"Hey." He curves his hand around my jaw, tilting my head back until his denim eyes lock with mine. "You're allowed to feel the way you feel, beautiful. Trauma isn't rational. Sometimes, it hits when you least expect it."
"I guess I just feel…" I hesitate, not sure how to explain. "Worse things happen to women all the time. Sometimes, I think maybe I don't have a right to feel the way I do."
"It's not a competition, beautiful," he says. "What happened to you was fucked up. It was wrong. He may not have physically forced you, but he manipulated you into making a choice you never would have made had you known all the facts, and then he humiliated you publicly for making that choice. That's predatory, period."
"Yeah," I whisper, nodding because he's not wrong. "So, he's being let go?"
"Yeah, at the end of the season."
"Will another team pick him up?"
"With his stats?" Briggs snorts scornfully. "Doubtful."
Maybe I shouldn't be happy about that…but I am. I'm glad his career is effectively over. I'm glad he's finally paying for what hedid. And I refuse to feel the least bit guilty about that. He did the crime. It's beyond time for him to do the time.
I throw my arms around Briggs's shoulders in a fierce hug. "Thank you," I whisper, burying my face in his throat.
"For what?" he asks, clutching me to him.
"For loving me. For fighting for me. For being you."
He groans softly, his arms tightening around me. "Loving you is the easiest thing I've ever done, Tia."
"Hey," I call, stepping out of the bathroom with a towel in my hand. "I think we should…" I trail off when I catch sight of Briggs sitting on the edge of the bed with his head hanging low between his shoulders, his phone in his hands.
He looks like the weight of the world is on his broad shoulders.
"What's wrong?" I ask, hurrying toward him.
He glances up at me, his expression stark. "She was served about an hour ago," he says. "Tye just called."
My heart clenches. I crawl onto his lap, wrapping myself around him. He burrows his face into my throat, hugging me like he wants to fuse us into one being.
"It's going to be okay, Briggs," I promise, running my fingers through his soft hair. "If the press digs, I'll be okay." I may have moments of panic like I did yesterday, but I'm not the girl I was six years ago, held together by duct tape. I'm someone else now, someone stronger, braver…someone who understands that the shame was never mine to carry.
He tilts his head back, his denim eyes meeting mine. "You will be okay," he rumbles, his gaze earnest. "You're strong like that, Tia."
"Because of you."
"No." He shakes his head. "You're strong because of you, beautiful. You're the one who decided to let me in and let yourself learn to trust again. You decided to let yourself heal enough to fall in love me. That was your show of strength, not mine."
"Briggs," I choke, not sure anyone has ever seen me quite like he does. Not sure anyone else ever will. He looks at me like I'm a hero instead of a mess, like I'm worthy. And, for once, I feel like I am.
I'm worthy of this man. And he's always, always been worthy of me.
What the hell am I going to do when I have to go back home?
I already can't imagine it…and yet, that day is coming. It's coming fast.
Chapter Twelve
Briggs
It takes two days for the restraining order to leak…and approximately five minutes for the press to start digging, trying to find out what split our family apart.
To my relief, they leave Tia out of it. She doesn't say anything, but I know she's relieved, too. She doesn't want to keep reliving what happened, especially not for the entire fucking world. It was traumatic enough the first time.
Despite the endless sea of reporters trying to get a quote or a hint of what happened with our mother, the next few days feel like a dream. When I'm not on the ice, I'm with Tia, trying to find reasons to coax her back into bed.
