"Mmhmm." I press my lips to her ear. "Best fucking spot in the house, sweetness."
Her groan bleeds into a moan before I've got her pressed to the shower wall, fucking her again. By the time I'm finished with her, the water is cold, and she's unsteady on her feet.
"I love you," I whisper, wrapping a towel around her.
She melts into me. "I love you too, Briggs."
Fuck, I hate leaving her. I really fucking hate it.
I'm not surprised when I get to the arena to board the bus, only to find a bevy of reporters waiting for me. They're relentless. But so far, they've got nothing.
Some days, I consider telling them the truth, just to get them to fuck off. It's ironic. We're the ones being harassed, when it should be our mother. But shit never works that way, right?
It's just one more way she's ruining our lives. It's what she does best. I barely even remember a time when it wasn't like this. Before Hattie was born, Harlan and Tye swear she was a decent mom, but I was four. I don't remember those days.
Mostly, I just remember the way she always hated Hattie because Dad doted on her. I remember the way she blamed Hattie when he died, when she was the one he was trying to save Hattie from. I remember the way she constantly tried to change everything about our sister. I remember how Hattie used to cry whenever we'd go off to a training camp.
There aren't a lot of good memories. For me, there never have been.
I realize something is up as soon as I see Karsen and Coach wading through the throng toward me before I'm even out of my SUV, matching glowers on their faces. Karsen looks like he's ready to hit someone.
Fuck.
I wait for them to come to me, not sure I want to know what's up. Whatever it is, I don't think it's good. Judging by the way every reporter in the lot is staring, it can't be good…right?
"You've got a problem," Karsen says, keeping his voice pitched low.
"What kind of problem?"
"Your mother."
I pinch the bridge of my nose, not even remotely surprised. Truthfully, I expected her to be a problem long before now. I think we all did, but she's been biding her time, playing by the rules of the restraining order while we wait for our court date.
"What'd she do?"
Neither Karsen nor Coach says anything.
"What did she do?" I growl.
Karsen mutters a curse. "She told the press that you got involved with Heartstone because you feel guilty about abandoning a kid you had when you were a rookie," he says. "She's claiming that you and your siblings filed the restraining order to keep her from talking. She's trying to extort you, man."
I reel backward, blinking. "What the fuck?"
Coach clamps a hand down on my shoulder. "Easy, son."
Easy?Easy?That lying bitch is trying to…
My heart hammers, my blood pressure spiking. Is this what she meant when she told me that I'd regret turning my back on her? Is this why she's been so fucking quiet? Because this is what she's been plotting?
I didn't give her what she wanted, so she's going to try to ruin my life and my reputation to get it, the same way she's always tried to ruin Hattie. Every time Hattie didn't conform or comply, she found some new way to cut her down, some new way to belittle and torment her until Hattie gave in.
And Hattie is free of her now.
Shit, guess that's my fault, right? I'm the one who delivered our ultimatum. I'm the one who has been running interference. I'm the one who has been here dealing with her. So I'm her fucking target now.
Hell no.
She doesn't get to do this shit, not to me, and not to Tia.