Page 122 of Payoff Pitch
I force out a small smile and beg the tears to stay away. “Dinner is on the table. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
His face looks pained. “You’re not staying for dinner?”
Harper shakes her head. “She has plans tonight.” She loudly whispers, “I think she has a date.”
Tanner’s jaw tightens. I have no idea where Harper got that from.
“I’m just going out with some friends, sweetie. Have a good night.”
I practically sprint out the front door. It takes all of two seconds for him to follow me out, closing the front door behind him. “Can we talk without Mike Tyson around?”
I stop and turn around to face him. “Mike Tyson?”
“Your sister beat the shit out of me when I tried to come see you.”
I didn’t know that, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed to hear it. “Good for her. I have nothing to say to you.” I turn toward the car but stop again and turn toward him. “I’m going to buy a car this week. I don’t feel comfortable using yours anymore. It doesn’t feel right. I’ll make sure to get something safe for Harper.”
“That’s ridiculous. I don’t ever use this car. Keep it.”
“No.” He approaches me, but I hold up my hands. “Don’t. Just leave me alone.”
He tries to grab my arm, but I pull away and rush to get into the car, quickly closing the door. He speaks through the window. “You’re going to have to talk to me at some point.”
Maybe, but today is not that day.
We’re out with Vance,Daylen, a teammate named Beau, and the new guy on their team, Champ Williamson. He’s a star running back and was just traded here from the Fort Worth Wranglers down in Texas. He’s attractive, with mocha-colored skin and huge brown eyes with exceedingly long lashes. His curly hair is longer on top and is bleached.
Beau has practically been forcing Champ on me all night. While I’m not ready for anything along those lines, I’m hitting it off with Champ. He’s so sweet and funny. Hopefully, we can be friends.
Girls have been hitting on him all night, but he actscompletely disinterested. The girls in this club are so obvious and forward. I can’t ever imagine acting that way. One woman came up to our booth and introduced herself as Lana. She then said, “It’s easy to remember my name if you spell it in reverse,” before winking at the boys.
Kam “accidentally” spilled a drink on Lana, and she left in a huff. The guys were all hysterically laughing about the whole scene.
Kam was in my ear on the way here that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. Fortunately, she hasn’t been pushy since we arrived. She knows it’s just not my style to jump into bed with someone else to nurse a broken heart.
Their teammate, Presley, walks in. I’m surprised to see him. His wife just had their first baby. I’ve only met him once before.
Vance lifts an eyebrow. “Elvis?” Their nickname for him. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be knee-deep in diapers and shit.”
Presley runs his fingers through his blond, messy hair. “Layla kicked me out.”
Daylen chuckles. “What did you do?”
He scrunches his face. “She doesn’t care for my sense of humor. She had her four-week checkup with her OB today. When she came home, she said he told her we still can’t have sex for another two weeks. I asked her what the proctologist said.”
We all burst out in laughter though I feel my face flushing, knowing what Tanner did to me last week.
He nods. “It’s funny, right? It was a joke. But she got mad and told me to leave for a few hours.” He sits down and rests his head on the table. “All I really want to do is sleep. Fatherhood is exhausting. The baby cries and shits all the time.”
Champ leans over and whispers in my ear, “Let’s get away from Debbie Downer. Want to dance, sexy?”
“Sure. Why not?”
He grabs my hand, and we walk out of the booth toward thedance floor. Every female eye moves to Champ as he glides to the dance floor. He’s a physical specimen, that’s for sure. I think I’m the envy of every woman here.
Champ twirls me around for a few songs. We’re both laughing and having a great time. He’s easy to be with. I’m glad Kam made me come. I needed a fun night like this.
As a slow song begins, he pulls me into his giant arms but not too close. He’s being respectful, and I appreciate that.