Page 81 of Forecheck
“Well…” I said slowly, considering. “I realizeIdon’t knowMitchthat well, but…you’re not wrong.”
“Of course I’m not,” he said with a smirk. Then Bobal shoved past us as we were about to exit the ballroom, and it quickly turned to a grimace.
“I fucking hate that guy. The shit he was saying about you last weekend. And then to have the gall to approach you and proposition you right in front of me and a bunch of our colleagues? Fuck him.”
I halted in the middle of the lobby, bristling with his words. “What do you mean, the shit he was saying about me last weekend?”
Brent’s eyes widened, then he dropped his gaze, reaching up to nervously grip the back of his neck. I’d seen him do it a thousand times in interviews when he didn’t like the question he’d been asked. “So…I may have lied about why I punched him during that game.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
“Can we talk about this upstairs? Please?” Eyes pleading, he glanced meaningfully around the lobby, and I noticed for the first time all the attention we were drawing.
I relented, but the moment we were safely ensconced in his room, I whirled on him.
“So you punched him because of me, not Grey.”
A statement, not a question. He’d said as much downstairs. Not in so many words, but I wasn’t stupid.
“Berk, you don’t even want to know. I just…I lost it.”
“I actually do want to know. Ideserveto know.”
Brent sat at the foot of the bed and scrubbed his hands through his hair, another of his nervous tics. I secretly loved the gesture because it gave him that tousled, just-rolled-out-of-bed look. The dark strands stood up at odd angles, making him look freshly fucked.
And now I was thinking about fucking him.
Then again, when wasn’t I?
Focus, Daniels.
“He said that you’re hot, which you are. But he also said that you’re probably a freak in bed, and that you’re just like every other puck bunny out there. That you’re only with me for my money. He asked if I wouldn’t mind sharing you, and told me he was going to slide into your DMs the next time they were in Detroit so he could take a run at you. Not to mention, he made comments about how I’ve got a woman in every city, and he wondered what you’d do if you found out.Noneof that is true. You know it, and I know it. But it still made my blood boil. What else could I do but hit him?”
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had those exact thoughts—that he’s got women in other cities—myself. But giving myself to this man meant trusting him, so that’s what I was choosing to do. Without a word, I slipped my heels off and walked over to him, resting my hands on his shoulders as I fit myself between his thighs. He gripped my hips to steady me as I hiked my dress to climb onto his lap.
“I want you to listen to me very carefully,” I said, capturing his chin with my hand and forcing him to meet my eyes. I kissed him lightly before continuing. “I’ve said it a hundred times, but I’ll say it once more: this thing between us hasneverbeen about themoney for me. I’m not even with you because you’re the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m with you because you’re kind, sweet, loyal, and incredibly generous. You’re smart, funny, and treat me like a fucking queen. Nothing else matters.”
I was on my back in an instant, Brent’s grinning face hovering above my own. He bent and kissed me hard, his hands branding my body as his mouth consumed me.
“I love you,” he whispered against my skin as his kisses moved to my throat, chasing them with his tongue along my pulse. “You don’t have to say it back. I just needed you to know.”
I swallowed hard around the lump that lodged in my throat.
I wasn’t ready to say it back, not yet. So instead of offering him words, I imbued a long kiss with everything Icouldoffer him right now—elation, comfort, safety, joy, and bone-deep infatuation.
And okay, definitely love. But telling someone you loved them was terrifying, and in this moment, I wasn’t as brave as Brent.
“You’re mine, Berkley Daniels,” he growled when he came up for air. “No one else’s but mine.”
I moaned in response.
“Say it, Berk.”
“Yours.”
Nothing had ever felt more right. As surely as I knew my own name, I knew nothing could ever tear me away from this man.
Brent pushed my dress up to expose my stomach, trailing kisses across my flesh. I sat up long enough to pull it over my head and toss it to the floor.
