Touchdown Baby

by Rose Harris

  “I wasn’t alone. I had my parents and you. Heck, your mom has always been there as much as mine. I’ve done everything I can to make a good life for Ashlyn. I didn’t need your brother’s money.”

  “I’m not talking about money. I’m talking about support. Didn’t you think he would want to be involved with his child?”

  Without hesitation Ava spoke. “No. He has always said he never wanted kids. That he was afraid he would turn out like his biological father. I really believe he feels that way. You should have heard him talk about the pending paternity case. He’s actually praying this kid isn’t his. He doesn’t want any kids, and I hate I will have to force one on him.”

  “I don’t think force is what you’re going to have to do to get him to accept Ashes. He already loves that little girl, in case you haven’t noticed, and she loves him. Honestly, I think your biggest obstacle is going to be the fact you two don’t trust each other. He didn’t trust you with his heart three years ago, and you’re afraid to trust him with your daughter.”

  “When did you become the adult? I’m the one who is supposed to tell you what to do. What is our friendship coming to?”

  “We’re the best of friends and I love you, Jace and especially my niece. I want you to find the happiness that has eluded you. You deserve to be happy.”

  Silent tears slipped from the edges of tightly squeezed eyes as Ava tried to control her emotions. “Thank you. Thank you for being my friend through everything. I don’t know if Jace will ever accept his role as a father with all I’ve done.”

  “He loves you. I can tell by the way he watches your every move, even when he appears to be looking elsewhere. Any man who feels that way about a woman will be a wonderful father, I promise you.”

  Random thoughts and emotions fought for attention in Ava’s mind as she continued to watch the dancing shadows. “Do you want to talk about you and Alex?”

  “What’s there to talk about? He broke my heart and he doesn’t care.” The strong words were diminished by the hurt that hung around the edges.

  “He didn’t act like a man who didn’t care.”

  “He’s just worried I’d spill our little secret to Jace.”

  “I don’t th—” Ava tried to speak.

  “Don’t worry, Ava. I’m over it. It was just a shock to see him.” Tough girl Roxi was back, and her tone of voice proved this discussion was over. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to go to sleep. Night, love you.”

  “Night, love you too.”

  ****

  Unable to sleep, Ava listened to the quiet. After Roxi dosed off, Ava gave up on the ruse of sleeping and slipped out of the room on quiet feet and headed out to sit on the deck when the gentle rocking of the pier beckoned her. The air, which earlier had seemed warm, was now cooler than Ava remembered as she walked through the soft grass damp with dew.

  It always amazed her how precious silence was, minus the white noise of the night. If you had asked her three years ago what she would be doing on a Saturday night when she was twenty-two, she would have answered without question she would be at the hottest club, dancing until her feet hurt. Funny what a couple of years, and a child, brought to the equation.

  The cold shocked her feet as she slipped them in the dark water; Ava adapted to the cold quickly. The circular motions in the water caused minor waves to hit the dock pillars. The decisions she made were of her choosing, and she was proud of the woman and mother she had become. It hadn’t been easy adjusting her school schedule to fit in the necessary classes so she could graduate on time. It was even harder trying to work a job around classes and still have time to see her daughter. Without her parents and their acceptance, she would never have been able to accomplish so much in the past three years. With Ashlyn just over two, she had the comfort of knowing her daughter wasn’t traumatized by any lack of attention in her first years.

  The croak of frogs that were well hidden throughout the grass allowed her solitude and gave her the chance to accept the choices she made. She knew they were the best for all parties, and she wouldn’t regret them. Keeping quiet about Ashlyn’s paternity had been her only option at the time, but the time for honesty was upon her. Like the strong person she was, Ava stood on the swaying dock and made the decision to come clean with Jace at the next possible opportunity. Noting a towel on a pillar, Ava stopped to wipe her feet. When she finished, she’d taken a few steps before she noticed she hadn’t been alone like she thought. Jace sat in the captain’s chair of his boat with a bottle of bourbon in one hand and a smile on his drunken face.

  ****

  Hands on her hips, Ava demanded, “What are you doing?”

  “Getting drunk under the stars, want to join me?”

  Slurred speech from a drunk was so unattractive. “No, I think you should join me.”

  “All right, but I don’t know how good I’m going to be. I’m pretty wasted.” Standing on unsteady legs proved harder while in a floating object, and Jace’s body jerked forward with the tilt of the boat.

  With a less than graceful stumble, Ava quickly climbed over the side of the vessel that was tipping with Jace’s jerky movements; Ava grasped Jace’s arm just as he tipped closer to the side of the boat. Slipping his arm around her waist, she settled him back on the chair.

  His movements were so fast Ava didn’t know how it happened, but she was now being cradled, yet again, on Jace’s lap. “You have to stop holding me like a child. I’m a woman.”

  “Don’t worry, I can definitely tell you’re all woman.” Roaming hands started on her thighs and moved across her backside, before sneaking up the back of her shirt. “Damn, woman, have I told you how much I want you? I even dreamed about taking you over and over last night.”

  “Come on, Jace, let’s get you inside.”

