wants to deny it, she does like me. I think that's what's fucking her up. She likes me. And given what she just told me, that scares the shit out of her.
I reach across the table, brushing crumbs from the side of her mouth. She goes still, but doesn't pull away or try to stop me. "For the record, you aren't a bet to me, Tia. That's not what this is."
"This is a business meeting."
"For now." I meet her gaze. "But we both know that's not what I'm after here. I haven't been saving myself for just anyone."
Her fork clatters against her plate, her eyes meeting mine, completely caught off guard. "W-what?"
"You heard me."
"No, I don't think I did," she disagrees, shaking her head.
"I said, I've been saving myself." My thumb brushes across her knuckles again. "My body and my heart. For you. For when you're ready for me."
"Are you…is this…?" She licks her lips nervously. "Briggs, are you saying that you haven't ever…?"
