Chapter 11

ELEVEN

I’m in the middle of my lesson on imagery when there’s a knock on my classroom door. I glance up in time to see my principal, Mrs. O’Dell, walk in with a huge smile on her face, her eyes wide, and her cheeks a little flushed.

I tilt my head. “Everything okay, Mrs. O’Dell?”

And that’s when I see the man walk in behind her, and my heart races in my chest even as I feel my own cheeks heat. What the hell is Ty doing here?

And then three more guys follow him in, and my students erupt in squeals and cheers.

“Oh shit, it’s the Fierce Four!”

“Don’t curse,” I tell my student, Marcus, but my voice sounds hollow and lacks the authority it normally carries.

Who the hell are the Fierce Four? It sounds like a character group from a comic book or something.

Mrs. O’Dell turns to my class and raises her hands in a signal for them to settle down. They do, albeit reluctantly. As it is, several of them, boys and girls alike, are squirming in their seats with giant grins plastered on their faces.

“We have surprise guests, and they specifically asked for Ms. Kemper’s class.”

I’m suddenly regretting telling him my last name and where I worked during our disaster of a meal two days ago. I mean, I know he would’ve found out eventually, but I was not planning to see him so soon, and definitely not in my own classroom. I’m not mentally or emotionally prepared for this.

And then he pulls his hands from behind his back and presents me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “For you,” he says, his voice soft and contrite. I can see the apology in his eyes.

“Awww,” a bunch of my students coo, making me blush harder, and Ty grins wide at my reaction, his handsome face morphing with that same flirtatious smile that got me into his bed in the first place and started all of this.

“Thank you,” I say.

He leans closer, his voice lowering. “I wasn’t sure which flowers were your favorite, so I hope you don’t mind these. I thought of you as soon as I saw them.”

My heart melts a little as I drop my nose to smell the gorgeous pink peonies. “They’re beautiful.”

“Like I said, they reminded me of you.”

I look at him, expecting him to still have a flirty smile on his face to go with that line, but when our gazes lock, all I see is sincerity and something that looks suspiciously like desire. I’m transported back to our night together—the way he looked at me while he thrust inside me and made sure I came before he shuddered with his own release. My breathing grows heavy until it feels like he and I are the only ones that exist in the room.

And then I realize the silence isn’t just in my imagination. I break our stare-off to look over at my students and find twenty-eight sets of eyes watching us with utter fascination and glee. My mouth parts to explain away what just happened, but before I even have a chance, one of the other guys that came with Ty—the one with short, cropped hair and piercing blue eyes—gets everyone’s attention. “Who wants some LA Wolves gear?”

Chaos breaks out, and the intense moment between Ty and me is forgotten—for now. These are middle schoolers; they never forget anything except their homework. Thankfully, Mrs. O’Dell is deep in conversation with one of the other guys, who looks like a big terrifying beast but is giving her the kindest smile. The third guy—whose eyes seem to carry something heavy that looks a lot like the loss I see in my own eyes when I look in the mirror—catches my gaze, quickly glances at Mrs. O’Dell then back to me, and winks.

Relief floods my body. They kept her distracted, which means she didn’t see my moment with Ty. Thank God, because I’m not prepared to answer the questions I’m sure she already has, let alone any she’d have if she caught on that Ty and I know each other in a more intimate nature.

I know I can’t avoid the truth forever, but I’ll put it off for as long as I can.

Ty wanders over to a group of my students while the other guys he came with do the same. I walk around the room, eavesdropping here and there on their conversations with the kids. That’s how I learn that the big beastly man with the kind smile is Gabe Romero, the one with the piercing blue eyes and swagger is Dominic Smith, and the third man whose smile never quite reaches his eyes is Romel Watson. Apparently, the Fierce Four are the key to the defense of the LA Wolves football team—a team I’ve seen billboards for, but since I don’t watch sports never paid attention to.

My students are buzzing with energy when the bell rings for lunch, and for the first time ever, they are all reluctant to leave instead of rushing out the door. Once they’re finally ushered out with hugs and waves to the guys, a sense of relief washes over me because this means Ty is leaving too. I can put my walls back up after he tore them down with the sweet way he interacted with my students. Gabe, Dom, and Romel head for the door, but Ty walks straight to me, a jersey in his hands.

“This one’s for you.”

I look down at the navy blue fabric in his hands. Then he flips it over, and I see RUSSELL written on the back and the number 31.