  “Hell yeah, that’s how I want you to talk to me, tell me how you want me inside you.”

  “I meant, let’s get you in the house.”

  “I know what you meant. I’m not that drunk.” The loss of his body heat as he sat her in the seat beside him made Ava shiver. Before she could protest, he removed his jacket and placed it across her shoulders.

  Bundled in the fleece jacket, she sat in the swaying vessel enjoying the view. She didn’t know if it was the isolation the boat allowed or the security of knowing they could trust each other, but the night elicited confessions.

  “My father called me.” The angry way he said “father” told Ava he wasn’t referring to John Coolidge. “He wants to meet with me.”

  Ava took a moment to process the shock of his statement before responding. “What do you want?”

  “To tell him to go to hell and to leave me alone, but I don’t think it’s the smartest move.” Titling the bottle to his lips, Ava watched him drink deeply. The moonlight cast shadows she knew hid the hurt on his face.

  “He called this evening on my business number. I went into my office after I finished working out to check my messages, hoping something had changed with the paternity suit. Normally I wouldn’t have answered, but I happened to be sitting in my office when the phone rang. I didn’t check the caller ID; he called from an unlisted number. Fuck, I don’t even know how he got my number.” Running his hand through his hair, Jace tilted his head toward the stars that scattered the sky.

  “Cal Johnson. That’s his name. Did you know that?”

  “No.” Ava flinched at the harsh way Jace said his name. She would have bet any amount of money this had been the first time he’d heard that name.

  When he let out a stifled laugh, she knew he was hurting. She reached across the small opening and rested her hand on his forearm.

  “Mom never even told me his name. My birth certificate says C. Johnson. She didn’t even put down his age.” Jace stared off into the blackness that settled around the water. “I always wondered what he would be like. Don’t get me wrong, my real dad is great, but I just always wanted to know what the sperm donor would think of me.”

  “Yo
u always talk about not wanting to be like him. I figured you wouldn’t want to meet him.”

  “I don’t want to meet him, but he said if I don’t, he’ll go to the press about how my mom kept him away. That is such bullshit. He walked because a fucking baseball was more important than his own child.” Jace tilted the bottle and took another long drink from bourbon bottle. “He knew all about Felicia and her accusations, things he shouldn’t have known. He said it was just like his story, and if I want to keep this perfect public image, I needed to make things right with him. He wants money. Apparently, baseball was not lucrative, and he is willing to ruin my parents’ and my reputations for money. I can’t let him do that to my parents.” When he swiveled the chair so he was facing the opposite direction, Ava knew what she had to do.

  Her movements barely tipped the boat when she turned him so they were face-to-face. Sadness shone in his glassy hollow eyes, Ava’s heart broke, and she took his face in her small hands. “I want you to look at me when I tell you this. Your parents are amazingly strong people. They have loved and supported you through everything. You owe them honesty in everything right now. They will stand behind you in whatever happens. You need to remember that.”

  Holding him close, she lightly brushed her lips against his and savored the sweet taste of the bourbon that lingered on his lips. Pulling back so her show of support didn’t turn into full-blown desire, she captured his hand and pulled him up so they could go inside.

  The climb off the boat proved effortless, and they walked hand-in-hand across the damp grass.

  “I told you my reason for being out in the middle of the night. Are you going to tell me yours?” Jace questioned as he swayed slightly from the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

  With his slightly slurred words and the jerky motions, Ava knew this wasn’t the time to spill her secret. “Not tonight, but soon.”

  Upon entry into the house, she was shocked when he set the alarm. The realization she would have set the alarm off if he hadn’t already been out of the house hit her as funny. Giggling to herself, she made note to check next time before she opened the door. How would she have explained herself to the police if she’d been caught outside wandering around the yard?

  “Why are you smiling?” Jace asked.

  “Just imagining me setting off your alarm. I didn’t even see it as I walked out.”

  Jace grabbed her hand again, and they began to walk up the stairs. Suddenly Jace broke contact and took off toward his room.

  Ava followed him into the masculine room and found him in the bathroom where he began to get sick. After running a washrag under cold water, she laid it across his neck and walked back into his room to wait for him.

  Moments later with an ashen face and sluggish movements, Jace lay across the bed and asked if she would lie with him for a little while. The strong persona the world saw was gone, and left was a man with insecurities. The removal of his shoes was easy, but when she helped slide his jeans off without him getting up again, it proved more difficult. Not willing to put either of them in an awkward position, Ava grabbed a blanket from a chair in the corner of the room and placed it over him. He asked again for her to stay for a little while, so Ava agreed and lay on top of the blanket beside Jace.

  Once he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her backside against him, she figured she would only have to wait a few minutes before he fell asleep. The feel of strong male behind her and the pressure of his aroused manhood against her butt felt erotic, but Ava knew this wasn’t the time to take their relationship any further. Too many secrets separated them.

  Jace didn’t try to make a move, but his grip didn’t ease as he held her close to him. His even breathing signaled he finally slept, and she let her imagination run wild with images of them sleeping together every night and always sharing their problems.

