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Taking her hand, she looked up, her tired expression only changing enough to show me how confused she was. "I'm glad I didn't meet you tomorrow."
ChapterForty-Six
Tatum
Iworked nonstop on menial paperwork from home for days following my confrontation with Colton. Sophia had been surprisingly understanding and told me to take all the time I needed. But after a few days of being cooped up inside, I decided to walk around the shops near my apartment.
That was where I found the necklace that reminded me of the one Tripp described. When I bought it, I walked home and hopped in my car, heading straight to the stadium. I knew Tripp was there because he was meeting with Sophia, and she was keeping me updated in case I decided to return to working with the Inferno.
All I really wanted to do was give it to him and let him know I was thinking about him. Then I headed to the Beach Cub to shake off the nerves that being in the Bronco had created. I didn't expect him to show up, but as I walked along the shore, I knew he was there.
He was wearing the necklace, and my hands started to shake with the need to touch him.
"Tomorrow?" I questioned, his statement confusing me.
"When I first met you, I told you I wished I'd met you tomorrow. That was so that you wouldn't have been celebrating your breakup, and I wouldn't have had anything holding me back from kissing you. But if I had met you any other day, maybe we wouldn't have had dinner together that night. Then when Hunter asked me to meet you at the restaurant, we would have been strangers. We wouldn't have already wanted each other on some level that we couldn't turn away from. So I'm glad I didn't meet you tomorrow, I'm glad I met you when I did, so everything that happened between us could happen the way it did."
"It was my brother," I reminded him. "He started this whole thing."
"He started it with me before we met. It was never your fault that you and I met when we did."
"But how can you look at me, knowing my brother hurt you?"
"What he did, and what I have with you, are not interconnected. They're separate. I'm not going to lose you because of something you couldn't control. I'm not going to hate him forever when you love him so much, either."
"I love him, but I can barely stand to think about him. I've been scared to call, scared you'd hate me because of him."
"When I saw this," he pointed to the necklace, "I knew it was time to find you. Time to let it go."
"I've seen your press conferences. Heard you got re-signed. I know you hate being the poster boy for scandals, but you're handling it well."
As he got closer to me, he shrugged and shook his head. "I don't hate it as much as I imagined, to be honest. I've heard from some guys who have gone through something similar. I'm just the current reminder."
"I'm proud of you."
"I'm proud of you, too. It was a genius idea to speak out."
The wind picked up as a late afternoon storm blew into the area. It was only a matter of time before we were told we had to clear the beaches due to lightning, and I didn't want to move before things were okay between Tripp and me.
"Come home with me," Tripp moaned, closing in closer and grabbing my waist with his hand. "Don't let someone else's issues change what we have."
"But what we have is temporary, right?"
"No Coconut, it's not. Like I said, had I not met you when I did, maybe we would have been short term, but now I can't let you go. I'm staying in Miami, and I signed that contract knowing it would keep me closer to you."
Tripp touched his nose to mine, his arms encasing me. Even as the wind picked up, I could hear him breathing ragged gasps as he tried to take things slowly.
"I love you," he whispered over the wind. "I've been in love with you since you challenged me in the water the day we met. You didn't back down, called me out. Then over there in cabana number two," he smiled, "when you claimed my body with your own, thinking the server was encroaching."
"You were mean to lie to me about that," I whined playfully.
"You wanted her to know I was yours, and it did more than turn me on. It made me feel needed, taken."
"I do need you, Tripp. So bad. But I'm scared, and with all the hurdles we have—"
"Past tense," he interjected. "We had some hurdles, and that means everything else going forward is going to be a cake walk."
My laughter felt foreign because it had been so long since I had done it. "You make it sound so easy."