When I look up, he’s already watching me. “I hope you’ll wear it when you come to my game.”

“You mean if. ”

He leans closer, his gaze dropping to my lips briefly. “No, I mean when . I messed up, Lexi, but I’m not letting you go. You and this baby are mine. So, someday, hopefully soon, you’ll be sitting in those stands cheering me on, and I want my jersey on your body so every man in there knows you’re mine.”

All the air whooshes from my lungs as I stare at this man who is making it really hard to keep my defensesup, especially when he sounds so sure. This man in front of me isn’t the Ty who made me feel like a gold diggertwo days ago; this is the Ty who made me feel precious and cherished during our night together.

This is the Ty I could too easily fall for if I’m not careful.

He moves his hand up and brushes a lock of hair away from my face, his gaze still locked on mine. His mouth parts before he closes it again, and the corners of his eyes crinkle with slight strain. “I know you have every right to turn me down after how I reacted the other day, but I’m really hoping you won’t, becauseI’m dying to spend more time with you,” he rushes out before taking a measured breath. “We have an away game on Thursday, but will you go out with me when we get back in town?”

I have no good excuse to say no, and truthfully, my defenses are too weak after watching him with my students.

“Okay,” I whisper.

The smile that breaks out across his ruggedly handsome face has my heart beating faster and my stomach tightening with need. He leans forward, placing his forehead against mine and closing his eyes. “Thank you, Lexi.” He pulls away just enough to press his lips where his forehead just was, and emotion clogs my throat.

This man is so dangerous to my heart.

That weekend, we step into the restaurant, and Ty places his hand on my lower back as he holds the door open for me to go first. The second we’re inside, my nerves flare to new heights.

This is a nice restaurant. Like, need-reservations-a-year-or-two-in-advance-and-everyone-here-drives-fancy-European-cars nice. I’m pretty sure it’s been featured in magazines for its exclusivity, and I can immediately see why.

Every single patron is gorgeous—men and women alike wearing obvious designer dresses and suits. The women are covered in massive jewels, and the men wear watches I bet would cost as much as my yearly salary, if not more. The place settings look like something out of a high-end magazine for the elite, and the energy in the room screams power and wealth.

I am so in over my head here.

A stunning woman wearing a jaw-dropping off-the-shoulder gold dress walks by, and I try not to stare, especially when I realize she’s an A-list celebrity, but I don’t miss the way her cursory gaze drops down to my dress or the slight lift of her lip in a sneer that doesn’t seem to fit the flawless beauty. My hands go to the skirt of my dress, rubbing my now sweaty palms on the suddenly cheap-feeling material I’d previously thought felt decadent against my skin. Can she tell this is a name brand knockoff I found on sale? My gaze darts around the other patrons, and even though I know they’re not, it feels like everyone is looking at me—judging me.

I don’t belong here.

What am I doing? I should be home on my cheap, comfy couch grading essays.

The heat of Ty’s body next to mine is the only thing that pulls me out of my freak-out. He nods to the ma?tre d’, who greets him with a warm smile and guides us to our table. Meanwhile, I try to steady my breathing. I open my mouth half a dozen times to tell Ty this was a bad idea, but I can’t make the words come out.

The truth is I want to see where this goes. I may feel like a fish out of water, but Ty doesn’t seem to notice the stares. In fact, he’s barely stopped touching me since he picked me up, so clearly he’s not judging me for my dress. Why should I let other people’s judgment impact my night with him?

I’m not on a date with them . Ty’s opinion is the only one that matters.

I’m feeling slightly more confident when the ma?tre d’ seats us at a table near the back—tucked behind a wooden partition with a beautiful painting of the ocean at sunset—offering some privacy from the other patrons in the restaurant. He leaves our menus in front of each of us before walking away. A waiter quickly replaces him, taking our drink order and then giving us a few minutes with the menu.

“Do you know what you want to eat?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet.” Honestly, there are some things on this menu I’ve never heard of. I’m kind of terrified I’ll be ordering bull’s testicles or something. That’s apparently a delicacy, right? I fight a grimace at the thought and focus on what sounds familiar.

He sets down his menu and leans forward. “I need to make a confession.”

I set down my own menu, mirroring him. “Okay.”

“I don’t know what half this stuff is.”

I can’t stop the smile that breaks out on my face and the relief that courses through me. “Oh, thank God. I don’t either.”

