16. Team Riggs
16
Riggs
Was my gift a bit over the top? Of course, it was. Do I regret it? Hell, no.
I parked my truck down the street and waited for Tessa to come out and find my surprise. I’m so glad I did. Seeing that look of awe and, dare I say, excitement cross her features made it worth every damn penny. As did the text I got a few minutes later.
I pull out my phone and read it again with a wide grin.
Tessa: Thanks for the tickets. The money I’ll make selling them will buy a lot of new books for my shop.
She won’t sell them. At least, I don’t think she will. And if she does? Well, I’d say twenty thousand dollars in books is a good reward for deleting that video and not causing me a shitstorm of unwanted publicity. I wonder if she actually knows what they’re worth, or if she thinks she might get a few hundred bucks for them. Despite being the quarterback of the team, I did have to buy the personal seat license as well as the season tickets like any other person. And with the city of Branston having to pay for the new stadium, well, the PSL and the tickets set me back a pretty penny.
Giving her an extravagant gift like that needed to be done delicately and in a way that she couldn’t just toss them back in my face. That’s when I came up with the idea of decorating her car in team paraphernalia. And I just couldn’t resist having that banner made with my face on it. That’s why it took me a few days to pay her back for the dick cookies. Now everyone in town will think she’s Team Riggs. Genius.
I don’t know if she assumed I was done with the prank war or not, but hopefully this clears it up in her mind. I’m nowhere near done. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages.
And it gives her an excuse to continue torturing me with her dirty tricks. Maybe if she punishes me enough, she’ll finally find a way to forgive me and listen to my explanation about what happened all those years ago.
Twelve Years ago…
I rush over to my locker, intent on grabbing my calculus book so I can hoof it across the building and make it to class on time. My literature teacher stopped me on my way out of class and talked my ear off about Friday night’s victory against Longfellow High, so now I’m running late.
Spinning the lock to the correct numbers, I push up the lever to pop open the locker. A folded piece of paper flutters to the ground, and I bend over to pick it up before grabbing my textbook and slamming the door closed.
As I speed walk down the hall, I unfold the paper to see a note in pretty, feminine handwriting.
Dear Riggs,
Meet me at my house tonight at eight. My parents are going out, and I have something very special I’d like to give you.
Love,
Tessa
My steps stutter to a halt, and I read the note again. Tessa wants me to come over when she’s home alone? And she has something special to give me?
My heart pounds in my chest as the tardy bell echoes in my ears. I’m already late, so I dart into the nearest bathroom and read the note a third time. What does this mean?
The night I gave her that orgasm––her first––it was amazing. So were the next two. And she already fulfilled her desire to touch me, too. The only thing left to give me is…
“Fuck,” I mutter, my cock stiffening at just the thought.
I will give her whatever she wants and take whatever she offers. I’ve fallen for her, hard. I already told the guys last night after practice that the bet was off, so I can move forward with Tessa with a clear conscience.
Well, mostly clear. She still doesn’t know that my asking her out was initially because of that asshole, Grady, and his stupid quest to fuck every virgin in this school. But I take solace in the fact that I’m sure Tessa would understand. She might even commend me for sticking up for her and all the other girls by taking the bet.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. As close as we’ve become, I don’t have any idea how she’d actually react.
“Fuck,” I repeat, this time harsher.
Tilting my head back to face the ceiling, I close my eyes and groan. I have to tell her the truth. I can’t let this go any further without giving her all the facts and begging for forgiveness.
By the time the school day ends, and I finish up a grueling practice, I’m a nervous wreck. I rush home in my sweaty practice gear, skipping the communal showers in the locker room in lieu of my own private bathroom. Grady was even more of an asshole than usual at practice, and if he so much as looked at me with that smug face in the locker room, I was going to punch him.
I can’t let him or anything else derail me before I have a chance to go talk to Tessa and clear the air.
I get to her house at precisely eight o’clock, and I’m a nervous wreck as I knock on her front door. She answers a few seconds later, and I’m blown away when I get my first look at her. She’s wearing a pretty white sundress, and her hair is woven into an intricate up-do with soft tendrils curling at her temples.
“You look like a goddess,” I mumble, my gaze drinking in her beauty.
She smiles and waves me inside. As soon as I step over the threshold, she swings the door closed and steps into my arms. Her hands weave into my hair, pulling me down so she can seal her mouth to mine. It’s a hungry, desperate kiss, and my mind goes blank as soon as her tongue dips into my mouth.
I know I wanted to tell her something, but the thoughts slip away as my body takes over. I back her into the closed door, pressing my weight into her as I take over the kiss. The sexy sounds she made as she came the other night ring in my ears and I can’t wait to hear them again in real time. My hands slide down to grip her ass, kneading it firmly as my cock hardens beneath the denim of my jeans.
“Riggs,” Tessa says between kisses. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you,” I say mindlessly, my mouth moving down to her neck to suck the spot I know drives her wild.
“What do you want to do with me?” she asks, her grip on my hair tightening to a near-painful degree.
“I want to make love to you,” I whisper huskily, my hormones completely taking over for my brain.
Suddenly, her hands release my hair and push against my shoulders roughly. I immediately step back out of her personal space, blinking rapidly as I try to decipher the ugly expression on her face.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” I ask. “Did I do something wrong? Was it too much, too fast?”
“Did you do something wrong?” she spits, scrubbing the back of her hand over her lips as if to wipe away the feel of mine pressing against them.
“Tessa––”
“No,” she yells, her anger striking fear in my chest. “You don’t get to talk to me, ever again.”
“Tessa, please,” I beg, taking a step toward her, but she throws up a hand to ward me off.
Then she says the words that shatter my heart into a dozen pieces.
“I know about the bet, Riggs. I heard your buddies laughing about it in the hallway this morning.”
I stare at her as agony rockets through me. She knows. Which means she invited me over here and set this terrible, beautiful trap for me.
And I walked right into it.
“Please, Tessa, let me explain. I didn’t––”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she says, her tone as dead as it is final. Swinging open the door, she steps aside and stares straight ahead, refusing to look at me. “Get out.”
“I only agreed to it because––”
“Get the fuck out!” she screams, and my entire body curls inward as my head droops.
I stumble toward the door, then stop in front of her. I open my mouth to try again, but she just shakes her head and angles her body away. I can see her blinking rapidly like she’s trying to hold back tears, and I know I have to get out of here.
I don’t want to see her cry. I can’t. It would completely gut me, knowing I put those tears in her eyes, so I let her hold onto her anger as I sigh and move through the door.
“I’m sorry, Tessa,” I say as I go, then stiffen as the door slams behind me.
This is the end of us, and it’s all my fucking fault.