Page 226 of Just for the Cameras
His lips trail across my jaw, to the spot behind my ear, and I sink into the wall, letting this man own me, possess me…claim me.
“Why did we stay so long?” he asks as his hand tugs on the hem of my dress and pulls it up.
“Because you kept talking to Hutton,” I answer as he attempts to take my clothes off, but I stop him. I want this to happen more than anything, but with the knowledge of what his dad said resting on my chest, I have to talk to Graydon first.
He gives us just enough distance to look me in the eyes and ask, “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just…I need to talk to you about something,” I say, my mind feeling just clear enough from lust to stop this before we get started.
“Why does that not sound like a good thing?”
“It’s just…something I overheard.”
“At the party?” he asks, releasing my dress. “I thought you said everything was fine.”
“It was, up until a point, but I didn’t want to tell you at the dinner because I didn’t want to start drama at the party.”
He frowns, looking none too pleased.
“Maple, you said you wouldn’t hold anything back from me.”
“And I’m not, I’m telling you now. I just wanted to tell you in private is all.”
His jaw clenches for a few moments, and then he lowers my leg and takes me by the hand. He leads me over to his couch, taking a seat, and then pulls me onto his lap, where I straddle him, his hands resting on my hips.
“Is this my permanent seat…your lap?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yes. Get used to it.”
The clench in his jaw and the tightness in his shoulders lead me to believe that my attempt to ease his tension did absolutely nothing.
I wanted to do this here because I know his anger and instinctive behavior to protect me. I’ve seen it firsthand, and sharing this information with him where he won’t gather attention is exactly what I needed to do.
I place my hands on his chest and prepare for whatever wrath is going to be unleashed from him once I tell him what I heard. “Please don’t be mad at me for waiting to tell you this. I just wanted to make sure we were in a place where you could express yourself without getting in trouble.”
“Is what you’re about to say going to piss me off?”
“Yes.”
“Was someone mean to you? Because if so, I want to know who the fuck it was because I’ll be dealing with them.”
I rub my hand over his heart, the thumping of it going wild as he’s ready to pounce and make right however I was wronged, and I love that about him.
“It was about you,” I say softly. “I overheard your dad and coach talking about you.”
His eyes narrow. “What were they saying?”
I try to keep him calm by rubbing his chest, but I can tell already that it’s not going to work from the way his grip on me tightens and his breath hitches.
“They were devising some sort of plan to try to get you traded.”
“Traded?” His brows shoot up. “They can’t fucking do that. I have a no-trade clause.”
“For next year,” I say. “Something about your dad not wanting you to beat his records.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Anger billows up in him, tension rolling through his muscles. He gently shifts me to the couch and then stands to start pacing. “That motherfucker is scared that I’m going to break his records? So he’s going to try to upend my fucking life.”
Yikes. His anger went from zero to sixty, and I’m honestly wondering if this is something I should have told him. Maybe he would have found out on his own, and if he did, who knows what he would have done if it wasn’t in the privacy of his own home. I’ve seen him punch his dad at training camp. This…this might—
