19. An Unpleasant Surprise

Chapter 19

An Unpleasant Surprise

Noah

It was game day, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was a little nervous. After spending the day before with Jade, I knew I couldn’t mess this up or let her parents mess it up for her.

This being the happiness I could see radiating from her, despite everything.

I think I’d shocked her when I’d given her the necklace and indirectly told her I loved her. It was like a switch had been flipped, and she was waking up for the first time in a long time.

I’d expected her to attempt to work after the farmer’s market, despite our deal, but she hadn’t, opting to help me in the garden, go for a swim, and cook dinner with me. It was one of the best days I’d had in a long time, making me wonder why I’d been so allergic to relationships.

Maybe I’d been waiting for her.

“There’s still time to save yourself.” Jade took my outstretched hand as we walked the short distance from the private lot to the private entrance.

“No way. Besides, I can’t leave you alone, looking the way you do.” I took in her outfit for the twentieth time.

She’d worn jean shorts and a Seawolves shirt, along with a pair of athletic shoes. It was simple, yet, for some reason, was so damn sexy on her. Although at this point, she could have worn a paper bag dress, and I would have found it sexy.

“If anything, I should be the one to worry. You need to stop with the backward caps.” She took out her ID from the fanny pack she was wearing slung across her and handed it to the security guard at the door.

I didn’t bother with mine. Since I’d been to so many events and games at the stadium, the guard knew me already. He waved us through, not even looking at Jade’s ID.

“I didn’t realize you had VIP status here.” Jade nudged me playfully. “Let me guess, Badden Apparel has a suite?”

“We do. Gabe is here today with his new dad friends from his neighborhood. He is fully embracing dad life now. He even wears socks with sandals.” I was still a little shocked at how quickly everything had fallen into place for Gabriel. One minute, he was a stressed-out single dad, the next, he was freaking out over falling for his nanny.

“Shut up, he does not. Josie would never let him.”

“She thinks it’s incredibly sexy. Do you not? That might be a deal-breaker for me.” I’d never once worn socks with sandals, outside of wearing socks with my Crocs when I had to go outside for something.

“I could get used to it, I suppose.” She followed me into an elevator that would take us to the suite level.

I pulled her to me as the doors slid closed. “What do you say I make you look all ravished?”

She looped her arms around my neck. “You’re bad.”

I showed her just how bad I was by kissing her. It was brief but left me ready to take the elevator right back down to ground level and take her home.

With a groan, I broke away as the elevator announced its arrival.

Taking her hand, we stepped out and made our way down the hallway to the suite the Daltons had been assigned. I could feel the unease pouring off Jade, and I hated that her parents had this effect on her. I rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand, hoping it would calm her until we got drinks.

The guard at the door opened it for us, and we walked into the luxurious room that had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the field. Plush leather couches and chairs were arranged around large screens that would display the game, and rows of seats were lined up outside the giant sliding windows that kept the noise from the stadium out.

It was much more lavish than the Badden suite, but I would have expected nothing less. What I hadn’t expected was the number of people that would already be inside. I didn’t recognize anyone and didn’t see Jade’s parents.

Jade let out a shaky breath and squeezed my hand. “Here we go. Welcome to the Seawolves’ den. ”

“You know what I’ve always wondered?” I let go of Jade’s hand and put it on the small of her back as I steered us toward the fully stocked bar, bartender included, in the back corner.

“What’s that?” Jade stopped at the bar, and I wrapped my arms around her, leaning down a bit to rest my chin on her shoulder.

“What exactly are seawolves?”

She laughed. “They are just regular wolves that live by the sea... I think.”

“What can I get you two?” The bartender was multitasking by pouring others’ drinks at the same time.

“I will take a can of your cheapest beer, please.” Jade spoke with the confidence I knew and loved, and I had no clue why she’d ordered what she had.

“I’ll have the same.” I kissed her neck and pulled my wallet out of my back pocket to grab a tip.

The bartender didn’t question our order, despite all the liquor lined up behind him being top-shelf quality. He popped the two cans open and slid them to Jade.

“Do I even want to know?” I took the beer she held out for me and sniffed it. “It takes me back to my rager days.”

“Yeah? Were you the beer pong king, or did you hold the keg stand frat bro record?” Jade finally seemed to be relaxing, if her joking tone was anything to go by.

“I actually wasn’t in a frat, thank you very much.” I took a sip of the beer, and for some reason, it really hit the spot. “Good choice on the beer, although I’m still wondering what you’re up to. ”

Jade took a long drink and scrunched her nose. “I want my drink to match the way my parents perceive me.”

I spotted an empty chair and led Jade toward it. “And how is that?”

“Trash.”

While I wanted to argue that the beer wasn’t trashy, I knew her head was in a weird place, so instead, I sat down and pulled her down onto my lap. “There. Even more trashy now.”

She wrapped an arm around me, angling her body sideways and rubbing right against my cock. The smirk on her face said she knew what she’d done. “Perfect.”

“Now you want to poke the bear?” I took a sip of my beer and tried to tamp down the need I had for this woman.

“Not really, but if she has something to focus on, like the beer I’m drinking, she maybe won’t bring up the burned cocks.” She sighed and stared at the top of her beer, as if she could see inside it. “Speaking of which, while you were showering this morning, I was looking at some numbers.”

“Numbers? Six and nine?”

She smiled, but it was half-assed. “Ravishing Whispers had a record number of website visitors over the past week, but our sales went down by twenty-five percent.”

I cringed because that was a substantial drop. “Even with the statement saying it wasn’t one of your toys that was plugged in?”

