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My voice came out choked. I would have said anything if it made him carry on. “Yes. I’ll stay.”
My legs shook and he was half holding me up. He held my hips in place and pulled me down to his mouth. “Now shut up, Forster, and let me do what I do best.”
Chapter 36
Miri
Everythingwasperfect.Fallingin love with a billionaire had never been my plan, but despite the fact that he lived in a hotel and owned a fleet of private jets, Gabe acted like a normal boyfriend. A week flew by and he came to watch me at every practice and cheered me on at the sidelines during the weekend match. We even worked out together in the gym, and if I’d thought that Gabe was devastatingly handsome in a suit, then I swooned when I caught him on the rowing machine in sweatpants.
I was in the changing rooms, getting ready to meet Gabe for lunch, when a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Miri?”
I turned. Jed hovered at the entrance to the changing rooms. “You can’t be in here.”
“I need to talk to you.” He craned his neck around the door and glanced around. “Can I come in? Or …”
What the hell was he doing here? “No. You can’t. This is the women’s changing rooms. What do you want, Jed?”
He rubbed his arm and shuffled his feet. The look on his face made my stomach lurch.
“I came to give you the heads up.” Jed sighed, pulled off his beanie, and wrung it in his hands. “I tried to talk him out of it, but Deano doesn’t listen to me.”
He stepped closer. A fresh cut dissected his eyebrow. A blue bruise circled his eye.
“I know about you and Gabe Rivers.”
It didn’t surprise me. We’d tried to be discreet because we didn’t want the team gossiping. So far we’d kept out of the press, but it was a matter of time until the story leaked. I’d had to make my peace with that. This wasn’t a fling, at least not for me. It was real. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. We’d have to go public at some point. But who would have guessed Jed would be the one to break the story? What did he care?
I sighed and shoved my dirty kit into my duffle bag. “So what? You’ve moved on and so have I. It’s none of your business. Tell who you want.”
“I don’t care, Miri. It’s not me you have to worry about.” Jed chewed his lip and shuffled from foot to foot. “Deano has a clip on CCTV from the club. You and Gabe Rivers in a VIP room.”
I froze with my hand on the locker. My blood turned to ice. “What clip?”
He chewed his lips. “You’re on his lap. You’re … ah … enjoying yourself.”
Oh my God. My stomach dropped all the way to my knees. “What?”
Jed’s hands worked around his beanie. The bastard. At least he had the decency to look mortified. I put a hand on the locker to steady myself.
“So, what does this mean? What is he going to do with it? Can you get it off him?”
“He’ll do whatever he can to make money off it. He’ll blackmail Gabe Rivers. The guy is loaded.”
Oh God. My chest tightened. My brain reeled. I drew a sharp breath. Had he gone to Gabe with this, too? If he released that tape the world would see me grinding over Gabe, and that disgusting possibility didn’t even frighten me as much as Gabe seeing me grinding over him. I’d tried to put it all behind me. What the hell was he going to think when he found out it was me? I should have come clean, but the trouble with secrets is the longer you keep them, the harder they are to confess.
Stark, black fear swept through me. “Has he gone to Gabe with this yet?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell him not to bother. It’s a waste of time.” My fingers trembled as I slammed my locker. Maybe I could call his bluff. “Gabe won’t care. He’s had more sex tape scandals than you and I have had hot dinners. That man doesn’t care about his reputation. It’s already dirt.”
“Then Deano will sell it to the press. He’ll find a way to make money from it.”
“This is blackmail. It’s illegal.”
Jed held his beanie hat low, pulling at the loose threads. “You don’t know what Deano is like. I can’t do anything about these guys. This isn’t a bluff.”
