Chapter 16
Alex
“Iwon’t need to eat for the next two days,” I tell Tenny after finishing the last of the chocolate chile tart with hazelnut praline and rosewater whipped cream.
“I’m so glad you had a good time. I—” He cuts himself off, reconsidering.
“What?”
Tenny shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“I’ll only get it out of you later,” I tell him with a lifted eyebrow.
He chuckles at his empty plate, and I’m struck for the nine-millionth time with how unfairly attractive Tenny is.
It was downright diabolical for him to show up at my doorstep in that custom three-piece suit.
The way it’s tailored to his body is…freaking distracting.
And the color? A deep, muted blue with a woven, textured pattern that keeps calling to my fingertips like a siren? Absolutely ruthless.
This is date warfare, and I’m losing.
Or maybe winning?
During dinner, we talked about everything from road trip horror stories to pet peeves to sibling chaos.
I love that he cares about his family as much as I care about mine.
No topic felt stilted or weird. Not once did the conversation lag.
On several occasions, I had to pause my next delectable bite because I was laughing so hard.
“Are you ready for our next adventure?”
“There’s more?”
Tenny smiles, a mischievous gleam in his eye.
I can only imagine what he cooked up for after-dinner entertainment.
Horseback riding? Or maybe a helicopter tour of the skyline?
Whatever it is, it’s probably over the top, which…
after years of concentrating on nothing but work, is exactly the kind of chaos I didn’t know I needed.
I’ve felt more light and relaxed tonight than I have in months.
“By all means”—I gesture toward the exit—“lead the way.”
Once we’re within a few feet of his remotely started truck, my brows crinkle. It sounds like two women with English accents are speaking at full volume from within his cab.
“I will have nothing to do with that scoundrel. How dare you suggest it.”
With a sigh, my sister collapses onto the settee, utterly disregarding all notions of propriety.
“Come now, Minerva. It is a truth universally acknowledged that reformed rakes make the best husbands.”
Tenny tugs his arm from mine to snatch his phone out of his breast pocket, nearly fumbling it before sliding open the screen and hitting pause on an audiobook app.
I get a flash of a woman in Regency dress glaring at a man with a half-undone cravat and devilish smile before Tenny shoves his phone into his pants pocket.
“Sorry about that.”
The way he mumbles the apology paired with how the tips of his ears seem to pink in the wan streetlight makes something tug deep in my chest.
“Should I ask?”
He shakes his head, not meeting my eyes. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Later?”
Tenny’s large sigh takes all of his energy with it. “Not even then.”
I hum, putting a mental pin in the topic but dropping the subject for now.
“This has been really fun,” I tell him once we’re on the road. “I’ve been so focused on my job that I’ve kind of forgotten how nice it is to get out every once in a while.”
“If you did this more regularly, you wouldn’t have to invent a fake boyfriend,” he says with a teasing smile.
I give him a pinched glare. “At least I knew this would be a good date…given your very well-documented experience and all.”
His jaw tightens. “I see we’re back to this again.”
“I guess so.”
My mind can’t seem to set it down. The idea of Tenny being careless with relationships doesn’t seem in line with his loving personality and how well he treats everyone.
Plus, Tenny has two sisters and a strong relationship with his mother.
Generally, men raised understanding the high value of women tend not to belittle them.
“It just seems…incongruent,” I say.
Tenny nods, silent for a few beats. “You’re good at getting to the bottom of things. What do you think is the truth?”
Twelve keeps flashing in my mind—all the women he dated his second year.
“I’m struggling with the sheer number of women.”
Tenny rubs at his beard scruff with a nasally exhale.
“Let me ask you this. Do you think it’s reasonable to have—let’s say twelve—first dates in a year?
My skin pinpricks that his mind went to the same place mine already was. “First dates, as in no second date? No follow-up at all? No dating them while also dating other women?”
“Yes. First dates only. One at a time.”
“That seems reasonable.” I tilt my head, considering. “Unlucky, though. That’s a lot of at-bats without a single run on the board.”
Tenny laughs, the tension instantly dropping from his shoulders. Then he shoots me a pointed look, waiting.
I shift in my seat, tucking up my legs until I’m facing him. “Are you telling me that you’ve just had a long series of bad first dates?”
“Not exactly, but mostly.” His hands flex on the steering wheel as he appears to war with himself.
Finally, Tenny releases a reserved sigh.
“In baseball, you’re taught to not give up, to keep swinging.
Even if you strike out, it’s important to keep your head up and try again.
I know some people close themselves off after heartbreak, but I just kept putting myself out there.
I didn’t realize what the real problem was until recently.
That’s actually why I’ve been listening to… ”
Tenny keeps talking, but his words drop out of my consciousness once I see the sign of the complex we’ve just turned into—Desert Break Surf.
My neck snaps as I look at the almost empty parking lot and the business whose flood lights are very much on.
Is this what Tenny meant by our next adventure?
