by Amber Lynn
“I figured as much, but this is probably the last time I’ll see you without him around, so I’d really like to hear why you brought me into this mess. The last time I saw him, he was still naked and had soap behind his ears. We’ve got a few minutes for you to tell me what’s going on.”
Doug seemed determined to get answers, judging by the fact that after her quick look around the hall, he put both of his hands on the doorframe to push her back into the apartment. Annie wasn’t sure what Doug had figured out, but it was probably a good idea that they didn’t hash things out in the hallway. Her neighbors were essentially Nelson’s, so there was a chance something said would end up back at his doorstep.
She stepped aside and ushered Doug in. Since he seemed to already be in a huff, she didn’t think rushing to put away the heartrate monitor would make a difference. It sat on the couch, waiting to be put to use. It was a small unit, but she could see it from where she stood.
“I guess you should probably tell me what you know, since there’s more than one rumor you could’ve heard.” Annie sighed and wished she had more furniture, not that it would fit well in the tight space. She hoped Doug knew he needed to talk fast, so her lack of asking him to have a seat while he got whatever he had to off his chest wasn’t seen as rudeness.
“How far along are you?” Doug asked. He’d stayed close to the door, while Annie had walked a little deeper into the open space.
Annie didn’t miss his eyes gravitate to her stomach as soon as there was some space between them. She had finally gotten around to laundry before the game, so she was in one of her own shirts. It was a baggy one, though, so he wouldn’t notice the bump.
“Please tell me he didn’t tell the whole locker room.” Annie rubbed her forehead as she thought about the looks she was going to get the next time they had a team barbecue.
She’d been to two during the summer, so she was sure they’d have another before long. It was already a little strange for her to hang out with the wives and girlfriends. No one else brought their best friend to hang out with the team.
“So, I read him right. He wouldn’t say who the mother was, just that he was having a kid. Then I playfully asked what you thought about it, and he went nuts. Freaking out that close to me asking him to clarify what he meant about having a kid on the way, and I figured you were the mother.”
A description about what nuts meant wasn’t necessary. Annie was surprised Doug didn’t at least have a black eye or fat lip. Nelson evidently found a little bit of sanity in whatever anger fit he had.
“I guess you know at least half the reason I needed a pretend boyfriend.” Annie wasn’t going to invite Doug to have a seat, but she needed to sit, so she made it over to the couch and collapsed. The fake leather was a little cool on the skin of her arms.
“I’ve decided to be a gentleman, and not ask you about how in the world you ended up pregnant with his baby, but you’re going to have to explain to me why in the world you had to go looking for a boyfriend. I’m pretty sure Nelson isn’t going to abandon you and the baby. If you had any concern about that, it was cleared up when he threw me up against a wall for simply asking a question about you.”
Doug didn’t move from his spot, and he seemed to take almost a robotic stance. If he was smart, he’d be ready to run. Annie assumed Nelson was going to knock, but he didn’t always bother with being polite. With how erratic their interactions had been, the chances of him following any pattern was about zero.
“There’s no question about whether he’ll do right by the baby.” Annie sighed before she continued. She’d found she’d been doing more of that since drama entered her life. “He wants to get married, which would be fine and dandy if he wasn’t doing it out of an obligation he felt. Look, we really don’t have time to get into all the details. Just trust me that the only way I could get him to lose the idea was to tell him that I was seeing someone. I should’ve factored in that he’d share the news, but I thought I had a little more time.”
Annie knew word would eventually get out, but she thought he’d wait until after the next doctor’s appointment. That way he’d have a little more concrete proof that he was going to be a father.
“I doubt he’s lost the marriage idea. So what exactly happened? I mean, you guys are usually all buddy-buddy. I got the idea he might have a thing for you, but I only saw you guys together a few times since you moved down here.”
Doug finally started looking around the space. He’d probably got a few glimpses when he wasn’t trying to figure out where Annie hid her stomach. Annie briefly thought about what her apartment said about her for someone who was just seeing it. Compared to his house, she lived a bit more simplistic, and thrifty.
Her whole apartment would’ve fit in his living room, and chances were that everything inside it cost less than his couch. If she hadn’t seen Nels’ and Casey and Dylan’s humble abodes, she would’ve stereotyped hockey players as people who liked to show off their wealth.
“Nelson doesn’t have a thing for me. He never has, and I highly doubt he ever will. The details about what happened between us are personal. And sorry, the role of fake boyfriend doesn’t have clearance to hear the gory details.”
“But there’s no doubt that it’s his? I don’t mean any offense by asking that, but if it’s not his, I still have a chance. Someone else’s kid, I could probably deal with whatever fight was ahead with the father, but Nels scares the crap out of me when it comes to you. As much as I think there could be something amazing between us, there’s no way I would challenge him for you.”
There was a hint of hopefulness in his eyes, but his tone didn’t reflect it. That more than likely had to do with the fact that he imagined what Nelson would do to him if he thought he stepped out of line.
