Chapter 10

Ten

Tanner

I turn in bed, and my heart beats a little faster as I take in sleeping beauty beside me. Honestly, I shouldn't have sprung a Christmas Eve wedding in Santorini on her, right after we had mind-blowing orgasms. Our brains weren't working to capacity, and even though she said yes, I'm a bit worried I pressured her, and it's not what she really wants.

I know she doesn't go out much and is afraid of being recognized, but Santorini could actually be good for her. It's a private event, far away from home. No one will be looking for Maeve Carter or Tanner Bang. I shift, wanting to get coffee on before she wakes up, but her eyes open, and a smile touches her lips when she spots me watching her.

Did she think I'd sneak out under the cover of darkness? Hell no, and I just hope she doesn't have regrets this time like she did last. "Morning," I whisper and give her a soft kiss.

She turns toward the clock. "What time is it?"

"Nearing eleven."

She sits up straight. "I can't remember the last time I slept in until eleven."

"I'm sorry. I kept you up too late. Did you have somewhere to be today?"

"No, and I never mind when you keep me up late. I should probably text my parents. They worry about me." A new kind of sadness washes away her earlier smile and it pierces my heart.

"You want to tell them you have a new protector now and they can relax?"

She gives me a look that suggests I might have been dropped on my head as a baby. "Uh, that's not a good idea."

"Neither is our secret affair." I grab my clothes. "About Santorini…" She blinks at me. "You don't have to go."

Her eyes dull to a pale shade of blue that holds a measure of sadness. Goddammit, she took that the wrong way. "You don't want me to go?"

"It's not that. I do want you to go. I shouldn't have asked, especially right after sex." I poke my head. "When our brains weren't working."

"I have given it thought, T," she assures me, warmth moving into her cheeks. "I think I'd like to go. I don't think anyone will recognize me, and I have you in case anything goes wrong." She casts me a playful grin. "Plus." She waves her hand around her room. "It's the least I can do to have you at my beck and call. Here in the bedroom and when I hear strange noises."

My heart squeezes tight. Christ, she really does trust me, feels safe with me, and dammit, I'm never going to let anything happen to her. "Beck and call, huh? I don't quite remember those words being tossed around."

"That's probably because you've taken too many hits against the boards. I'm pretty sure you were the one who offered that up to me."

Laughing, because I didn't and we both know it, but liking the idea of it anyway, I ask, "What about your parents? If we're going to sneak around, how are you going to explain Santorini?"

She bites down on her bottom lip. "I'm going to think about that. I don't want to cause conflict between you and my father, but I also know they want me to start living life again and find happiness."

"Just not with one of the players."

She nods quickly. "Right. That would make things awkward, especially if it didn't work out, and Dad doesn't really trust the ‘players', you know." She shrugs. "It's just really hard to put myself out there. I'm afraid of everything, T. I don't want to be, but I am. I'd love to see the world, but this face is too recognizable, and honestly, we couldn't date, because you can't go anywhere without getting accosted. I'm not about to keep you locked inside the house."

My heart aches for her, because those wanting a piece of me don't want to hurt me and I hate that she has to hide in her house, away from those who want to hurt her. But she's right, we can't be seen in public. I am not going to risk her picture getting splashed all over the media. "Maybe I'd like to stay locked inside the house with you."

She gives a humorless laugh. "That would get old fast."

"You get so torn up when you talk about how much your parents worry about you."

"I'm a grown adult." She plucks at the bedding. "I should be able to stand on my own two feet, Tanner. I should be able to make my own decisions, and trust in them." A tortured noise crawls out of her throat. "I'm always pulling a Maeve," she teases, but her eyes are dull from pain. "Second guessing everything."

Is she talking about inviting me to her hotel room and then changing her mind? "Not everyone went through what you went through, Maeve. You need to cut yourself some slack and give yourself time to heal. Parents are always going to worry no matter what. Look at my mother. I'm living out my dream playing for the Bucks, and she still worries about me. Thinks I need a wife and family to make me happy."