It can’t be, right? But renting a surf park for just the two of us seems right up Tenny’s alley.
The mouth-watering meal I thoroughly enjoyed feels like burning acid crawling back up my throat.
One incessant thought repeats as quickly as my hammering heartbeat.
I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.
The air feels tight in my lungs, and all I can hear is the pounding rush of the water as it slams me into the sand, pummeling me twice. I don’t even register that we’ve stopped moving or that Tenny is talking to me until his fingers slide over where mine are gripping the fabric of my dress.
“Alex.” His concerned gaze jumps all over my face. “What—”
“Can we leave?” I don’t even recognize my high, tight voice.
“Of course.” He lets go of my fingers to shift into reverse, whipping the truck around, and practically speeding out of the parking lot.
Tenny drives in silence, allowing me to get my erratic breathing under control. My head flops back against the headrest as I close my eyes. Unwanted memories play on the backs of my eyelids until Tenny pulls the truck into a spot at the hotel parking lot.
“Alex, I’m really sorr—”
“No.” My eyes fly open. “Don’t apologize,” I tell him, finally gathering enough courage to meet his gaze. “I should be apologizing for ruining your plans.”
A muscle in his neck jumps. “To heck with my plans. All I care about is you.” He softens his tone. “Are you okay?”
The impulse to cry is so ridiculous, but all I can think is I remember this from college. I remember how Tenny’s brows drew together until twin lines of concern creased between them, how his voice got low and compassionate.
I exhale a long, slow breath. It’s time to drop any pretenses that we haven’t met before.
“I don’t surf anymore.”
Something in his expression changes with the word anymore, but his gaze remains gentle.
“I remember you,” I murmur, a slight flush warming my cheeks.
His mouth quirks. “I really thought we were going to keep pretending we didn’t know each other until we ended up fake married.”
A laugh pulls from deep in my belly. “We’re supposed to be fake breaking up in a few weeks.”
“We’ll see.” Tenny’s confident smile nearly knocks the wind out of me, so naturally, I glare at him.
His gaze softens as he reaches over the center console to collect my hand in his. “Why don’t you surf anymore?”
I focus on our joined hands, finding it easier to speak that way. “That summer. I was preparing for Olympic trials, and I had an accident—a really bad one. The recovery was long, and I just couldn’t bring myself to get back into the water afterward.”
A beat passes before I lift my chin.
“I’m sorry, Alex. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”
I shrug, like no big deal. “That’s why I never contacted you. I was trying to piece my life back together. And then…”
“Then I was womanizing half of the United States.”
The laugh leaving my mouth is half-bark, half-snort. How is it possible that Tenny can crack me up even when I’m talking about my darkest days?
He squeezes my fingers. “Thank you for telling me.”
Surprisingly, it was easy to open up to Tenny.
I don’t talk about my past with anyone but Amelia.
A part of me wants to tell him how terrifying it was to be slammed down by a wall of water, only to be pummeled into the sand by a second successive wave.
How the pain from the burst fracture was so intense, I almost inhaled underwater.
How, afterward, it was a blur of surgery, uncertainty, and so much fear.
My eyes press closed, not quite ready to go into detail.
Having my past out in the open also reminds me of what I’m supposed to be doing here—working. I’m supposed to be putting every effort toward making my mark as a journalist, not traipsing around town with a sexy baseball player, pretending to be his girlfriend.
“There’s something else you should know. I promised myself that I would do everything to make the most of this career, since I lost…” I swallow, forcing myself to regroup. “This is my first season with the Waves, and I need everything to go well.”
“It will.” Tenny runs his thumb over the inside of my wrist, sending a sweep of heat up my arm.
I slowly draw my hand back. “What I’m saying is, I shouldn’t be doing this.”
Tenny doesn’t look hurt or even surprised. If anything, he looks…peaceful?
“I get it.”
“You do?”
“Sure.” He unbuckles his seatbelt. “Do you still want me to come over and watch Sabrina with you, Mags, and Carly tomorrow night?”
My eyelashes are fluttering so quickly you’d think I was trying to take flight. It’d been our plan to keep up the ruse for one final “hiding from the public” hurrah of a movie and takeout before Mags flew home mid-day Sunday.
“You’d do that?”
Tenny pauses his movement, holding my gaze. “I’ve discovered that I’d do anything for you. If you want to fight with me, let’s go. If you want to come at me in interviews, I’m ready. If you need me to wait it out for a season, I’ve already waited five years.”
My heart lurches into my throat as my eyes widen.
“Hold tight, okay? Let me get your door.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more attractive than Tenny’s determined strides around the front of his truck, one hand carelessly buttoning his suit jacket.
The whoosh of cool air when he opens my door is nearly enough to sober me, but my fingers still tremble as they slide into his.
Once I’m safely on the ground, Tenny shuts my door, not stepping back.
“There’s just one thing I need from you.”