Down the Line (Sports Romance)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Yeah, and guys hate being cheated on by their fiancées. So what’s your point?”

  “You’re so hateful,” she said, shooting him a sidelong glance. “I don’t see why. You’re the one who got everything you wanted, leaving me with nothing. If we’d been married—”

  “Thank God we weren’t.” Even with a pre-nup, she’d have gotten way more than she deserved.

  “You think you deserve to be happy while I’m miserable?” she seethed.

  “I think you made your choice, and now you have to live with the consequences.” He had nothing to feel guilty about. She’d cheated on him, not the other way around.

  “Tell me something. Would you ever have married me? With your precious Gracie being single—”

  “Leave her out of this,” he warned. “She’s not the reason we broke up. You are.”

  “Can’t you at least admit that you never loved me the way you loved her?”

  He closed his eyes, tipping his head back as he struggled for patience, something he always seemed to be lacking when dealing with this woman. “Why does any of this matter now?”

  “We were going to get married. I’d like to know that I was at least your first choice.” When he couldn’t respond, she shook her head. “Of course I wasn’t your first choice. How stupid of me. You only hooked up with me because she wasn’t available.”

  “You need to let go of all the bitterness and move on with your life. I have.”

  “Right. And your life is just so perfect now, isn’t it?” Her hand moved to her flat stomach. “But it won’t be if this baby turns out to be yours. It’ll turn your perfect little world upside down, won’t it?”

  Ethan felt a tightness in his chest. Anxiety. Fear. The reality of the situation settling in on him. He could lose everything that meant anything to him if this blood test didn’t go his way. But would Gracie really leave him just because he’d fathered a child before they got back together?

  No. They’d wade through this mess together. Somehow.

  * * *

  Ethan was exhausted by the time he returned to his house in Kansas City that night. His housekeeper had already left for the day, leaving him alone with his thoughts and a phone that refused to ring.

  He’d tried everything to reach Gracie after her last text. He’d texted, but she hadn’t responded. When he tried to call, it went straight to voice mail. Her phone was either off or dead. He chose to believe it was the latter, but he hadn’t been able to reach her at home or work either.

  He told himself he was just feeling unsettled because of the blood test, but instead of going crazy with his circular thoughts, he decided to invite some friends over for a beer. Loran texted back right away to say he had a thing he couldn’t get out of, but Dec was on his way.

  Ethan sat on the couch in the dark living room, his eyes closed, as he tried to imagine Gracie’s reaction if he had to tell her he was going to be a father. God, what if she was pregnant too? Two babies at the same time. One with his wife, the other with a woman he could barely stand to look at. How had his life gotten so messed up?

  The doorbell rang, pulling him out of his head. As he got up to answer the door, he flicked a light on so Dec wasn’t walking into a dungeon.

  When Ethan opened the door, Dec shook his hand and pulled him into a half-hug. “Hey, man, thanks for the invite. I needed to get out of the house for a while. The off-season sucks.”

  Ethan smiled, though he didn’t agree. As much as he loved his job, he craved the downtime during the off-season too.

  “Take a load off,” Ethan said, pointing toward the two gray couches facing each other in the open living room. “I’ll grab us a couple of beers.”

  When Ethan returned with the beers, Dec was checking his phone. He set it down and took the beer. “Thanks. So what brings you back here during the off-season? Grace not with you?”

  “Uh, no,” Ethan said, sitting on the couch facing him. “I’m just here for a day or two on business. Got a property to sell. And she’s busy closing up the gym. Plus her house is on the market, so she might get an offer.”

  She’d been adamant about putting the house up for sale, which meant she had literally given up everything to be with him. That scared the hell out of him.

  Dec stared at him for a few seconds before he nodded and tipped his beer back.

  “What?” Ethan asked, feeling self-conscious. It was as if Dec could see right through him. Even though they hadn’t played together long, Dec was one of his favorite teammates. They’d connected right away, becoming fast friends.

  “Something’s going on with you,” he said, extending one arm before resting his hand behind his head. “It was obvious when we came to see you. So are you gonna tell me what the hell’s going on or let me guess?”

  Aside from his sister, no one knew about the pregnancy. But he knew he could trust Dec. “Issie’s pregnant.”

  Dec swore softly. “Man, I’m sorry. It’s yours?”

  “I don’t know yet. We’re still waiting on the results of the paternity test.”

  “How did Grace react when you told her?”

  “I haven’t told her yet.”

  Dec winced. “Man, not a good idea to hold out on your wife, especially about something this big.”

  Dec had only echoed what Ethan already knew, but it still pissed him off. He needed his friend’s support, not a lecture about what a shitty husband he was for holding out on her.

  “You don’t think I know that?” He sighed when Dec raised a hand. “I’m sorry, I know you’re just trying to help. I want to tell her…” But he knew that would be for his benefit, not hers. The stress was eating him alive, but he didn’t think it would be fair to shift that stress to her until he knew for sure the baby was his.

  “So why haven’t you?”

