Chapter Thirteen
Briggs
"Tia!" I shout, racing into the house at a full run, fucking terrified she's already packed her shit and fled. For a split second, when I see her at the kitchen table, I'm convinced she's a mirage, some fantasy conjured up because I'm that desperate for her to still be here.
And then she meets my gaze, her gray eyes full of worry. And I know she's real. Fuck, she's still here.
"It's not true," I say, licking my lips. "None of it is true."
She stares at me for a long, silent moment before pushing away from the table. My goddamn soul quivers when she crosses toward me, stopping a few feet away.
"For about five seconds," she says softly, her head tilted to the side, "the part of me that doesn't trust easily wondered if it might be. But five seconds is all that lasted, Briggs. I know you. I know you."
"Fuck," I choke out, my knees threatening to buckle as I grab her, hauling her up against me. My body is shaking, and I can't stop it. "I thought…"
"That I believed it? That I'd leave?" She tilts her head back, her smile soft. "I'm right where I want to be."
I crush her against my chest, afraid to let her go.
"You aren't the kind of guy who would abandon a kid," she murmurs against my throat. "Anyone who knows you knows that. They aren't going to believe it."
I groan, dragging her to the floor with me. "I don't care what they think. I care what you think, Tia. I was so fucking…" I exhale a shaking breath. "The whole way here, I just kept imagining you not being here."
She crawls into my lap, wrapping herself around me.
"You know what I've learned about myself since meeting you?
" Her lips ghost across my jaw, soothing me in ways nothing else could.
That's her magic. She's my peace. "I learned that I'm not easy to scare anymore.
I don't run anymore." Her teeth rake the tendon in my throat.
"I fight for what matters, even when it scares the shit out of me.
If I didn't, I don't think I ever would have gotten on the plane to come back here.
I'd be in Minneapolis right now, hating myself for being a coward.
" She bites me again. "Instead, I'm right where I need to be. I'm with you."
Jesus.
I tip her backward, spreading her out on the rug. She stares up at me, her hair fanned out around her face, her eyes light, happy, confident.
"Marry me," I whisper.
She blinks, her lips parting.
"I mean it, Tia. Marry me," I say again, stumbling over the words.
"I've spent a lifetime living for everyone else, trying to hold shit together for everyone else.
That's why she's doing this now—because I've been the one keeping the peace for so long, she thinks she still has some hold over me.
But I'm done with that, beautiful. My future isn't managing her.
My future is you. It's wherever you are. "
"But…"
"I requested a trade," I blurt before she can reject me. "A few days ago. Coach is working on it."
"What?" She looks shocked.
"I requested a trade," I say again. "To Minneapolis."
"Briggs." She sits upright, her eyes wide. "Seriously?"
"Yes." I swallow hard, cupping her cheek.
"I can play hockey anywhere, beautiful. But you belong at Hearthstone.
I've seen the way you light up every time you talk about the kids and what you guys are trying to accomplish for them.
I'm not going to be the asshole who asks you to walk away from that for my career. I'm following you."
"Yes."
I stare at her for a long moment, my brain refusing to process the word. It's like I'm not capable of fitting it into place or believing it. At least not until a bright smile overtakes her face.
"Yes, Briggs. My answer is yes. I'll marry you."
She's on her back on the floor again in two seconds. Only, I'm on top of her this time, caging her in, my mouth on hers. I pour everything into the kiss, fucking drowning in her.
"Say it again," I growl, my hands already at work, stripping her.
"Yes," she moans. "Yes, yes, yes."
It's a long time before I let her up again…a long damn time. When I do, we're both naked and sweaty. She curls up against my chest, her head over my heart.
"What are you going to do about your mother?" she asks, her voice soft.
"I called Tye on the way here," I murmur. "They're releasing a statement."
She tilts her head back, her eyes meeting mine. "A statement?"
"The truth."
"That's good," she says, her arm tightening around me. "I know you're worried about Hattie, but it's like you told me… the shame isn't hers to carry. It doesn't belong to you, Harlan, or Tye, either, Briggs. It's always been your mother's burden. Let her carry for once."
I sink my hand into her hair, craning her head back. "When did you get so smart, sweetness?"
"When this weird, stalkerish goalie invited himself into my life and refused to leave," she says, her voice light as she crawls on top of me, straddling my hips. "Turns out, he's not as big an idiot as he looks."
I growl, flipping her over beneath me, but she just wraps around me, her body shaking with laughter. And I know, regardless of what anyone else believes about my mother's lies, the one who matters—the one in my arms right now—trusts herself enough to trust me.
There is no better feeling.