She stares at me for so long, I worry about what's going through her head. She finally speaks, "Sometimes you don't seem happy, Tanner." The sadness in her voice fillets me. "I see the way you keep to yourself, and are mostly a bit broody."

The thing is, Maeve knows I like her. We both spoke the words out loud. What she can't know is how much I like her. That everyone pales in comparison and she's all I think about day and night. I don't want to come off like a creepy stalker and scare her. She's had enough of that. We're having a secret affair that she fully expects to burn out. I can't tell her that's never going to happen for me. If I did, she'd probably run the other way because I can't be the guy for her, and I don't want her to ever feel any kind of pressure to reciprocate my feelings.

I stand and tug on my pants and shirt. "Sometimes being the new guy on the team is hard, and like I said, parental pressures." She nods and glances around her room. I follow her gaze but have no idea what she's searching for. "Are you happy, Maeve?" I ask in return.

She thinks about it for a minute and a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. "I was happy last night, and happy this morning waking up next to you."

"Good." I nod at that non-answer, as I find my shirt and tug it on. "I'm going to make coffee and breakfast. Come down when you're ready."

Shock and maybe something that resembles fear moves into her big eyes. "You're making breakfast?"

I throw my arms out. "It's going to be the most, amazingly, terrifically, fantastically, mediocre-at-best breakfast you've ever had." She laughs at that and kicks off her blankets. The second I see her warm body—save for her feet, they were freezing cold through the night—all thoughts of food leave my brain.

I scrub my chin and try to look away, but come on, I'm a guy, so that's not happening. "You should cover up."

She gives me a strange look, then understanding hits and she rolls to her side, showcasing her long legs and the soft swell of her hip. "You don't like?"

"I like too much." I groan and let my gaze trail down the sensual length of her. "But if you stay like that, we'll never leave this bed and I have a game tonight."

"I can't wait to watch you play," she responds, her voice a low soft murmur that wraps around my dick.

"You're coming?" She doesn't usually go to the games, so that's a bit surprising. "Are you coming alone?"

"I'll go with Mom." She tugs the blankets up to her hips. "She's always after me to get out of the house more. This is a good reason."

"I like the idea of you watching."

"Wait, I thought you and Buck were voyeurs. Now you're telling me you like to be watched too?"

"You just earned yourself rubbery eggs this morning, Sweetness."

"Hey, I was kidding."

"They were always going to be rubbery, Maeve. Did you miss the part where I said mediocre at best?"

She tosses a pillow at me and I catch it, tossing it back before I head to the bathroom. There's a new lightness inside me, and I try to focus on that and not how we're going to sneak around. I finish up in the bathroom and head downstairs, pick up my boots at the front door and walk into the kitchen. I open the patio door and step outside. The late October air washes over me, and I tug on my boots and walk to the tree, to get a better look at the ground in the light of day. I couldn't see much in the dark. I glance around the base of the tree, but I don't see any footprints other than mine.

It might have been her imagination last night, and it might not have been. Better to call me and be safe. I hurry back inside and lock up, putting my boots back out front. I hear water running in the bathroom as I go back to the kitchen and put a pod in the machine.

A knock comes on the front door, just as I pull a carton of eggs from the fridge, and I stand up straighter and freeze. Okay, if it was her ex, and he's in the vicinity sneaking around, he sure as hell isn't going to be knocking on her front door. I set the carton of eggs on the counter, and quietly walk to the doorway, listening to Maeve move around upstairs. I smooth my hair back and check to make sure I'm all tucked in before pulling the curtain back on the long narrow window beside the door.

The second I see who's standing on the stoop, I jump back, like I'd just gotten caught with my hand in the cookie jar. "Fuck," I whisper under my breath, as I consider an escape route. It's not like I can sneak out the back way. My big-ass truck is eating up Maeve's entire driveway, and the man on the step knows my vehicle well.

Maeve comes down the stairs, her steps slowing when she sees me pacing. "Tanner?"

"It's your dad."

Her eyes go wide, and then a second later, she pulls herself together. "Go to the kitchen."

I do as I'm told, scurrying down the hall like the rat I am. I take a much-needed sip of coffee, not sure there are enough pods to get any of us through this morning.

