Bradford Brawler (Bradford Bastard 2)

I am so unbelievably head over heels for this guy. I mean, look at me. I’m breaking into his bedroom at one in the morning simply because he might need his phone at some point tomorrow.

Fuck, I’m a loser, but a cool loser, not like an actual loser. I’m also a thoughtful loser, which is why I don’t just put his phone on his side table, I go ahead and plug it into the charger.

Feeling proud of myself, I turn back to the window to leave when I find myself pausing and glancing back to the wall behind his bed. I mean, I’m already here. What’s the harm of leaving a message while I’m at it? Besides, I’m sure he’ll be happy to know I was thinking of him.

Searching through his room for something to use, I find the tattered remains of more than half of my lipstick collection. I roll my eyes before shoving what I can salvage into my pocket and taking the cap off a bright red shade I used to love. I climb onto his bed, and just because I take wall messages seriously, I pull up the sleeve of his hoodie and get to work.

A grin cuts across my face, deciding what better way to tell him I’m here for him than writing something equally as crass as the messages he’s left for me.

IF I HAD A DICK, I’D FUCK YOU SO HARD WITH IT.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A PEARL NECKLACE?

ACTUALLY … EVER HEARD OF PEGGING?

I stand back, surveying my handiwork when a throat clears from across the room. My head whips around and I gasp, finding Tanner leaning against his open doorframe, a wide grin across his devilish face. “What the fuck?” I whisper-yell, pressing my hand to my chest over my racing heart. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Well, if you weren’t busy breaking into my room in the middle of the night to tell me about your dick, then I wouldn’t have been able to scare you.”

“Ha, ha,” I murmur, jumping down from his bed and regretting the choice to wear my chicken feet.

Tanner stares intently, and I watch with a racing heart as he makes his way toward me. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says, stepping right into me. His gaze trails over the stolen hoodie with a smirk. His hands slip beneath the hem of the hoodie before taking my waist, and I immediately move closer, needing his touch more than I need to breathe. “I was planning on sneaking into your room to check on you.”

“Check on me?” I question, my hand slipping up the front of his shirt and resting against his warm chest, feeling the heavy thump of his heart. “I should be the one checking on you. How did it go? Did Addison wake up?”

Tanner’s eyes brim with relief and a weight lifts off my shoulders. “She did,” he murmurs, his thumbs brushing back and forth over my skin. “It’s going to be a long road though. She’s broken in ways I’ve never seen before. But if she can make it through this, she can make it through anything.”

“She’s going to be okay because she has you,” I tell him, making sure he truly hears me.

Tanner shakes his head before dropping his forehead to mine. “You put too much faith in me, Bri.”

“No,” I whisper. “You don’t put enough in yourself.”

Tanner takes a breath, his fingers tightening on my waist, and as the room falls into silence and his eyes remain locked on mine, a heavy tension begins to build between us, morphing this sweet moment into something much more serious.

For the past week, it’s been teasing, fun, and games. Pushing each other’s buttons and trying to prove a point with this ridiculous challenge, but right now, none of that matters. All I need is him.

His arms close around me, holding me as though he’ll never let me go, and I feel my heart swell. I knew that sooner or later, Tanner would claim me, and I would give myself over, knowing we’d never look back.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been dancing around one another, feeling that exhilarating push and pull, but we’ve moved past that now. Tanner Morgan is my future. I want to be the woman standing at the sidelines of each of his games, the woman pushing him to do the impossible, the one he comes home to.

I want to be his world.

I pull back, the overwhelming emotion almost too much to handle, especially as those dark eyes stare longingly into mine. “Tanner,” I whisper.

He leans in again, this time barely touching his lips to mine. “I know,” he tells me, feeling it too. “There’s no going back for me. I’m not fucking around anymore. This is as real as it gets. Addison is awake and your charges are going to be dropped. There’s nothing standing in our way, nothing stopping us, and I don’t know about you, but it’ll fucking kill me if you’ve decided you don’t want this.”