“As nice as you are, Doug, you probably never had the chance you’re talking about. Based on our interactions, you’ll make a woman a very nice husband someday. Just not me. Nelson doesn’t like me that way, but I’ve been in love with him since I was about thirteen. Probably even before that, but I didn’t have a label when I was ten. At first I thought it was just a schoolgirl crush, but eventually those go away if that’s all it is, right?”
Annie looked away from Doug as she spoke. She shouldn’t have gone into that detail, especially not with one of Nelson’s teammates.
“Then why in the hell are we having this conversation? I thought we were heading down a path where you got drunk and regretted sleeping with him. If you love him, why don’t you just get married and play house? Don’t you owe it to the baby to give that a try?”
“I have my reasons.” That was all Annie was willing to share. “I guess since you know the truth you won’t be answering my phone calls, so I’m on my own trying to convince him I’m not available.”
Annie was pretty sure she had enough experience that she could keep the charade going as long as she felt she needed. Eventually she’d figure something else out when the two months were up. She should’ve said an emphatic no and left it at that. The dreamer inside of her was causing difficulties, as usual.
“Do I look like an idiot? I’m trying to figure out how to make sure he never learns we’ve been even fake dating. Have you been deleting our texts? I’d make sure you do that before he decides he wants to find the guy you’ve been seeing and goes looking for a name.”
“You showed up here, when you know he lives just a couple floors down, so I’m going to refrain from answering your first question. Nelson has always put up boundaries between us. He’s not going to go looking through my phone.”
Even though she tried to act nonchalant about the texts, she knew she’d make sure they were erased. Doug had taken the pretend relationship a little far in some of them, and they were marked clearly under his name.
Annie looked over her shoulder to a clock on the wall. They’d been talking for almost ten minutes, and they were lucky Nelson hadn’t shown up. Even if he scrubbed every inch of his body twice, they didn’t have much
more time.
“Yeah, well, there was a big part of me that hoped I’d read the situation wrong. He’s always a little bit sensitive as far as you go, and whatever was going on with him and the baby’s mother could’ve just amplified that without you being involved.” As Doug said the words, there was a little realization in his eyes that he thought with his heart and not his head. “So, this is your place.”
Annie felt bad about the fact that Doug had gotten more involved than she’d thought he would when she originally asked him. He tried to hide the fact that there was no future for them by blanking his face and rocking back and forth on his feet as he looked around. It wasn’t like there was much for him to take in. She didn’t even have a television, and the white paint on the walls could be blinding at times.
The lease allowed her to do any decorating she wanted, but she’d only decided recently that she wasn’t running back to Canada with her problem. Even knowing she was staying, she didn’t have a desire to get paint rollers out and spruce the place up.
“It’s pretty much what you see is what you get. I’d take you on a tour, but the only thing you’re missing is the bedroom and bathroom, and we don’t have time to show you there is actually a full bathtub.”
To drive the nail in that coffin, a quiet knock sounded at the door. Annie looked at Doug, and she hoped he saw the “I told you so” reflecting in her eyes.
“Did you bring an invisible cape?” she whispered harshly.
If she thought there was a robotic quality to the way he’d been standing, the instant deer in the headlights look made it worse. She’d only mentioned about a dozen times that Nelson would eventually show up, and Doug acted like it was a surprise.
“Somehow in my hurry to get over here before him, I forgot that in the locker room. I obviously can’t go out the front door. Do you have a fire escape?”
“No, I don’t have a fire escape. You’re going to have to hide in the bathroom until he leaves, which will probably be at least an hour. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve had to clean it every day because I’m busy throwing up.”
Annie hurried to get off the couch, while Nelson knocked on the door again. The second time was a little more forceful. The bathroom was the only door in the apartment, so she could have just directed Doug, but she went ahead and flipped the light switch on and gave the room a quick look to make sure there wasn’t anything too embarrassing.
After living with Nelson for a month and sharing a bathroom, she’d learned to keep everything in its place, which for the most part was a cosmetic bag tucked under her bed. Unless there was something wrong with the kind of toothpaste or toilet paper she used, there wasn’t anything curious for a guest to find.
“Get over here,” she said, waving her hand in the air. He hadn’t moved, and her direction didn’t make an immediate difference. “You already said he went after you once tonight. Do you really want to see what he’d do if he found you here?”
He thought about it for a second, and finally took the twenty or so steps to take a look at his hiding place. “Is there a window in there? What if he has to use the bathroom in the hour you claim he’ll be here?”
It was a good question, and not one she had a great answer for. She didn’t have to answer the question about a window, because he could see with his own eyes that he wasn’t going to try to crawl out that way.
“Hide in the shower or something. I doubt he’d look in there and the shower curtain isn’t see-through.” In fact, the navy shower curtain was the only thing in the bathroom that wasn’t white.
“Annie, are you okay?” Nelson didn’t bother knocking again. He’d never been a patient guy, and one day that was going to bite him, but hopefully that would be a day far in the future.
