Page 62 of Bae

“Baby, what did I tell you about putting the smack down on fans?” he asked and blinked down at me.

“They had it coming,” I grumped.

He threw back his head and laughed. The crowd cheered.

He could do no wrong. Literally. I think it said so in the laws somewhere.

“Can’t leave you alone for five minutes.” He shook his head sadly. “This is the second football game I’ve had to stop for you.”

“Well, I didn’t tell you to come charging up here,” I retorted. He smiled like my sass amused him. I sighed. “I’ll go back to the box,” I vowed, aware of everybody watching. I didn’t even have to look to know our image was being broadcast on the jumbo screens.

“Oh no you don’t,” he drawled.

Next thing I knew, he swung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His shoulder pads were hard against my middle.

“Roman Anderson!” I yelled. “You put me down right now!”

“Can’t do that, baby. Security is coming for you. You don’t want me getting in a fight defending your honor, do ya? I have a game to finish.”

I tried to kick him. It didn’t work.

He started down the stairs, bringing me with him. I tapped his back. He paused. “Yes?”

“That sign,” I growled. I’d be damned if I watched the rest of the game with that hooker waving around that insult.

“What sign?” he asked, clueless. Seriously. How could he be so oblivious?

He spun, and my head went wonky.

“Romeo,” I intoned.

“What the fuck?” he muttered and stalked back up the stairs. He set me on my feet right beside him. I felt like the smallest person on Earth standing there at his side. He was even larger than usual with all his football gear on. Right now, he was easily three times my size.

“Ladies,” he charmed. “Is that sign for me?”

They giggled, and my upper lip curled.

“I just wanted you to know”—the bitch slid a glance at me, then back at him—“that you have options.”

Romeo reached for the sign. She gladly surrendered it.

A few self-satisfied looks were thrown my way.

Romeo lifted the sign and ripped it in half. The girls all gasped. I smiled like I’d won the lottery. He dropped the pieces at his feet.

“Sorry, ladies. I’m taken, and that ain’t changing,ever.”

Romeo reached for my hand and tugged me down the stairs. At the railing, he vaulted over and landed as gracefully as a cat. He looked up at me, holding out his hands. “C’mon, then.”

My mouth fell open. “What?”

“Get down here.” He crooked his finger at me.

“I’ll go back to the box.”

He shook his head adamantly. “Oh no you don’t, you little troublemaker.”

I put my hands on my hips and scowled. I show one act of defiance in my entire life and now I was labeled a troublemaker. As if.

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