Football Romance: Secret Baby Romance: Quarterbacks Heart ( Bad Boy Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Sports Pregnancy Romance)

by Isla Jordan

  I smiled and shook my head as I shouted back, “I can’t afford extensions!”

  Adam walked in and leaned against my bedroom door, “You are lucky you have such beautiful hair anyway, I’m so jealous.”

  “What is that?” I pointed to the gift bag he was holding.

  He gave me his signature smirk and handed it to me, “An early birthday gift.”

  “If it’s lingerie again I swear I will show up at your apartment in a trench coat with only your gift underneath!”

  He grimaced, making me feel proud of myself as I proceeded to open said gift. Adam always got me weird gifts and the last two years it had been lingerie with weird prints and cartoon jokes. So I wasn’t expecting a gorgeous red cocktail dress when I opened the bag, which left me speechless. I just looked up at him and walked to give him a peck on the cheek.

  “I thought you would want something to wear to your snobby friend’s…”

  “She’s not snobby,” I tried to defend but Adam rolled his eyes.

  “Come on, her name is Helen! It doesn’t get snobbier than that. Besides, I can smell snob from a mile away. ”

  I raised a brow, “Maybe because you are a snob yourself?”

  He grinned, “True, but you love me.”

  I shook my head but smiled, shooing him out so I could change into my new dress. It fit like a glove, if gloves could make me look like a million dollars. Better than a million in fact, it made me feel young again. I looked myself over and couldn’t help the grin that emerged on my face, I looked good.

  “Adam!”

  “What is going- good lord?! Who you and what have you done to my Kate?”

  “I got a fairy godmother,” I laughed, twirling for effect.

  “I will accept the fairy part but never liken me to a woman again!”

  “Ohhh, I am so scared.”

  We both laughed and when the moment passed, I thanked him earnestly for the gift, silently vowing to pay him back somehow. I checked my watch and breathed in relief when I realized I still had an hour to spare. Which gave me time to properly do my makeup, something I rarely did nowadays. I wondered if my powder had not expired already, which made me decide just to put a bit of lipstick only and ditch the makeup.

  “You look snobby now, I am so proud,” Adam dabbed at nonexistent tears at the corner of his eye.

  I rolled my eyes at his dramatic antics and checked to see if all my plugs and switches were off before exiting my tiny apartment. Caitlin was with Adam’s mom and I would pick her up on my way from the snob fest, as he kept dubbing it. I still worried about her every second I was away from her, but there was no one I trusted more with her than Adam’s family. Since my own family had practically disowned me and my child, they were all I had.

  You would have Helen too if you just let her in, a nagging voice sounded in my head but I quickly pushed it away. Being close to Helen had not been an option, and neither was it one now. The only reason I had agreed to attending this party was because I never could say no to her and some part of me actually missed our friendship. Our break up was through no fault of hers, it was all me and my secrets. Secrets that were more important to me than our friendship of thirteen years. Yeah, some friend I was.

  Adam drove me to the Masons’ place in silence, giving me time to really drown in my regrets and memories. When he finally nudged me, I tried to plead with him to rescue me but he wouldn’t have any of it. Traitor! I sighed as I walked to the guard, his exclamation of surprise taking me by surprise. He still remembered me, which made me feel even guiltier for staying away. Helen had been like a sister to me, with many sleepovers between both our parents’ homes. And as I dragged my sandal-clad feet inside, every wonderful memory we ever had flooded back.

  Maybe we could have our friendship back without complicating things? Maybe I could still keep my life hidden from her? We could make it work, couldn’t we? I missed her, missed us, and every fun thing we did together. I should have known when she started getting serious with her fiancé, and shared in her joy when he proposed. All the things that best friends go through together, I should have been there for the last four years. But I knew I couldn’t, and I shouldn’t even be here.

  I turned to go when a voice called out my name. And not just any voice; the voice that haunted my dreams every night. The voice I slept to every night as I played my prom tape over and over again. The same voice that still made my mouth dry and goose bumps appear all over my skin. Town hero, famous football player and the first boy I ever had a crush on. Except he wasn’t a boy anymore, and if I turned around my eyes would confirm that and my heart would shatter all over again.

