When I can move again, when I canbreatheagain, I press my lips to hers in a fervent kiss, my throat tight with emotion. "I love you, Tia. Christ, I love you, beautiful."
"Me too, Briggs," she whispers. "Me too."
Chapter Eleven
Tia
The next week is a whirlwind. Briggs and I spend every possible moment together, laughing, making love, and talking. I attend his home game, sitting in the box with Hattie.
We even spring our relationship on Kingston. To my surprise, he isn't mad about it. He's…amused. He still threatens to murder Briggs if he breaks my heart, though, and part of me wishes I had told him what happened back in college. Part of me wishes I'd told anyone, but that doesn't matter anymore, not really.
There is no place in my life for regret now.
It's nice…really nice.
While Briggs is at practice, I bury myself in work, creating everything we need to launch an athletic scholarship endowment. The work is intense, but Briggs is a force of nature. He helps accomplish more in a week than we'd have been able to do in two months without his help. His teammates help, too.
By the end of the week, we're already well on our way to funding the endowment. And additional funding is flowing into our other scholarships as well, because of Briggs.
I'm not sure whether he's throwing himself into the project so hard because it matters to me, or because it's a way to escape the drama surrounding his mother. That worries me.
But when he gets back from meeting with his siblings and lawyer to file the restraining order on Friday, he doesn't seem stressed about it. He seems…peaceful. Like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
I still hurry across the massive, modern kitchen to him, burrowing into his arms.
He immediately wraps them around me, holding me close. "Hey, beautiful."
"Hey. How did it go?"
"Good," he grunts, wrapping my hair around his fist. "They're going to serve her as soon as possible."
"That's good, right?"
He just shrugs, and I'm not entirely sure what that means. "We decided to put out a statement once she's served."
"What kind of statement?"
"A joint statement calling it a private family matter and requesting privacy," he says. "Doubt it'll do much good, but we thought it was better than saying nothing and letting them get wind of it themselves."
"That's probably smart."
His lips curve. "I've been known to be a smart motherfucker on occasion."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah," he breathes, dipping his head until his lips are a breath from mine. "How do you think I ended up with you in my bed every night, sweetness?"
"Stalking and general psychopathy."
He growls playfully, slanting his mouth down over mine. I laugh against his lips, kissing him hard. God, I could kiss this man all day.
Unfortunately, that's not in the cards today.
I squirm out of his arms, ducking to avoid him when he tries to grab me. "No way, Briggs. We have work to do."
"Mmhmm. If you'd come back here, we could be doing it right now," he says, his eyes dark.
"Sex isn't work."