"You'll get it one day."
All across the locker room, my teammates' eyes go wide. Shit. Did I just admit that I'm in love with her? Yeah, I think I did. But I'm not going to take it back or downplay it, either. That's precisely what's happened here. I fell in love with her so fucking hard I'll carry evidence of impact for the rest of my life, in all the places that matter.
When she's ready to hear it, I'll tell her too. But not yet. I'm not trying to push her out of my life. It's one step at a time, one day at a time.
"You're all donating a shit ton of money," I warn, earning groans from a few of them. "Blame Ryan. He's the one who came up with this plan."
Someone tosses a towel at him, but he just laughs. "You're welcome, asshole."
I grin, yanking open the door to poke my head out. Tia is leaning against the wall, looking a little like she wants to throw up. "Beautiful," I murmur, my voice soft.
She startles, glancing up at me, her face pale.
"They're ready for you."
She swallows hard and then nods, smoothing her hands down her sides. "Okay," she whispers, stepping up in front of me.
"You've got this," I mouth, lacing our fingers together.
She squeezes them gratefully, nodding, and then steps into the locker room with me. For a long moment, no one speaks. They all just stare at her. She stares back, trying to take them in. I know it's a lot. Even seated, they're all big, and she probably feels like this is our territory, not hers.
I think she knows a few of them, at least in passing. But she still looks like she's ready to shit a brick as her gaze bounces around, trying to take in the walls of lockers, the team on the benches, the piles of gear, and the overpowering smell of sweat.
Has she ever been in a locker room before? Shit, probably not. I'm guessing she's made ninety different excuses never to step foot in Kingston's locker room.
"Guys, this is Tia," I say. "Tia, this is the team." I point everyone out, naming them. Her mouth moves silently as she repeats them, trying to commit them to memory. "They're big proponents of education."
"Damn straight," Ryan says, which makes Tia snort softly.
"He threatened you, didn't he?" she asks.
"With murder and mayhem," Colt says solemnly.
"Figured. He's a big bully. Luckily for you guys…I'm worse."
Everyone is silent for a moment before they crack up, the tension in the locker room evaporating.
"In all seriousness," she says, taking a deep breath, "getting you guys involved was his idea, but it's not a terrible idea. I'm sure some of you struggled to pay for your education. We have hundreds of thousands of students in the United States in the same boat. A lot of those students are promising athletes. And because they can't afford tuition, most of them never make it to this level."
The league doesn't draft straight from high school often. Usually, it's from a competitive league or a college team, meaning good players get passed up when colleges decide the funding just isn't there to recruit them to the team.
"You don't have to sell it to us," Karsen says from the end of the bench, his voice a soft murmur, "we're on board. Just tell us what you need from us."
She looks at him, a little shocked, as if she expected this to be a tougher sell. And then she takes another breath. "Scholarship funding, for starters. I've run the numbers, and if we want to send one hundred athletes to college per year, we're looking at a minimum of fifty million dollars to fund an endowment."
Madden whistles between his teeth. "Goddamn, that's steep."
"Yeah, it is," she says quietly, meeting his gaze. "And education gets more expensive every year. Which is where you come in. Briggs has agreed to be the face of the Endowment, but his job would be a lot easier with your support. I can provide any information you need on Hearthstone to make your decision, whether it's financials, historical data, information on the students we serve, bios on our board…whatever."
"Don't need it," Karsen growls.
Tia looks at me, her brows furrowed.
"We've already done our homework, sweetness," I murmur. "Did it before I even flew out there."
"Oh," she says.
"We're on board," Karsen tells her again. "If it's fifty million you need, we'll help make sure you get it."