“People don’t read statements. Tomorrow, we’re going to do some social media posts and hope that helps. For now, we’re going to have to put our expansion plans on hold.” She flicked at the tab on the top of her beer. “

“I’ll make a statement. I’m the one who gave it to you.” I shrugged when she looked at me with wide, glossy eyes. “I’ll talk to my lawyer and have him talk to yours.”

“I don’t know if that would be a good idea, but if you’re willing to, and the lawyers approve it, then it might help.” She looked around the room. “My parents just arrived.”

“Your dad owning a football team makes no sense to me. He doesn’t strike me as the football-watching type.” I lowered my voice in case someone was close enough to hear. “When Gabe and I met him for the first time, he knew almost nothing about the sport, but he was so cocky about what he thought fans wanted for apparel.”

“Sounds like him. When I found out he bought a team, I was surprised. It’s for the prestige and is yet another thing to add to his portfolio.”

“Your mom must have been overjoyed about him buying it.”

“My mom just goes along with it like she has done her entire life. Sometimes I think her hatred toward me is because she’s never really been her own person.”

“I don’t think your mom hates you, but maybe you’re right.” I took a quick glance around and noticed people were watching us, a few openly talking in hushed whispers. “Just remember that you’re an amazing, successful woman, and you don’t need their approval or anyone else’s to be happy.”

“I know that, but they are my Achilles’ heel. Everyone has one you know, even you.”

“Does mine have something to do with my giant zucchini? ”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“And talented with my tongue.”

Jade took a sip of her beer, her shoulders relaxing a fraction. “I think I’ll need a reminder later of how talented that tongue is.”

A female cleared her throat directly behind us, and Jade tensed before plastering a smile on her face and getting to her feet. “Mom, you look festive.”

I turned as Jade awkwardly hugged her mom, who was dressed in a Chanel tweed blazer and skirt in the Seawolves’ colors. She seemed surprised that her daughter was hugging her and patted Jade’s back.

“Hello, Mrs. Dalton. You look lovely. Can I grab you a drink?” I held up my can and shook it a little for show.

That seemed to break her out of her shocked state, and her lips pursed as she pulled away from Jade to look down at the beer she held. “Beer from a can is?—”

“So delicious!” Jade lifted the can to her lips and took a long swig. It was immature and completely unhinged, but it was also amusing as fuck. “Want to try?”

“No, Jade.” Margaret looked around. “You’re making a scene.”

I stood and wrapped my arm around Jade’s waist. “Mrs. Dalton, how did you like my zucchini?”

Margaret’s eyes snapped to me and narrowed the tiniest bit before her memory seemed to kick in. “They were surprisingly good, thank you.”

“We should find some good seats before kickoff. It was lovely to see you.” Unwilling to give Margaret the opportunity to say anything else, I led Jade toward the seats outside.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Jade sighed but didn’t put up much of a fight.

“I’m your bodyguard, remember?” I gestured to a seat and Jade dropped into it.

I sat down next to her, placing my hand on her knee and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She was tense, but at my touch, some of that tension seemed to melt away.

Jade looked over at me. “Thank you.”

I leaned in close, my lips brushing against her ear. “Anytime, sweet cheeks.”

She laughed softly, shaking her head. “You’ll pay for that later.”

“I can hardly wait.” I grinned at her, happy to see a genuine smile on her face, even if it was fleeting.

We settled into a comfortable silence as the players took the field, the roar of the crowd filling the stadium. I kept my hand on Jade’s knee as others began to file outside, taking their seats around us.

A man sat down on my other side, followed by a woman with a baby that couldn’t be more than six months old strapped to her chest in a sling contraption. I didn’t know that much about babies, but bringing one to a football game didn’t seem like the best idea.

Jade glanced across me at the couple, and her eyes widened. Her face immediately paled before she sat back in her seat. “I’m going to need an entire keg,” she muttered under her breath .

“That can be arranged.” I looked at her with a questioning lift to my brow.

She slumped lower as the man stood back up. He looked over at us, his eyes landing on me and then Jade. “Jade?”

Hurt and anger swept over Jade’s features, but then she smiled, sitting up in her seat. “Tyler? What an unpleasant surprise.”

“Since when did you start watching football?” Was that annoyance in his voice?

I looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to get a read on if I should kick this guy’s ass or not. My gut was telling me yes.

“Turns out I’m a huge fan, isn’t that right, sweetie?” Jade took my hand and entwined our fingers. “Tyler, this is Noah Badden. Noah, this is Tyler... my ex.”

She had never said his name to me, and I looked up at him, not liking the way he was staring down at me. “Ah, Tyler. I’ve heard a lot about you.” I hadn’t, other than he cheated on her after almost two years together; that was all I really needed to know.

My eyes narrowed, and I leaned back far enough to look at the woman distracted with her baby, then up at him. Jade had mentioned it had been a year since they broke it off. Did that mean he got another woman pregnant while he was with her?

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend and child?” Jade smiled warmly, but there was a bitterness in her tone.

“Do you mean my wife?” He sounded smug as fuck, and I was about to stand, but Jade squeezed my hand and brought it to rest in her lap.

“That was fast.” There was pain in her voice, and I wanted to punch Tyler in the nuts. They were practically in front of my face. I could reach out and squeeze really hard before he’d even know what was happening.

“Ty? Who are you talking to?” Tyler’s wife seemed to finally realize something was going on.

“No one, baby. You know what? I don’t think I like these seats. They aren’t good enough for you and the baby.” He turned, giving us his back, and leaned down to kiss her before helping her stand.

It took everything in me not to get up and tackle the motherfucker.