  “If the paternity test is positive, I’ll tell her.” When Dec raised his eyebrows but said nothing, Ethan couldn’t help but feel defensive. “I will, man. What other choice do I have, right?”

  “You’re afraid she’ll leave you?”

  That was the thing that scared Ethan the most. He finally had everything he wanted and he couldn’t lose her. But he couldn’t force her to stay either. “But it gets worse.”

  Dec frowned. “How the hell can it get any worse? There’s not a third woman, is there?”

  “Don’t be an asshole.” He took a long pull from his beer. “No, we were trying to get pregnant before I found out about Issie. For all I know, Grace could be pregnant too.”

  Dec’s jaw dropped. “Dude, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “I wish I was.” He tipped his head back, blowing out a breath. “I’ve been careful with Gracie since I found out about Issie’s pregnancy, but short of going back to rubber, I don’t know what I can do to protect her without raising all kinds of questions about why we’re not actively trying to get pregnant anymore.”

  “I’m not even going to ask how the hell you thought you were being careful without condoms.”

  “Shower. Hot tub, shit like that.” He’d had to get creative, which meant they hadn’t been having sex as much as he would have liked.

  “I had a pregnancy scare once too. One-night stand while I was playing in Toronto.” Dec looked at his beer bottle, rubbing his thumb over the label. “The girl was smokin’ hot. I mean, off the charts. I’ve never been with anyone like that before or since.”

  Which was saying a lot, because Ethan knew Dec had a reputation for getting around. “What happened?”

  “Her brother headed up this charity we were doing a thing for. You know, pics with the kids, signing autographs, silent auction, the whole deal.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “She was helping him out with it, and we just started talking at the event. Afterward, we went out for a drink and one thing led to another.”

  Ethan knew how the story went. He’d been in Dec’s position too many times to count over the years. “She ended up back at your place?”

  “I had an off d
ay the next day.” He grinned. “And let’s just say the skipper reamed me out for not making it to practice.”

  Ethan smiled. “That good, huh?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “So you never saw her again?”

  “I tried texting her a few times, but she never responded. One day out of the blue, I got a call and she said she was pregnant.”

  “Wow. What’d you say?”

  He grimaced. “I was an asshole. I told her I’d had it wrapped, so if she was looking for a baby-daddy, she should hit up somebody else.”

  “You didn’t.” Ethan had never known Dec to be cold or callous, unlike some of the other guys on their team. And he seemed to have a healthy respect for women. He was always talking about the influence his single mother and two older sisters had had on him when he was growing up.

  “I did. I’m not proud of it, but…” He shrugged. “People make mistakes, right? Say stupid shit they don’t mean all the time.”

  “You ever find out if she had the baby?” Ethan couldn’t imagine Dec not needing to know.

  “It was eating away at me. So I called her up a few weeks later to let her know I’d been thinking about her and asked how she was doing, and she told me she’d had a miscarriage.”

  “That sucks.” Ethan wasn’t sure how Dec viewed it, but he could see the sadness in his friend’s expression, so he imagined the news had hit him hard.

  “Yeah, it does. I’ll admit over those few weeks, I started thinking all kinds of crazy shit. You know, imagining what it would be like to be a father.”

  “Yeah, I know what that’s like.” Ethan wanted a baby more than anything, but with Gracie, not Issie.

  “She told me she never wanted to hear from me again, and that was it.” He stroked the stubble on his jaw. “Would you believe it’s been four years and I still think about that girl sometimes?”

  “Some women just get under your skin,” Ethan said, feeling his pain. “That’s what it was like with Gracie. Didn’t matter whether we were together or not. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Seeing her engaged to someone else was a special kind of torture.”

  “I can imagine. But hey, at least it all worked out in the end, right? You got the girl.”

  Yeah, but how long could he keep her?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Grace was surprised when she opened the door to find her brother standing outside, prepared to ring the doorbell.

  “Hey,” she said, pulling him into a hug. “This is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to you about your car… the break-in.”

  So much had happened since then, she’d almost forgot all about that incident. “You know who did it?”

  “Uh, yeah. Can I come in so we can talk about it?”

  “Of course.” She smiled, stepping back. “Come in. You want something to drink? Or I made a cherry pie earlier. How ‘bout a piece?”

  “No, I’m good, sis. Thanks. We just need to talk about this.”

  Now she was concerned. Jason sounded too serious for this to be a random teen stirring up trouble. “Um, okay.” She gestured to one of the sofas in the living room. “Have a seat. Fill me in.”

  As he sat, Jason said, “It was Joel.”

  Her mouth went dry and she felt a lump forming in her throat. “Why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know. I intend to ask him, but I need to know what you want to do first. Press charges? Even though it’s a misdemeanor, a criminal record could ruin his career.”

  Though she wanted nothing more to do with her ex, he’d been a part of her life for a long time. She didn’t want to see any harm come to him. “What could happen to him if I press charges?”

  “Well, it’s a Class A misdemeanor. Punishment is usually up to a year in jail and a fine up to ten grand. The judge might go easy on him, since it’s his first offense. Or not, since it wasn’t a random act. You are his ex-fiancée. The prosecutor might be able to establish a pattern of behavior that suggests stalking or—”

  “I need to talk to him before I decide what to do.”

