Long: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

by B. B. Hamel

I took a sharp breath. “Hi, Mom.”

  “How are you?” She sounded stiff and formal.

  “I’m doing okay. How are you and Dad?”

  “We’re fine.”

  I hadn’t spoken to them since I’d broken the news. I had tried calling once, but my father just said that my mother wasn’t feeling well and maybe I should call back some other time. I hadn’t tried since then, because it was obvious to me that they didn’t want to talk.

  Which wasn’t too surprising. I was their sinner daughter after all. I got knocked up by a man I wasn’t married to, and that meant I was basically going to burn in hell for all of eternity.

  “I’m glad you called,” I said. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

  “I’m sure,” she said. “But I’d like to say something first.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  She took a deep breath. “I think that you should give this baby up for adoption.”

  That surprised me. “What?”

  “Listen to me, Avery. You’re not fit to be a mother, and you’re not married. You’re just too young to take care of this child. Your father and I were talking, and we both think it would best if you came home, had the child, put it up for adoption, and then finished your schooling.”

  I couldn’t believe her. Well, I could believe her, but I couldn’t believe she was being serious.

  There was no way I was putting my baby up for adoption, just absolutely no way. I didn’t judge any other woman who made that choice, because it was a hard choice no matter what, but I could take care of my baby, and I wanted to.

  Which was actually a strange thought to have. Ever since it first happened, I’d been wondering what the hell I was going to do. The idea of adoption had crossed my mind once or twice, but never seriously. I had always assumed I was taking care of my baby no matter what.

  “I can’t do that,” I said.

  “You can. It might be difficult for you, but it will be for the best.”

  “No,” I said simply. “I won’t.”

  “Avery, you can’t take care of this child on your own, and clearly the father isn’t in the picture. Come home, let us take care of you, and then you can go back to your life.”

  “No,” I said again. “This is my baby. Maybe he wasn’t planned, but I’m not giving him up.”

  “Be reasonable, Avery. How can you give this child the life it deserves? Let someone else take care of it for you.”

  “Mother, that’s not happening.”

  I could tell she was getting angry again. “Avery, you’ve already sinned so seriously that I worry for your immortal soul, but at least you can salvage whatever is left of your life.”

  “I don’t want to salvage anything,” I said. “This is my baby, and I’m not going to give him up. This isn’t happening, Mother.”

  “Then we’re cutting you off.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “What?”

  “We’re cutting you off if you don’t come home. I’m doing this for your own good, Avery.”

  “No,” I said, anger bubbling up to the surface. “You’re doing this to avoid the embarrassment of having a daughter who had a baby out of wedlock or whatever. You’re doing this for yourself, not for me.”

  “I’m trying to help you. This is more than my mother would have done.”

  “I don’t want your help. Go ahead and cut me off. I’ll figure it out. I don’t want your tuition money.”

  “Be reasonable, Avery.”

  “I am. You’re the one threatening me.”

  “Come home. Give up the child. We can still help you.”

  “No. Goodbye, Mother. Cut me off if you need to.”

  I hung up the phone and stood there, breathing deeply and fast.

  I couldn’t believe my own mother was willing to threaten me like that. She clearly was fine with making my life harder if that served her own agenda.

  I had it hard enough as it was. I wasn’t going to let my mother control me or take my child away. If they stopped paying my tuition bills, then I’d figure it out. But I couldn’t have such a toxic person in my life right now.

  She didn’t really care about what was best for me. She worried about my immortal soul, maybe, but she was mostly just worried that I’d embarrass her. She cared more about what the other ladies at her church thought than she did about what I wanted.

  As I stood there, staring out across the road, I realized something important.

  Gibson wasn’t forcing anything on me. The only person aside from Harper who was actively trying to support me was him. He wasn’t trying to get me to give the baby up for adoption or even something worse. I’d bet that so many guys in his position would have done something similar, especially to try to cover their own asses.

  But not Gibson. He never questioned me, never pushed me to do something differently. Gibson worked hard as hell to support me, and he even went out of his way to help with my school project.

  He didn’t owe me any of that. But talking to my mother, with the way she was pushing something on me, made me realize just how special Gibson’s support really was.

  He was the father of my child, and he wanted to actually be the father. He cared about our baby, even if he showed it in his own strange way. The mafia money was bad, but he had taken it for good reasons.

  And I was ignoring him and avoiding him. I needed to cut the toxic people from my life, but Gibson wasn’t toxic.

  I needed to talk to him. I sighed and began to walk back home. I wasn’t going to take his money, but at the very least I needed to hear what he had to say. I couldn’t keep ignoring him and pushing him away. He was a good person, and he wanted to try to do right.

  I had to try to do the right thing, too.

  23

  Gibson

  Another morning without Avery.

  I wasn’t going to blow up her phone. I just wasn’t that kind of man. But I did have plans to stop by her place after practice. Maybe if I kept showing up, day after day, eventually I’d catch her. Eventually I’d get a chance to explain.