  I knew coming here was a terrible mistake!

  Four. -Jonathan

  My eyes were probably deceiving me, and when I called out, I was only doing so to confirm. The woman who looked like she wanted to do nothing but run away, couldn’t be my Katie. She was just that, a woman, and I had been expecting a girl. The beautiful girl I had made fun of after her very first kiss. The same skinny girl whose thin frame I had made my personal playing field for one night and the same girl who had shyly confessed she had liked me since forever since I took her for her prom.

  “Katie?” I asked, licking my suddenly dry lips nervously.

  It felt odd to call her that now, very strange. She had been Katie in ponytails when I walked them home after kindergarten, her and my sister. She had been Katie when they came over to my after school job at an ice-cream shop, and I spoiled them with dessert before dinner. She had been Katie when I accidentally walked in on her trying on her trainer bra, and she wouldn’t leave the room for hours afterward. But she was definitely not Katie now, and my entire body agreed. That red dress was killer on her, and she made the dress look good!

  “Hi Jonathan, I was just-”

  “It looked like you were running away, and the party hasn’t even begun yet.”

  “I wasn’t running away,” she lied.

  I laughed and held out my arm, making her give me a quizzical look. I shook my head and placed my hand on her lower back to steer her back towards the door. Honestly, I just did that so that I could touch her and prove something to myself. The only thing I proved was that I was not over her and the spark between us was just as strong as ever. Even better now with those curves, damn, this woman wanted to kill me!

  “You are early,” I said as she sat down and I began making some coffee for her.

  “I am?”

  I chuckled to myself as I made her coffee just like she liked it, one sugar and lots of milk, glad I still remembered. That seemed to surprise her, though, but I remembered a lot of things about Katherine Forster. Like how she played with her fingers when she was nervous, and how she couldn’t keep eye contact when she was lying about something.

  “So how have you been, Katie? Last I saw you, you were breaking hearts and threatening to take over with that big voice of yours. Although I have to admit, the last four years have done you good.”

  She looked up at me then, as if searching for the truth in my words. I meant every word, of course, she looked amazing.

  “Thank you. You look good too.”

  “So?”I leaned forward on the table and waited for her to tell me what she had been up to. “My sister said you have been MIA for years; I thought you were inseparable!”

  “Well, things happened, and I just needed some space.”

  “What things? Are you talking about us?”

  She shook her head and mumbled something along the lines of she didn’t know what she was doing here, and I could see she was getting ready to bolt.

  “Come on Katie. We are better than this. We always could talk about anything and everything.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  I agreed, but things didn’t have to be different, “I miss that, I miss you.”

  “Jonathan, don’t.”

  I always loved how she called me Jonathan when everyone used my nickname. It made me feel real. I didn’t want to
be Nate anymore. I wanted to be Jonathan. Her Jonathan. That thought pushed me to do something I had told myself I wouldn’t, which was rush things. I found myself on the other side of the table, placing my hands on her soft neck as I proceeded to kiss her. My tongue explored her sweet mouth as I deepened our kiss, every memory flooding my thoughts as I tried to create a new one.

  “You never hid things from me before, Katie. Whatever it is, you know you can tell me.”

  She sighed, “I just don’t want to see that look on your face too.”

  “What look?”

  “The one everyone in this town gives me. You wouldn’t understand; they worship you.”

  She turned away from me, and I couldn’t stop myself from going to comfort her.

  “What happened Katie?”

  She was quiet for a while, and I waited patiently. For some reason, it pained me to think that she wasn’t happy in any way and that her life wasn’t how she thought it would be. I remembered how she had always wanted to be a singer ever since she was a kid, and how talented she was. If anyone deserved to make it, it was Katie, and I wasn’t saying that just because I was biased either. It was then I realized my crush wasn’t going away anytime soon, and I was okay with that.

  “I work in a diner, Jonathan, and a bad one too. It’s the worst cliché ever!”

  “Katherine-”

  “No, you can’t say anything to make it better. We always talked about how our lives would be after we moved away from here and at least you've made something of yourself.”

  I was about to say something when her phone rang, and she looked panicked as she answered it.

  “Adam, is everything alright?”

