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“I’m paying for your apartment,” he counters.
“An apartment that I didn’t want, but you insisted I live in,” she fires back.
The entire room is watching this scene unfold, and I know by the time we make it home, speculations that it was her room I was leaving will be out there. I’m not upset about it, and I hope she’s not either. She said that we were in this together. I just hoped we could have announced our relationship on our own terms.
“And for your information, I no longer live there. I quit my job and moved here. I don’t need your money.”
“I can give her anything she needs.” I move closer to her and place my hand on the small of her back. “You ready, Sunshine?”
She smiles up at me. I can see the stress of the night is weighing her down, but there is still a sparkle in her eyes when they’re trained on me. “Yes. Take me home.”
With that, we turn and walk out of the restaurant. Murmurs follow us, but we both keep our heads held high and ignore the huffing and puffing Richard is doing behind us. We let it all fade into the background as we make our exit.
Once outside the restaurant, Joey exhales a deep breath. I don’t say anything, knowing there are too many prying eyes lurking in the shadows. I give my ticket to the valet and when my car pulls up, I open the door for her and wait for her to settle in before closing it. Once I’m inside with her and behind the wheel, I still remain quiet, letting her process things.
Pulling out of the restaurant, I take a few back roads, making sure that no one is following us, before turning into the parking lot of another restaurant. I leave the car running but unbuckle my belt, then hers, and pull her onto my lap. It’s a tight fit, but I need to hold her. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. My parents never cared about me. Especially my mom. Can you believe her? It’s not like it would be the first time she took a boyfriend from me.”
“She’s vile for the way she treats you. I’m sorry. You deserve better.”
“And my dad. Who in the hell does he think he is? I’m twenty-five years old. A grown-ass woman. He can’t dictate my life. He can’t tell me that I can’t love you.” She turns to look at me. “I can’t imagine a world where you’re not mine, and I’m not yours.”
“You don’t have to,” I assure her.
“I mean, I get it, though, if you wanted to jump ship because of my crazy-ass family. It’s a lot to deal with and a huge ask for you.”
“You didn’t ask me. I love you, Joey. Not for just the good times but for the bad times too.” I push her hair back out of her eyes. “This is a forever kind of love, Josephine Henderson. I can take anything your parents or the press dish us, as long as I know at the end of the day it’s you who will be lying in my arms at night. That’s all that matters to me.”
“You want to know the worst part?” she asks.
“What’s that?” I’m preparing for a deep discussion in my head, but she surprises me when she finally speaks.
“I’m starving.”
I throw my head back against the seat, not able to contain my laughter. “Tell me what you want, baby, and I’ll get it for you.”
“Mexican.”
“Done. Are we eating in or picking it up and taking it home?”
“Taking it home. I want to get out of this dress, eat, and then snuggle with you.” She kisses me softly on the lips before maneuvering herself back to the passenger seat. “Your car’s too damn small for this.” She giggles as she struggles to get settled back into her seat.
I smack her ass that’s currently in my face. “I don’t know. I like the view it provides,” I tease.
“Brock!” She laughs, and the sound washes over me, doing wonders to wash away the drama of the night.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I hand it to her. “Call us in some food, Sunshine. I need to get you home, get you fed, get you out of that dress, and we have some snuggling to do.”
“I love you, Brock. So much.”
I reach over and give her thigh a gentle squeeze. “I love you too.”
This week has been rough. Joey’s dad, when not glaring at me from the sidelines, is being a dick. He rips me apart after every single play. Nothing I seem to do is good enough. Well, in his eyes anyway. Coach even got on Caleb a little after practice. At least that’s what Caleb said. I keep my head down, shower, and get the hell out of there. He doesn’t seem to care who sees him rip my ass for no good reason either.
My teammates don’t comment, but they all see it. Caleb’s pissed at his dad, but Joey and I have both asked him to leave it alone. This is our fight, not his. Eventually, Richard’s going to have to see that his daughter means everything to me. And if he doesn’t? Well, I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
That’s not the worst of the shit creek and no paddle this week has dished out. We have an away game this weekend, and Joey has to go to some kind of team-building retreat for her new job. So yeah, this week sucks balls.