  Jason looked around. “Is Ethan here? Shouldn’t you talk to him before you—”

  “He’s out of town on business. Besides, he’s had a lot on his mind lately. I don’t want to bother him with this.”

  “Sis, I don’t want you going to see this guy alone. I don’t know why the hell he broke into your car or what else he might have planned.”

  “I’ll go to his office,” she said, not relishing the idea of being alone with him either. She checked her watch. “He’ll be there for a couple more hours, which means his receptionist will be there and patients will be in and out.”

  “Before I go,” he said, standing, “how’s married life treating you?”

  She walked him to the door, her arm around his waist. “It’s good.”

  He looked down at her, frowning. “That’s it? Just good? You can’t tell me you’re over the honeymoon phase already. Not when you’ve been waiting your whole life to marry this guy.”

  “No, it’s great.” She forced a smile. “It’s just, like I said, Ethan seems to have a lot on his mind lately and he won’t open up to me about it.”

  He stood at the door, facing her. “Look, I’m no expert when it comes to relationships, but you know communication is important. If you guys can’t talk to each other about your problems, what the hell was the point of getting married?”

  “I know.” She sank against the closed door. “You’re right. I just thought he’d open up to me on his own, you know, when he was ready. But he hasn’t, and it’s really starting to worry me. What if he’s keeping something big from me, something that could impact our relationship?”

  “Then you need to know.”

  “What if I’m afraid?” she whispered. She’d waited so long to be married to this man. She didn’t want anything to ruin it. “Maybe he’s having second thoughts about being married or starting a family now or me going back to KC with him.”

  “Look, it’s not like you to be timid.” He took her hands. “If the guy’s not being straight with you, then you need to find out why. Address it. Don’t hide from it.”

  She knew Jason was right. She’d tried to ignore her husband’s behavior too long. As soon as Ethan got home, she had to confront him about what was going on. What was he hiding from her?

  * * *

  Grace took the seat Joel offered while he sat on the other side of his desk, waiting for her to explain the reason for her visit.

  “I guess I should congratulate you,” he said, his gaze drifting to the rings on her left hand.

  “You don’t have to.” She knew it wouldn’t be sincere. “Besides, I didn’t come to talk to you about my marriage. I came to talk about what you did.”

  “What I did?”

  “Breaking into my car.”

  He paled before running a shaky hand through his cropped hair. “I can explain that.”

  “I wish you would.” She still hadn’t decided how she was going to handle this, whether she would pursue charges or not, but a lot would depend on his excuse for doing what he did. Was there any way he could justify it? She didn’t think so, but she was willing to listen.

  “When he came back to town, I heard he and his fiancée broke up, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he started sniffing around you again.” He curled his hand into a fist on the desktop. “I panicked, okay? I started thinking about all the ways I could get closer to you again. Spending time at the gym wasn’t helping, and you didn’t want to accept gifts from me or agree to coffee or anything.”

  “Because it was over between us. I told you that. There was no going back for me.”

  “Right, but you were willing to go back to him. Even after he broke your heart. Why were you willing to give him a second chance, but not me?”

  She could never explain to Joel how different her feelings for Ethan had been and knew it was pointless to try. “Can we get back to
my car?”

  “It may sound stupid now…” His lips pressed tightly, folding into each other. “Hell, it was stupid. But I thought if you didn’t feel safe living in that house anymore, given the break-in, you might consider alternative living arrangements.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “When I went into the gym the next day, I was going to tell you about a unit for sale in my building. You know, underground parking, security. You’d said before a condo might be a better fit for you. So I thought I could help you make the decision, offer to see the place with you, since I knew the building so well, help you move, get settled in. We’d have more time together if we were living in the same building. I could stop by any time.”

  Yeah, like that would have been a selling feature. “I can’t believe you actually thought I would buy a unit in your building.” Was he really that delusional?

  “That was before I found out you were still seeing that… him.” His eyes were hard and cold as he cracked his knuckles. “When I came to the gym the next day and you disappeared into the office with him again, I knew it was a lost cause. That was when I told my old man to go ahead and sell the building if he wanted to. I didn’t care anymore.”

  “I can’t believe you did this,” she said, shaking her head. “We were together a long time. I thought I knew you.”

  “I thought I knew you too! I never imagined you could go back to him after—”

  “Let’s get clear on one thing. My relationship with Ethan is not up for debate here. I don’t owe you an explanation, and I sure as hell don’t have to defend my actions to you. We’ve been broken up a long time and who I choose to date, or marry, is none of your business.” She took a deep breath, satisfied she’d made her point. “I’m here because you committed a crime and I have to figure out how the hell to deal with that.”

  He paled, leaning forward. “Look, I know what I did was stupid. I’m sorry. But you can’t possibly be considering pressing charges.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m considering. You tried to intimidate me, to instill fear in me. Why the hell should I let you get away with that?”