As soon as she heard the doorknob rattle, Annie shoved Doug in the bathroom and shut the door, careful not to slam it. She should’ve gone in and flushed the toilet to make her excuse for not answering quicker more believable, but that would have taken seconds she didn’t have. As it was, she was worried Nelson would wonder why the door was closed. Unless she was in there, she left it open and he’d been over enough he’d know that.
By the time she turned around, Nelson was already in the apartment. It was amazing how she never got tired of seeing him fresh from a shower and in a suit. The two of those things combined made her heart speed up. Not to mention the glimpse of his missing hair wasn’t her eyes playing tricks on her at the game. He’d always been gorgeous, but without the long hair, something made her want to instantly start panting.
She had to hurry to bury the emotions she fought daily to hide and put on a happy face. While Nelson looked at her with concern, she tried to see if there was any hint of what Doug had mentioned about him being interested. As far as she could see, it was the same old Nelson, which meant she was going to have to continue her fake relationship, just without the guy.
Chapter Eleven
Nelson should’ve waited for an invitation to enter, but he could hear Annie inside and it worried him when she didn’t immediately answer. Along with her movement, it sounded like there was a conversation going on, like she was watching TV. Since she didn’t have one, he figured one of her neighbors had theirs up too loud.
“Are you okay?” he asked his question again once he got a look at her. Her face was flushed and it looked like she had just come out of the bathroom.
“What?” For some reason the simple question confused Annie.
“I asked if you’re okay. I knocked a couple times and you didn’t answer. The door wasn’t locked, so I let myself in.”
Annie moved over to the couch and sat down. Other than what seemed to be absent mindedness and the flushed cheeks, she looked okay. Nelson would’ve preferred another encounter with her in pajamas, so he could see the swell that indicated she was pregnant. He kept picturing that swell, but more often than not he rounded it out to make her a few more months along. He couldn’t wait to see if his imagination matched reality.
“Sorry about that. I made the mistake of getting a cheeseburger at the arena tonight and it felt like it was going to make a reappearance.” Annie reached down and rubbed her stomach.
“You actually ate something at the arena? I thought you read some kind of horror story about contaminated food or something.”
Annie had gone on for almost ten minutes when Nelson suggested she grab something to eat the first game she went to after moving to town. Nelson had ended up taking her out to eat at his favorite restaurant afterward, because she claimed to be starving. As far as he knew, there wasn’t anything wrong with the food at the arena, but he’d never needed to grab a bite.
“Well, your child was craving a cheeseburger, so I decided to appease him or her. I knew it was a bad idea, but I thought it was better than gnawing on my own ankle.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure sacrificing your ideals about the arena concessions is a preferable option.” Nelson had shut the door behind him, but hadn’t moved far into the room. Since Annie had made herself comfortable, he went ahead and walked over to join her on the couch.
“I don’t know. It was a coin toss as far as I was concerned.”
Annie was in the middle of the couch, but she patted the seat closest to the door. Nelson could see what he assumed was the device they were going to use on the other side of her.
“Do you get a lot of cravings? You know I’m only a phone call away if you need me to run to the store.” He’d read all about cravings, and some of the different concoctions pregnant women came up with scared him. He’d get her anything she wanted, but she was on her own combining whatever weird flavors the baby decided would taste good together.
“When I get to the point that I’m waddling around, I may take you up on that. For now, I’m pretty sure it’s just as easy for me to go to the store myself.”
Nelson sat down, placing himself closer to Annie than the edge of the couch. He didn’t want to crowd her, but he felt the need to be close to her. There’d been
so much animosity between them that he was a little insecure about things.
“I doubt you’re ever going to waddle. Remember that time when we were fifteen and you decided you were tired of being nothing but skin and bones?”
There had been many times over the years that Annie had tried to gain some weight. The time he brought up was when she got it in her mind that eating a full drum of ice cream was the ticket. They’d gone to an ice cream shop, and using all the money they’d saved up over the years, she started buying ice cream cones.
After ten double scoop cones, Annie had given up. Nelson had only made it through three. He still remembered the look of frustration on her face when she stood on the scale and had only gained three pounds. She hadn’t said specifically, but he was pretty sure they were all gone the next day.
“To this day I cannot eat mint chocolate chip ice cream. Why didn’t you talk me out of it?”
Nelson laughed at the thought. “When have I ever been able to talk you out of something? Plus, the fact that you made it to ten paid for the ice cream.”
Some of the other kids they went to school with had been in the shop, and they’d decided to bet on how many cones Annie would get through. Most of them didn’t think she’d get through more than two, but Nelson had seen her demolish ribs before. He’d picked the highest number of the group and won thirty bucks.
“At least my pain was financially beneficial for you. Should we see if we can figure out how to use this thing?” She pointed to the contraption next to her.
For some reason, Nelson thought it would be bigger. He didn’t do a lot of work on cars, but it reminded him of something a technician used when a warning light showed up on his dash. The guy had plugged the device into something under the steering wheel and within a minute he was explaining what was wrong. Nels hoped the Doppler was just as easy to use.