Page 55 of Nothing Less Than Everything

He wiggled his phone out of the pocket of his shorts and showed me the screen. On it flashed a notification from one T.J. Bryant Sr. It was an email. The subject like read: Pre-season Game #1 Notes and Critique Attached.

What a dick! He sent his own son a performance review of his first game with a new team. Who the hell does that?

“So, that’s why you introduced yourself as Tatum,” I said.

He nodded, pressing his lips against my hair. I reached up, groaning quietly as my bruised shoulder sang while I untied my bun and let my hair fall over my shoulders.

It was my turn. “You remember that nasty breakup I was telling you about?”

“How could I forget?”

“He dumped me because he got fed up with how much time I spent working for the Reds for little pay. It wasn’t that he wanted me to fight for a better salary, he just wanted my time to belong to him. Preston’s father is a senator, and he’s being groomed to follow in his footsteps. A glorified stripper shaking her tits on national TV—his words—wasn’t a good look for his campaign.”

Tatum swore colorfully and held me a little closer. “Why were you with a fucker like that to begin with?”

“I was in school at RISD. He was at Brown. We met at an off-campus bar. I was studying architecture; he was majoring in political science. It took me until I was walking across the stage to get my diploma to realize that I hated architecture. It was too hands-off. Too stifling. But Preston and I had been dating for a year at that point and he convinced me to stick it out because it was an appropriate career for a future-legislator’s wife. He liked running his mouth that his girlfriend was in a STEM field. He didn’t really care; he just liked the points that it scored him.

“I auditioned for the Ladies in Red after I graduated from RISD. It had always been a goal of mine. I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember. I took a job with Colette James instead of the architecture and engineering firm that Preston had shopped me around to. When I made the squad without telling him, it was the first of many big fights. Every season, Preston would belittle and talk down to me when I re-auditioned. The summer I went on a USO tour, he cheated on me with one of the interns he was working with on some representative’s re-election campaign. And like an idiot, I forgave him. We moved in together. He proposed, thinking that I would quit the team if he asked me to be his full-time arm candy. And, like an idiot, I said yes. He was talking about starting his own campaign for a seat in the state legislature. The screaming match when he found out I was getting ready to do rookie summer for the newbies on the squad nearly peeled the paint off the walls. But I stayed…” I sighed. “I don’t know why. I guess I thought being miserable with someone else was better than being alone. I was stupid and naïve.

“My mom had a heart attack at the end of the season, and you know the rest from there. I lost my mom, got dumped by my fiancé, and blew out my knee.”

Tatum listened intently and kissed my temple when I finished ranting. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”

“Something like that.”

Tatum’s hands wandered over my naked skin. He was still completely clothed, wearing mesh shorts and a matching Reds t-shirt. “Why don’t you talk about being on the Ladies in Red?” he asked. “The day I walked into my place, and you were installing the light in the kitchen, I asked if you were a fan of Reds football. You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie,” I argued. “I told you I was a fan.”

“You didn’t tell me you worked for the organization.”

A lump balled up inside my throat. “It’s not exactly something I lead with after basically being called a whore for five years. I’m proud of what I do, but not everyone holds the same opinions.”

“What about your parents?” he asked. “Or your dad, at least.”

I closed my eyes, smiling at the distant memory. “He’s my biggest fan. That stadium means everything to him.”

“What do you mean?”

“My parents met at a Reds game back in the ‘80s. My dad was on the maintenance crew, and my mom was there with some of her sorority sisters. He spotted a pretty girl in the crowd and knew he had to track her down to ask her out. He kept working for the stadium and retired a few years ago.” I let out a quiet breath. “This is the first year he hasn’t gotten season tickets. I think it’s because going back to the stadium without mom is too hard on him. He watched the game on TV, though. Even texted me when he saw you tackle me.”

He dropped his mouth to my shoulder and kissed up the side of my neck. My heart ramped up to a drumroll and desperate urges burned bright and hot in my core.

“What are we gonna do,” I whimpered as his hands moved under the blankets and caressed my breasts.

“What do you mean?” he asked as he nipped at my earlobe.

“About doing press together.”

Ever so carefully, Tatum laid me down and rolled on top of me. His knees sunk into the mattress on either side of my hips. He stripped off his t-shirt and buried his face in the crook of my neck. “Who says it’s a bad thing? Maybe it’s the perfect alibi.” He wrapped his massive hand around my thigh and drew it up to wrap around his hip. His steel length pressed between my legs, and I had never hated underwear more. “Let the masses have their fill, then chalk up our falling in love to doing hours of press junkets and interviews together.”

I froze. “You’re falling in…”

“Maybe not yet,” he admitted. “But I can see myself getting there with you. His mouth lavished warm kisses along my collar bone. “Does that scare you, Little Bird?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Everything about you scares me.”

“Why?”

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