“I was trying to impress you, but I think I might’ve been better off choosing a restaurant where I actually know what is on the menu.”

My heart flutters. “You wanted to impress me?”

The lighting might be dim, but I don’t miss the slight flush on his cheeks, and my own smile grows as all the stress and worry completely fade. “I don’t know if I should be ashamed or not that you have to even ask. Of course, I want to impress you.”

I pick up my menu, trying to hide the way I’m sure my own heated face is flushing. “I appreciate the effort.”

He huffs out a laugh. “We’ll see about that after you accidentally eat something that is supposed to be high-end cuisine, but is really something like bull’s testicles or squid brains.”

I drop my menu and stare at him with my mouth open. It’s like he’s in my damn head. This is what it felt like the night we were together too. Easy. Uncomplicated. Fun.

With everything that’s happened since, I forgot how in sync we were that night, like two puzzle pieces fitting together perfectly.

The waiter comes over, and we each order a steak, and then while we wait, we talk. The conversation flows easily between us as he asks me more about my job and my students, especially the ones he talked to when he came earlier this week. I ask him about football, because truthfully, I don’t know a single thing about the sport. I tried to watch his away game, but both Blaire and I were equally confused about what was happening as we watched.

The entire time we talk, Ty’s gaze stays locked on me, as if no one else in the room exists. Our food is delivered, and we keep the conversation light as we tuck into our meal which thankfully turns out to be delicious. I’m only about three bites in when Ty puts down his fork and looks down at the table.

“I can’t do this,” he says.

My smile drops along with my fork, my appetite completely gone with those four words. How did I read him so wrong? I thought this date was going so well.

Then he looks back up at me, and his eyes burn with a heated intensity I’ve only seen on him once before. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, but I can’t sit here and pretend I’m not dying to kiss you again. I can barely focus on what we’re talking about because all I can think about is kissing your lipstick right off your face.”

I gape at him in shock. That was not what I was expecting him to say. Then he shocks me further when he reaches around the side of the table and pulls my chair next to him instead of where I was seated across from him. He moves me like I weigh nothing, and then we’re next to each other, and he drapes one arm behind my back, resting on the chair, while his other hand comes up to trace my cheek. His gaze eats up every inch of my face like he’s memorizing each line and freckle and storing it away for all eternity.

I can hardly breathe.

His thumb grazes my cheek. “I’m going to kiss you now, so I can actually give you a proper date where I’m not distracted by that sinful mouth of yours…or at least less distracted, hopefully.”

“Okay,” I whisper, my voice raspy and filled with desire.

He watches me for another second and then his lips are brushing against mine in a kiss that’s somehow both tender and passionate. My body melts against his as I let out the faintest moan and part my lips. His tongue swoops in, not needing any more invitation, and then nothing in the world exists but Ty. He groans deeply, but soft enough I’m sure only I can hear, before pulling away. He places one more kiss on my tender lips before he sits back, and I open my eyes to find his hooded and glazed with lust.

“Maybe that wasn’t my best idea because now I just want to keep kissing you.”

I cup his cheek, mirroring the way he held mine during our kiss, and he leans into it, his eyes closing like my touch is the best feeling in the world.

Only Ty.

He’s the only man who’s ever made me feel like this. Like I’m special to him, precious, worthy of being cherished and spoiled. I might be confused about a lot right now, but there’s one thing I’m not at all confused about anymore. I want him. I want him to want me and love me the way I’ve always dreamed of being wanted and loved.

Doubt niggles in the back of my mind that he’s only doing this because we’re having a baby, but I push it aside for now. I want to live in the moment, and I need to remember that he made me feel this way before the baby even existed.

Maybe the baby is the thing that’s brought us back together, but tonight, he’s all mine. And I plan to enjoy every second.

“Fuck it,” he murmurs before surging forward and taking another kiss that has me giggling. He pulls away, a radiant smile filling his face as he stares openly at my eyes and my mouth. “I love hearing you laugh like that.”

I drop my gaze and nibble my lip, oddly embarrassed. This man has seen me naked, and I’m carrying his child. But the idea of giggling like some innocent schoolgirl has my cheeks on fire.

He clears his throat and pretends to get serious. “Right, okay, so what were we talking about?” he asks as he picks back up his fork. His other hand rests on my thigh, keeping me close, and I don’t hate it.

I don’t hate it at all.