  ****

  The sound of running water woke Ava from a deep, restful sleep. Stretching under the luxuriously soft sheets, her first thought was she wouldn’t have any hot water since Roxi had beaten her to the shower. The second was it didn’t matter because they were at Jace’s, and he had five bathrooms.

  Ava expected to open her eyes to take in the beauty of the bright sunshine that streamlined through the windows of her temporary bedroom. She was shocked to discover she was still in Jace’s room. Ava pushed the blanket off in an attempt to escape the room without notice. She could feel the cool spring air coming through the open window.

  With a glance at the door that hid a naked man from view, she didn’t know if she wished for X-ray vision or the ability to turn back time.

  “I don’t even remember falling asleep last night,” Ava spoke quietly to herself.

  On her hands and knees, Ava looked under the bed for her shoes. This was how Jace found her as he exited the bathroom. “If you’re trying to hide under the bed, so Roxi won’t find you, too late. She came in earlier to let me know our moms called, and they would be here around one.”

  With half of her body under the king-sized bed, Ava answered with a muffled voice, “I’m not hiding under the bed. I’m looking for my shoe. I found one by the nightstand and the other is MIA.”

  “It’s over by the chair. I kicked it on my way to the shower.”

  Peering under the bed, toward the chair, she spotted her missing sandal. On her feet, she turned to encounter Jace standing before her in nothing but a white towel and water droplets. Wow!

  Ava gave herself a moment to take in the wide expanse others considered his chest—but Ava liked to think of as nirvana—she lost both her train of thought and ability to breathe.

  The touch of his hand against her cheek expelled the air trapped in her lungs. A coughing fit overtook her, and she leaned against the side of the bed in hopes of not blacking out.

  When Jace slapped her back, he was strong yet gentle. “You okay?”

  The struggle to get oxygen into her lungs was real, but she finally managed a squeaky, “Yeah.”

  “I want to tell you thanks for listening to me last night. I know you have a lot going on and the last thing you needed was to listen to more of my problems. So thanks.”

  She lost her fight over the urge to reach out to him. “We’re friends and that’s what friends do. I’m always going to be here for you if you need someone to talk to.” Against her better judgment, Ava slipped her hands around his narrow waist and inhaled his scent of soap, and something that was exclusively Jace.

  “How did I get so lucky to have you here?”

  Jace’s eyes clouded with confusion and, if Ava wasn’t mistaken, lust. She said the first thing that came to mind. “It’s fate. Powers beyond our control knew we would need each other in the coming weeks, and fate saw fit to put us together.”

  The smile that broke across his face was magnetic, and the words came out filled with laughter. “When all this is said and done, we need to talk. I would talk now, but hugging you in nothing but a flimsy towel is making it hard to concentrate.”

  Ava didn’t want to let go, but she pulled herself together, because even though Jace said he needed space to think, he seemed reluctant to release his grip.

  “We have to talk, but I agree now is not the time.”

  Picking up her sandal she’d only moments earlier been searching for, she left Jace standing in the middle of his sprawling bedroom with nothing but a grin and a hard-on.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ava failed to look both left and right before she left Jace’s room. If she had, she would have seen Roxi at the top of the stairs. “Caught you,” Roxi bellowed down the corridor.

  Hand to her chest, Ava turned. “Don’t do that! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

  Ava watched Roxi as she strolled down the hall with bare feet and shorts that accentuated the long, toned legs Ava envied. Roxi stopped just short of the door to their room. “You wouldn’t have been so jumpy if you didn’t feel guilty.”

  Roxi’s short tresses should have looked morning-messy, but
on her, the style appeared purposeful. Ava decided no excuse was needed, but of course, she would give one to save time. “I wasn’t sneaking. I fell asleep after I helped him in from the boat last night.”

  “I know. He gave me some lame story about you helping him in the house last night when he got drunk.”

  “It wasn’t a lame story. I found him last night stumbling drunk. I talked him in to coming in and going to bed.”

  The smile that spread across Roxi’s face was devilish. “I figured. I just wanted to see if your stories would match.”

  Roxi stepped into the room they were sharing, and Ava followed. Ava shut the door behind them to ensure privacy on the off-chance Jace came out of his room. “That was sneaky, but I would have done the same thing if it had been you.”

  “No worries there. I definitely wouldn’t have been caught sleeping in the same bed with my brother, or at least not since I was five.”

  The laughter that filled the room relaxed Ava. The knowledge her friend really held no hard feelings toward her was a precious gift.

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s obvious you and Jace share something special. I’ve never seen him try to protect anyone the way he did with you this morning.”

  “He tried to protect my honor?” That he wanted to protect her was sweet, and Ava had to sit on the side of the bed to collect her thoughts. “Nothing happened. I just want you to know.”

  The mattress dipped as Roxi sat beside her. “I believe you, but I really wouldn’t be upset if it had. I think you two are perfect for each other.”

  “I’m hiding a secret that could have killed his focus and his career before it started.”

  Roxi’s silence was all the confirmation Ava needed.

  “That is the last thing I ever wanted to happen, you know that, right? I thought by not telling him it would somehow make his transition into the NFL smoother. The media picks at everything in a rookie’s life, and I just didn’t want to give them anything to gossip about.”