Chapter Eight #2
"No, we had an agreement," I mutter. "I'd keep paying your bills if you left us the fuck alone.
You didn't do that. The police had to escort you away from Hattie's while we were in Aspen last year.
They had to escort you away from Tye's when you found out Vanessa was pregnant four months ago.
You've done nothing but harass the fuck out of me for the last two years, not because you care, but because you can't stand not being the center of attention.
It's eating you alive that you're no longer in the papers, playing the doting mother. "
"That's not true!"
"Yeah, it is. It's always been true," I retort. "I stopped paying your bills because you couldn't behave. You want to keep living large? Get a job. I'm done."
I step inside, preparing to close the door in her face.
"You'll regret this, Briggs," she says, venom in her voice. "One day, you will regret turning your back on your own mother like this."
"Wrong, Mother," I say, turning to look at her this time. "The only goddamn thing I regret is not cutting you off entirely years ago."
I slam the door, flipping the lock for good measure. She shouts through the heavy wood, her voice muffled, but I ignore her and stride deeper into the living room.
I don't care if she stands out there all night; I'm done.
I take the stairs two at a time, heading to my bedroom. Once inside, I drop my bag beside the bed, then sprawl across the plush top, already reaching for my phone to shoot a text to Tye and Sidney, letting them know what just happened in case she tries to show up at either of their places.
I hesitate for a split second and then send the same text to Harlan, just so he knows what's going on. The odds of her showing up on his doorstep are slim to none since he lives in LA, but he should at least know what's up.
Tye: I'll keep an eye out. You good?
Me: Yeah, fine.
I hesitate for a brief moment.
Me: Karsen thinks we should file a restraining order.
Tye: The thought has crossed my mind, too.
Me: The press will get wind of it.
They're already asking why she hasn't been involved in any of my siblings' wedding festivities. But everyone who knows isn't talking. We won't have the same cone of silence with a restraining order. Our friends and family know how to stay quiet. A court order doesn't.
Tye: I know.
Me: You're fine with that?
Tye: If it means never dealing with her again? Fuck yes. But we both know what you're really asking. And yes, she'd be good with it, too, Briggs. Hattie isn't a little girl anymore.
Me: Doesn't mean she wants to be the center of that kind of attention.
Tye: Fuck, I know. Let me talk to her.
I sigh, tossing my phone aside, only to pick it up again immediately and dial Tia's number. I need to hear her voice right now.
"Hey," she says on the second ring, her voice soft and light, like she's happy to hear from me. "I thought you'd be at practice."
"Just got home," I murmur, my entire fucking body relaxing at the sound of her voice. Christ, she has no idea what she does to me. None at all. "I needed to hear your voice."
"Is everything okay?"
"Perfect now," I say, meaning it. My mother doesn't matter. She has no place in my life. Tia is what matters. The way my heart is going wild right now, just at the sound of her voice, is what matters. "How is your day?"
"Busy," she huffs immediately, making me smile. "Do you have any idea how much work you made for me?"
"I'd say I'm sorry, but it'd be a lie."
"Jerk," she grumbles, but she doesn't mean it. I hear the smile in her voice.
"Maybe I am a jerk," I rumble, "but I'm the jerk who had you coming all over his fingers this morning. I bet I'm the jerk you thought about all day today, too, aren't I?"
"No," she lies, but I hear the way her breathing goes high and unsteady.
Fuck. I want to wreck her right now, just annihilate every last defense she has. I don't want to wait. I don't want to go slow. I want every piece of her, and I want it now.
"You alone right now, sweetness?"
"Yes…"
"Good, then there's nothing stopping you from slipping that perfect hand into your panties and making yourself come for me, now, is there?"
"Briggs," she whimpers.
"Do it, Tia," I croon. "Let me hear you come for me. I know you need it."
She whines my name this time, and then I hear her shifting around. My cock turns to steel, every cell in my body attuned to her. I slip my free hand into my sweats, wrapping it around my shaft.
"Be loud for me, beautiful," I groan. "Let me pretend I'm right there with you, watching you unravel for me again like you did this morning."
She whines again, the sound full of need.
"Put the phone on speaker, Tia. I want to hear how wet you are."
"Oh my god," she groans, almost like she's embarrassed, but we're way past that now.
"Don't be shy, sweetness. You think there's anything about your body that could turn me off?
" I ask, my fist tight around my cock as I work it up and down.
"Hell no. Once you're here, once you're mine, I'm going to drown in that sweet little thing.
So behave and let me hear how much you need me right now. "
She whimpers, and I hold my breath, just waiting.
Precum spills across my fist when I hear her breath catch and then the unmistakable sound of her fingers sliding through her soaked pussy. My grip tightens on the phone, my control in tatters again.
Jesus Christ. I want to be there right now. I want my face buried in her, her legs around my head while she screams her way through it.
"That's it," I growl, my fist flying up and down my cock. "Keep going just like that."
"Briggs, I…I…"
"You ache for me, don't you?"
"Yes," she whines, "so bad."
"You need me inside you, don't you?"
"Yes!"
"I'm going to be, Tia," I promise. "When you're here, when you're ready to be mine, I'm going to ruin you for anyone else. You'll see stars for me, sweetness."
She sobs my name, the sounds of her fingers sliding through her juices growing louder, more urgent.
"I'll be the only one who exists to you, Tia.
Your first time with me will be the one you remember forever," I rasp.
That's what I want for her—not because my ego demands it but because it's what she deserves.
To forget that prick ever existed. To be worshipped like the goddess she is.
To know that her pleasure comes before everything. That's my plan for her.
I don't just want her satisfied. I want her healed so completely that the past no longer has a single ounce of hold over her.
She'll never again remember standing in that courtyard, being publicly humiliated by the motherfucker she trusted with her body.
The only thing she'll remember is how good she's supposed to feel afterward, and how safe she is with me.
I'll work my ass off to give that to her, to prove that I'm the hockey player she can trust with every piece of herself. She doesn't need to date players plural. She only needs to let herself fall for this one.
"Briggs, Briggs," she cries, and I know she's right there. I hear it in her voice. I feel her urgency through the phone.
I grip my cock, squeezing tight. "Let go, beautiful. Fall for me," I croon. "I'm right here."
The sound she makes when she shatters is perfection. It lifts my hips from the bed, pulling an answering growl from my lips.
I come hard, spilling all over my stomach and hand.
She pants and whimpers her way through it, her breathing all over the place. I close my eyes, just listening, pretending I'm beside her, holding her. Christ, I want it so badly I can taste it.
When she finally comes down, she does it with a soft giggle.
"What's so funny?" I ask, an answering smile tugging at my lips.
"I think you're less dangerous in person than you are over the phone or through a vent," she groans, giggling again.
"Yeah? You think so?"
"Yes. In person, you're a weirdo stalker. But when you're hiding behind something, your mouth is a deadly weapon."
"Just wait until I get it on you."
She moans softly.
"You still flying in on Monday, beautiful?"
"Yes. Monday afternoon."
"Where are you staying?"
"Sophie offered me her apartment," she murmurs.
Fuck. I don't want her at Sophie's old apartment, where she and Harlan stay when they're in town. I want her right here with me. I want her in my arms and in my bed, where she belongs.
"Stay with me," I blurt.
She goes dead silent.
"Stay with me," I say again.
She hesitates for so long, I'm sure she's going to turn me down flat. And then, "Okay," she whispers.