  Once she heard my side of the story, I’d be satisfied. She could choose to do whatever she wanted after that. Once she understood that I did it for her and that I had no other choice, I could accept whatever she chose.

  But I wasn’t some fucking coward who just gave up.

  Practice went better than the day before. I focused better, kept my head in what was happening around me, and didn’t take any massive hits. I had some small bruising around my ribs from that last tackle, but that was okay. I had played with much worse in the past.

  Once we were finished, I showered off and headed out before everyone else. I didn’t feel like explaining to Hynes or Drinkwater what was going on. They’d probably call me a stalker or some shit, which probably wasn’t too far off.

  But as I made my way across campus, my phone started buzzing. I pulled it from my pocket and answered it.

  “Hello,” I grunted.

  “Hi, Gibson.”

  I slowed down. It was Avery.

  “Hey there,” I said. “I was wondering when you’d finally call me back.”

  “I’m sorry I just disappeared like that.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “I want to meet up, though. Maybe we can talk.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Tonight? After your tutoring?”

  “Same spot as always,” I said.

  “Okay.” She paused. “I’ll see you later, Gibson.”

  “Yeah, you will.”

  I hung up the phone, smiling to myself.

  It turned out that I didn’t have to stalk her after all. That was a relief, since I wasn’t too fond of getting rejected over and over again. Still, I would have done it, if at least to stay in my child’s life.

  I turned away from Avery’s place and headed back home. Now I’d have time to get my shit together before going to tutoring. Today was looking up already.

  Mindless mathematics, mindless conversation. That
was how my tutoring went every single night. I didn’t exactly need the extra help, and everyone knew it, but the coaching and athletics staff all wanted to make sure their star player didn’t fall behind, no matter what.

  Everyone figured being the big star of the football team would be all fun. Truth was, it was a lot of work. It took a ton of work to reach my position, and it took even more work to keep it. I barely had time to have fun, especially when it was football season. Not to mention I had to deal with the media and all the people in the world who wanted to try to talk shit.

  But none of that mattered as I left tutoring and headed down the campus’s clean-swept sidewalks. There was a large field crisscrossed with walkways stuck in the middle of a ring of buildings. People were sitting in the grass, enjoying the comfortable evening. I nodded to a few people who waved as I crossed between some buildings and moved over a road. I got close to the stadium and hung a left, skirting along its large concrete exterior until I saw the statue up ahead.

  Avery was sitting at the base. I couldn’t help but smile. She was wearing shorts that showed off her gorgeous legs and a cardigan that was probably meant to be conservative but made her tits all the more fantastic.

  I remembered the way her body felt in the bushes just behind the statue, not even a foot from where she was sitting. I remembered the way she sucked my cock, greedy and soaking wet, and the way I slipped myself deep inside her. I loved hearing her moan, but it got me so fucking hard to cover her mouth as I fucked her.

  She was insatiable. She was incredible. I stopped a few feet away from her.

  “Glad you came,” I said.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “Me too.”

  I walked closer to her. “Look, Avery—”

  “Hold on a second,” she said, cutting me off. “Let me say something.”

  I smiled and nodded at her. “Yeah, okay. Go ahead.”

  “I’m sorry I ran out on you like that. I should have stayed and let you explain. And I should have talked to you sooner.”

  I shrugged. “It was your loss.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Not talking to me. I’m sure it’s been a struggle.”

  She concealed a smile. “It wasn’t right of me, anyway. We’re in this together.”

  “Yeah, we are,” I said. “That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to make you understand.”

  “I get it,” she said, “but I need you to understand something. Of the two of us, you have a lot more to lose than I do.”

  I laughed. “Hardly.”

  “You have a shot at playing in the NFL. You’re practically a star right now, Gibson. You have a lot to lose. I’m just a girl.”

  I moved toward her and sat down on the base of the statue. We were inches apart. “Maybe,” I conceded, “but that doesn’t mean shit. You’re a person too. Just because I play football doesn’t mean I’m special.”

  She sighed, shaking her head. “That’s exactly what I mean. Only someone really special would say that.”

  I laughed. “I guess you got me there.”

  “But, Gibson, I can’t take your mob money. I just can’t. That’s not what I want from you.”

  “You don’t have to take it,” I said, “but I’m going to use it on our kid.”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Listen, Avery. I understand that it makes you uncomfortable. I can’t blame you, really. But I worked for that money, and it’s mine now. I’m going to spend it on the kid one way or another.”

  “Fine,” she said, sighing. “On the baby, but not on me.”

  “You got a deal.”

  “Our relationship is important to me, Gibson. I want you to be a part of this kid’s life, you know? I don’t want to jeopardize that.”

  “Nothing can jeopardize that,” I said.

  “Maybe. But for now, I think we should, you know, try to stay friends.”

  I frowned at the way she said friends.

  “If that’s what you want,” I conceded.

  “I guess it is right now.”

