Banking the Billionaire (Bad Boy Billionaires Book 2)(124)

His offensive line held strong, but all of his receivers were covered. I saw him glance to our weak side again, the gaping hole left by Mitchell only partially filled by his replacement, Harvesty, but Ontario Williams, our defensive tackle, finally broke his hold against Dan DeLuva and took his mammoth body barreling toward their quarterback.

Fuck yes. End this.

Pittsburgh was a formidable opponent for a reason and made for a nightmare of a first game of the season, but even they weren’t invincible. Williams brought Rodeshiemer down with a thud, and my hands finally shot into the air.

Cassie cheered from the rear, and Kline clapped me on the shoulder before stepping away to claim back his wife. I smiled at the feeling of my first full breath.

That is, until I realized that Winnie was still down there as pandemonium broke out. Like a word search, I scoured each group of people one by one.

“Quinn Bailey played one f*ck of a game,” Thatch said from somewhere beside me. I hadn’t even noticed him walk up.

I glanced at him briefly, but I kept my focus on the field as a crowd covered it like a blanket. “Oh? Are you saying you actually saw the game?”

His face was a weird mix of happiness and regret and apology all in one. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him look this way. “Sorry, dude. I know my attention was a little split today, but I swear, today of all days, I had a reason. I’ll be here right beside you the whole time next game.”

I wanted to focus on what he was saying, ask him about what the f*ck was going on with him, but I couldn’t. Not until I found her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and I knew I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the f*cking awful feeling in my chest.

“Nothing,” I denied as I kept looking.

“Are you looking for someone?” he asked. It took a whole lot of effort to keep from telling him I’d find who I was looking for a hell of a lot faster if he left me to it.

“Look!” Georgia squealed from the other end of the glass. “There’s Winnie!”

My eyes shot to her to see where she was looking. I followed the line of her finger and finally saw, in the center of the crowd with a security guard beside her, Winnie was jogging straight down the middle of the field for the tunnel.

I closed my eyes and ran a hand through my hair. This is so not f*cking good.

Most of my employees were men, or in Georgia’s case, married to one of my best friends, so I didn’t really find myself in this situation often, but it wasn’t good. You cannot angry-f*ck one of your employees.

Long legs wrapped around me with her skirt up to her waist and her tits in my mouth, I pictured f*cking her against the goalpost. Fuck, I told myself. I told you, you can’t f*ck her.

The sound of Cassie’s excited voice pulled me out of my daydream. “I’m so glad she’s going out with us tonight.”

I couldn’t even stop myself from asking. “Who?”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “Winnie.”

Shit. My gaze jerked back to the field, but she’d already disappeared inside the tunnel.

“Me too,” Georgia agreed. “Where do you think we should go?”

They answered in unison. “Barcelona Bar!”

Thatch jumped to attention beside me. Honest to God, I think he’d been sleeping on his feet.

“Barcelona Bar?” His face was a mask of no-f*cking-way.

Cassie transformed into a woman possessed right before our eyes. “Yes, Barcelona Bar! I want some Harry Potter shots, goddammit!”

“No,” Thatch denied outright, and my eyebrows jumped up in surprise. Georgia’s face said Danger Will Robinson too, but Kline, the only one who seemed to understand, stood smirking in the background.

“No?” Cassie asked back in a voice that would scare anyone. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“Cass—”

“No, Thatcher. You’ve been cockblocking my good time for hours now, and I want to know what the f*ck is going on.”

He glanced around at all of us desperately, but no one tried to help.

“Come on, baby,” he tried. “Let’s go have sex.”

Her eyes flashed, and she started to move toward him before she caught herself. “Wait. Are you using * persuasion to distract me?”

Thatch tried to look innocent, but he failed spectacularly.

“Oh my God, you are!” she yelled. “You better tell me what’s going on here right f*cking now, or I will destroy you.”

“Cass,” he whispered. “Trust me, honey. Now really isn’t the time.”

A knock sounded on the door of the suite, and Winnie peeked her head in. Her eyes came straight to me.

“You think you can’t feel your dick now, but you definitely won’t be able to when I cut it off your body,” Cassie retorted.

I winced at the visual, my eyes still locked with Winnie’s. It was like some weird magnet that would not let go.

“Fine,” Thatch yelled. “You’re pregnant, okay? Are you happy now?”

Huh? My head whipped to the side to look at the lovers’ spat. Apparently, that kind of news was strong enough to break the connection.

“What?” Cassie shrieked.

Thatch nodded.

“No.” Cassie shook her head and laughed maniacally. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”