"Dad, Mom," Maeve says, joy and confusion in her voice. "What are you guys doing here so early in the morning?"

"It's not that early," her mother responds.

"We're not catching you at a bad time, are we?" her dad asks, his voice much deeper than I remember. Shit. I resist the urge to cover my balls, which he's no doubt going to chop off with a dull knife.

"No, of course not. Come on in. We were just about to have some coffee."

"We?" her father says, like he doesn't already know it's me.

I stiffen as footsteps grow closer and when Felix enters the kitchen and lays his eyes on me, I square my shoulders and face his stern gaze straight on. Like my own family, this man feels the need to watch over me, like I'm not a full-grown man capable of taking care of myself. Which means I'm not capable of taking care of his daughter.

Honest to God, I'm so fucking tired of it. Moving to Nova Scotia and then Boston hasn't proved anything to my family. They all still treat me like the baby, and Felix, the eldest member of the team, who has taken me under his wing—which I appreciate—still looks at me like a young rookie.

"Tanner," he mutters through a tense jaw.

"Tanner, what are you doing here?" Hannah asks, nearly bumping into Felix when he stops moving. She shifts around him, her gaze going from me to Maeve.

"It's a crazy story," Maeve begins. "I thought there was someone in my backyard last night."

Her father turns to her, fear and worry marring his face. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Maeve, are you okay?"

"I didn't want to call you, Dad. You guys were on the way to the theater and deserved a night out."

"Honey," he says quietly. "The theater could have waited. You know you can call me anytime."

I take in the pain on Maeve's face and it's all I can do not to pull her into my arms and tell her everything is okay.

"Tanner was my last patient of the day, and I had his number from when I treated him before. He walked me out of the clinic." Her father turns to me, eyes me for a second and gives a nod, like he appreciates that. "Anyway, he lives close by and he practically followed me home until I had to stop at the grocery store."

"Followed you," her dad queries with a frown. I suspect those are triggering words to him.

"We were going the same way," I pipe in, and Felix nods. I glance at Hannah, who is holding her purse tight. I can't even imagine her pain, knowing what her daughter went through. She no doubt wants to keep her safe, but from what Maeve said, she also wants Maeve to start living life again.

"When I thought I saw someone, and knew Tanner was close, I called him."

Felix nods. "I appreciate you coming right away, Tanner."

"Not a problem. I told her anytime."

"You stayed all night?" Felix inquires.

"She was scared. I didn't want to leave her alone."

He goes quiet for a moment, thinking about that. "Are you okay now, Maeve? Do you think someone was here?"

"I'm okay," she assures him.

"I checked outside last night, and again this morning. The trash cans were knocked over, and the only footprints in the soft grass were mine. I think it was just a big racoon."

Maeve rolls her eyes. "I can't believe I reacted like such a scaredy cat over a racoon."

"Hey, no," I say and take a step toward her. Her father watches me carefully. "Don't do that, Maeve. Don't be hard on yourself like that. If you couldn't call your father, calling me was the right thing to do. Isn't that right, Felix?"

"Yeah," he agrees. "It was the right thing to do."

Just then my phone pings. "Actually, that's why we're here, Maeve. We texted a few times and called and got no answer."

She groans. "I am so sorry. I turned the ringer off when I thought I heard someone and now I can't find it. I really hate that I worried you, Dad." She puts her arms around him and he relaxes as she hugs him. "You too, Mom. Why don't you guys come have something to eat. Tanner promised to make a breakfast that, amazingly, terrifically, fantastically, mediocre at best."

Hannah folds her hands and smiles. "Well, that sounds…"

"Perfect?" I suggest.

"Perfect," she adds, and my phone continues to ping.

I look at the text and my gaze strays to Maeve. We exchange a private look and she can read me well enough to know it's my mother again, determined to find out who my plus one is so she can no doubt do a deep social media dive on them. I guess it's a good thing Maeve avoids all the platforms.

"Oh, and one more thing I should tell you," she begins, and my heart jumps into my throat.