“And what does he intend to do with all the photos of us?”
“Blast them online,” she replies. “He means to paint you as a sex-addled hockey star who can’t keep his dick in his pants, fucking anything that moves, even married women.”
“Jesus. He doesn’t flatter me much, does he?”
“He wants to paint himself as the noble victim in our adulterous affair,” she goes on. “Never mind that I left him three fucking years ago after he cheated first,” she cries. “He started this downward spiral. He broke our vows first, not me. He was cruel and controlling. He lied to me and manipulated me; he got his family to lie and manipulate me. The marriage was broken. It is broken. And now look at this mess,” she cries, gesturing all around.
“So, he’s the cheater and the abuser and the blackmailer, but I’m gonna burn for it?”
She nods. “He knows how temperamental these sports franchises can be. They won’t want this bad press. They’ll run from you, Ryan. ‘Rats on a sinking ship’ I believe were his exact words. And I believe him,” she adds. “God help me, if he pulls this trigger, it’s you who will take the bullet, not me. My life is small, Ryan. My sphere of influence even smaller. I’ll lose my job and have to leave Cincinnati, but I was already resigned to that. He knew he couldn’t hurt me anymore by attacking me directly—”
“So, he’s attacking me,” I summarize.
She nods.
“He’s hurting me because he knows just how much that will hurt you. Is that it? Do I have all the pieces to the puzzle now?”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I thought I could handle him on my own. I should have assumed he would try to take you from me once he knew I was in lo—”
She catches herself, shutting down, and my gaze locks on her. “Go on.”
She bites her bottom lip, her gaze flicking up to mine. “You need to understand that I have monumental abandonment issues, okay? We’re talking like, Washington Monument. Or think even bigger, like Mount Rushmore. And those are not to be outdone by my trust issues.”
“I get it,” I say, heart thumping. “You’re Tess the Red-hot Mess. But you were about to say something pretty monumental, and I, for one, am really interested to hear it.”
She purses her lips, that little glint in her eyes letting me know my Tess is in there.
Come on, baby, I whisper without words. It’s my spirit calling out to hers. I want every piece of this woman—her gorgeous body, her kindness, her clever mind. She’s it for me. She’s the fucking one. I never believed in the idea of soulmates. But until a few months ago, I had never met Tess. Now the universe is calling me a fool. If my soul ever had a mate, I’d want it to be her. But she has to be brave enough to want me too.
Say it.
She holds my gaze, her expression softening. Her hand reaches out, brushing up my arm as if we’re meant to touch. She’s where I want to begin and end.
Please, baby. Just say it.
“Ryan Charles Langley,” she says, tears in her eyes. “I’m in love with you.”
I let out a breath, shoulders sagging. “Oh, thank fuck—wait—” I raise a brow at her. “Charles? Babe, that’s not my middle name.”
She laughs. “I know, but it felt like a middle name moment, and I don’t know your middle name.”
I just shake my head, flashing her a smirk as she feeds my line back to me. “All you have to do is ask me.”
“I just told you that I love you,” she counters. “Me, Tess the Gemini With Two Dark Sides Owens, just told you, Ryan Puppy Langley, that I’m in love with you, and you have no comment?”
“I told you I love you, like, five minutes ago, and your only comment was to go on a rant about boiling Troy in a vat of lava.”
She gasps. “You did not.”
I stare down at her as I run the tape back in my mind. “Babe, yes, I did. I told you I loved you, and I made a whole speech about how we’re fucking made for each other.”
“No, we were talking about his leverage—”
“Yeah, and then I said—”
“Ohmygod, you said it,” she cries, eyes wide as she covers her hand with her mouth. “Wait—you said it and I missed it? You have to say it again.”
And now I’m laughing. I can’t help it. This woman is going to be the death of me, whether through soul-shattering sex or these circular conversations.
“Ryan,” she huffs, slapping my arm. “Please. Say it again.”
“Why bother? You clearly don’t listen,” I reply, feigning hurt feelings as I cross my arms.
“I was distraught,” she cries, tugging on my arms and trying to weasel her way closer. “I was thinking about how I’d already lost you, and how I couldn’t fucking bear it, and how lonely I was without you. I thought I had to do this on my own, like I was fucking cursed to be alone. So, my heart was breaking, and I couldn’t hear you beyond the sound of my own agony.”
We both go still as I gaze down at her. She’s clinging to me with both hands, gripping tight to my forearms. Her freckled cheeks are flushed red, her chest heaving with the exertion of unloading so much emotional baggage at once. I peer into her eyes and smile. My Tess is back. She’s in control. The scared creature she was when I first arrived is gone, banished. Tess the Mess, queen of my fucking heart, is here now and I mean to make her stay.
I cup her face. “You look at me right now, you wild creature. Are you looking at me?”
She nods.
“Tess, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” she says with a roll of her eyes.
“Do that again, and I’ll take you over my knee and spank your ass raw,” I warn.
She twitches in my hold, her gaze going molten as she looks up at me. “Ryan—”
“No speaking,” I say over her. “It’s the Virgo’s turn. Tess With Two Dark Sides can have her turn when I’m done, agreed?”
She nods, lifting her hands to wrap around my wrists.
“Tess Owens, I love you,” I say, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “I’m in love with you. Did you hear me that time?”
She nods again, happy tears filling her eyes.
“I don’t give a fuck what happened in your past,” I go on. “We all have one. The only thing I care about is that your past brought you to me. Your past is the story you’ve already written. You have to let it stay there, okay? We’re on a new page together, you and me. I’m your future, Tess. Say it.”
“You’re my future,” she says.
“The past doesn’t control your present,” I intone.
She repeats me, her voice soft. But I can tell she’s not quite convinced. It’s okay. I hold enough conviction for the both of us.
“You aren’t alone anymore, do you hear me? The only person who can keep you from me is you. In that sense, He Who Must Trip on a Shoe Tassel and Boil in Lava is right. You are in control, Tess. You’re in control of this,” I say, taking her hand and splaying it over my heart. “You’re in control of us. If you walk away, that will be your choice. If you stay, that will be your choice too. The door to my heart will always be open, and I will never seek to control you—”
“But you’re in control too,” she says. “You could walk away. You could shut me out.”
I just laugh. “Have you seen you, Tess? Have you seen these lips?” I brush my fingers over her mouth. “Have you heard your laugh? It stops me dead in my tracks every time.”
Her gaze softens as her body sinks into me, craving my closeness.
“Have you watched the way you cross a room in a pair of heels?” I bend lower to brush a kiss against her temple, my hands smoothing down her arms. “Have you ever felt what it is to hold all your attention?” My hands graze over her breasts, and I love the feel of her nipples hard against my palms.
The energy between us turns on a dime, and now I know my Tess is fully here, ready to put her crown back on. She’s ready to fucking own me.
And I’m ready to let her.
Inching away from her, I drop my hands to the hem of my Rays tech shirt and jerk it off, dropping it to the floor.