"Tia," he breathes softly. "Jesus, Tia. Are you okay, beautiful?"
Not even remotely close. My whole world just shifted out of orbit… and I'm not going to do a single thing to try to get it back on track. Not one single thing.
Chapter Ten
Briggs
"This is cruel and unusual punishment," Tia grumbles from beside me as we duck into the back of the arena at a little after five in the morning.
I just chuckle in response, lacing my fingers through hers. "You'll survive."
"The sun isn't even up yet."
"You can sleep later." I tug her closer, pressing my lips close to her ear. She smells a helluva lot better than the arena, that'sfor sure. The place is old, the stench of sweat and floor cleanser baked into the cement walls of the hallway "I'll eat you to sleep after practice. Deal?"
She shivers, a tiny moan escaping her lips. My dick instantly stiffens in my pants, and I almost regret saying it. Almost. Practice will be a bitch with a hard-on, but there's nothing I can do about that. I spent half the night inside her.
If heaven exists, it's her wrapped around me. It's the sounds she makes when she comes and the way she trembles and shakes. It's the look in her eye when I whisper filth in her ear, and the way she touches me. It's her, always her.
She was worth the wait.
"What's the plan for today?" she asks, peering up at me, her eyes a little dilated, like she's trying to think about anything other than me eating her right now.
I decide to take pity on her. I know she's anxious about meeting my teammates, and I don't want to add to it. She should be comfortable here. And she needs to know that not every team is like the one that shattered her confidence and her trust. This team may be a goddamn zoo, but they're good guys.
"Simple," I say. "We'll meet everyone, explain what your organization does, and then I'll extort them for large sums of money."
A shocked laugh burbles from her lips. "You did not just say that."
"I did. Meant it, too."
"We aren't extorting your teammates," she sniffs. "We're humbly requesting they sign on to help fund scholarships for college athletes."
"Extortion sounds like more fun," I tease, pausing in front of the locker room. "You want to wait out here while I make sure everyone is decent?"
"Um, yes, definitely," she says, her eyes wide.
I just grin, pressing a hard kiss to her lips before I nudge her away from the door and slip inside. Surprisingly, everyone is fully dressed, lined up on the benches like they're on their best behavior. Ryan's even sitting on his hands like a little boy in a church pew.
It's fucking weird.
I draw to a stop, eyeing them suspiciously. "What the fuck is this?"
"Karsen threatened them," Trent drawls, his lips quirked up in a grin. "Said if they didn't behave while Tia was here, they'd be skating suicides all morning. Guess they don't want to skate suicides."
"He threatened you, too," Ryan grumbles.
"Uh, definitely not. I know how to behave."
"Well, that's a damn lie if I ever heard one," Cale mutters under his breath. "You only pretend to behave when it suits you."
Trent just shrugs, smirking.
I run my gaze over my teammates, not sure I trust whatever this is. Are they good guys? Hell yes. I'd ride at dawn for any of them. Do they know how to behave? Absolutely the fuck not. They're all terrorists. The proof is in our group chat.
"If you stress her out, I'll slip through your windows while you're sleeping and murder you with your own pillow," I warn them, earning a shit-eating grin from Ryan.
"You were way less cranky before you fell in love," he says.