  “Okay then, princess. But if you want to just be friends, then I’m not going to take you behind this statue and make you come so hard you go numb all over.”

  She finally cracked a smile. “I guess I’m missing out.”

  “You absolutely are. I’d press you up against the concrete, fuck you rough in the dirt, tongue that clit until you couldn’t see straight.”

  “Probably for the best then,” she said, standing. “I have homework to do. I need my vision.”

  “See you tomorrow morning then?”

  She frowned. “I don’t know.”

  “Hynes got used to seeing your pretty ass bright and early. You wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Plus, where else are you going to find the perfect specimen for your study?”

  “Nowhere,” she said, back to smiling.

  I stood up and started to walk away. “See you tomorrow morning then.”

  I smiled to myself as I headed back toward my apartment. I knew she was looking at me, and I knew what she was thinking.

  She was wondering how she was going to resist me. She was wondering how she was going to be so close to me without her pussy getting wet, without her body betraying her.

  But that was exactly what I wanted. I wanted her body to betray her, because her body knew what she really wanted.

  And I wasn’t going to give it to her until she had to beg for more.

  24

  Avery

  I showed up at Gibson’s bright and early at the usual time. I knocked once and he let me in, looking sleepy.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” I said to him.

  “Morning,” he grunted. He sipped from a coffee mug.

  “Oh hell yeah,” Hynes said from the kitchen. “She’s back and looking lovely as ever.”

  Gibson gave him a look. “Down boy. That’s my baby momma.”

  He laughed. “Your fucking baby momma. She’d leave you in a second for me if she weren’t already knocked up.”

  I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. “I think he has a point,” I said to Gibson.

  “You’re just delirious. It’s early. You’re exhausted.”

  “See, man? She wants the Hynes.”

  “On second thought,” I said, “I’m not into guys who talk about themselves in the third person. I think I’ll stick with nobody for now.”

  Hynes busted up laughing and then disappeared back into his bedroom. I steered Gibson to the couch and started going through the routine.

  It had become familiar, but it still made my heart beat fast. As soon as that shirt came off, I couldn’t help myself. Being around Gibson’s cocky smile, his shirtless body, his sexy tattoos, it all drove me wild. I had to keep my head level, though. I couldn’t risk getting stuck in all of this again.

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked me as I went through checking him.

  “Nothing special.”

  “It’s Friday. You have to be doing something special.”

  “I’m pregnant, remember? Anything fun or special is basically off limits for me.”

  He laughed. “You can still have fun.”

  “Hardly. I’m tired all the time. I’m bloated and gross. I don’t feel like myself.”

  “You don’t look bloated or gross,” he said softly. “I’m barely containing my hard fucking cock, actually.”

  I glanced down at his gym shorts. “You’re not doing a good job at it.”

  He grinned at me. “Well, I’m not trying that hard.”

  “Anyway, I’m just sitting around. Why?”

  “Me and some of the guys are going to Dom’s tonight, getting some dinner. Nothing crazy since tomorrow is game day. Come with us.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Come on,” he said, “it’ll be a group thing. Non-threatening. You can meet the guys.”

  “I don’t need to meet the guys.”

&n
bsp; “Sure you do,” he said. “You’re desperate to meet them.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s free food and great company. What more could you want?”

  I glanced at his chest and looked quickly away. The memory of his cock between my legs pushing deep inside me came back, and I knew that was what I really wanted.

  “Okay,” I heard myself say.

  “Good. I’m off tutoring. I’ll get you around six.”

  “Fine. Six.”

  I finished up writing in my journal and put away all of the equipment. Hynes reappeared, and we made small talk as I finished putting stuff away in my bag.

  Gibson walked me to the door. “See you later,” he said.

  “Yeah. See you.” I turned and left.

  So much for keeping my distance from him, but then again, it was a group thing, and I hadn’t really gone anywhere in so long. I felt like an old lady already, and I was barely nine weeks pregnant.

  If anything, I needed this. I needed a little time out, even if I couldn’t drink, even if it was with my baby’s father, my baby’s gorgeous and complicated father.

  I completely lost track of time. By the time six rolled around, I was barely ready.

  He knocked at five after six, almost as if he sensed that I needed a few extra minutes to get ready.

  I answered the door. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey yourself.” He was wearing his usual jeans and a button-down, but he looked great. There was just something so attractive about him, something that took me and wouldn’t let me go no matter how badly I wished I could get past it.

  “You look fucking nice,” he said. “Ready?”

  “Ready.” I looked back into the apartment. “Bye, Harper!” I called out before we walked outside together.

  We walked onto campus, toward Dom’s. It was another beautiful night out, which meant campus was full of people looking to hang out.

  “So,” I said, “who’s all coming?”

  “Me, you, Hynes, and Drinkwater.”

  “Just us four?”

  He nodded. “Just us four. You wanted more?”

  “No. I mean, I guess I expected a bigger crowd.”