  Adam? I quickly moved away to give her space but also because I wasn’t sure how I felt about this Adam. Was he a boyfriend? If so then why had she kissed me like that? I knew she was too good for me, despite what she thought, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe this Adam guy was better suited for her than me.

  “What?!” She suddenly exclaimed, making me worry, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  She hung up and looked for her purse, not saying anything about the phone call.

  “Katie, what’s wrong?”

  “I have to go.”

  “I get that, but why? Is everything okay?”

  I didn’t expect her answer, not even a little, “My daughter is hurt.”

  Daughter? She had a daughter? I felt frozen in my spot.

  Five. -Katherine

  I was still thanking my lucky stars that the day Jonathan drove me over to Adam’s, Caitlin was sleeping already. I had her wrapped in a blanket, so he didn’t get a good look at her. I knew if he had seen her blue eyes so like his own, he would have known right away. Unfortunately, I had been stupid enough to give him my number, and he had been calling me every night for the past week. I wasn’t complaining; I looked forward to those calls. Then calls had birthed the visits to my workplace, much to my boss’ dismay.

  “I won’t take no for an answer, Katherine. You have to have dinner with me, or I will keep showing up at your job until you agree.”

  “I don’t have to do anything,” I pointed out. “And you can’t keep pretending the coffee here isn’t horrible.”

  “No, but since I am begging you, can you really say no to this face?” He gave me his best wounded look.

  “Well, when you put it that way, how can I say no?” I laughed.

  “My point exactly!”

  “You are impossible.”

  “I’m adorable,” he grinned, “and I promise you won’t regret having dinner with me.”

  I looked at my watch, “I have to go now, see you later okay?”

  He surprised me with a quick kiss on the cheek which oddly made me look forward to dinner tonight.

  -

  I was on the phone with Helen when I heard a knock. I frowned as I went to open it, knowing Adam never knocked.

  “Jonathan?” I almost dropped my phone, and Helen screamed into the phone which Jonathan I was talking about.

  The culprit in question just winked and kissed my cheek as he walked past me into the small living room. I quickly told Helen I would call her back and turned to do some damage control. Caitlin was in the living room, playing with her dolls. And Jonathan was looking at her like he had seen a ghost. I realized he was holding some paper bags with some food inside. He meant to surprise me with dinner and instead got a surprise himself. Great!

  “How old is she?” his voice was so quiet, but I heard him loud and clear, hesitating in giving him an honest answer.

  “And where is her father?”

  I don’t know what the hell pushed me to say Adam’s name. This night could not get any worse!

  Six. -Jonathan

  The little girl looked up at me, and I knew, she was mine. There was no way she couldn’t be, not with those purplish blue eyes and that dark hair. Not when the age fit and Katherine’s behavior when it came to her daughter explained everything. She never wanted me to come over and refused to tell me anything about her. It was because she had been hiding her from me! I felt tears well in my eyes. This beautiful little creation was mine. I blinked away the liquid evidence of my emotions and forced a smile.

  “So Adam, huh?”

  She nodded nervously and looked away so I couldn’t read her eyes. I didn’t need to. I knew she was lying.

  “The two of you were together even back then?”

  “No, and we are not together now, it was just one night. You were gone, and I was…upset.”

  I nodded as if in understanding, at least the last part sounded real and genuine. It had hurt leaving her too, but we were both so young and hadn’t talked about a future beyond our night together. But I knew there was no way Adam could be the father of this child because I also knew the mother very well. She wasn’t the type of girl that would just be with someone she didn’t have feelings for, and she certainly didn’t look at Adam the way she looked at me.

  “So why does he let you take care of Catlin all by yourself?”

  I had her there because she stammered her way through a response and spun some story about how she didn’t want anything from him. But I had seen the way the man was with that little girl, and there was no way he would have accepted those terms if Caitlin was truly his child. I also knew that Katherine wouldn’t deny her daughter a better life if the means were available. She should have thought of a better story than using Adam!

  My heartbeat increased as I saw how scared Katherine looked, it was indeed true. I was her daughter’s father, our daughter. The thought both thrilled me and angered me at the same time. Four years and Katherine had kept this from me, as if I had no right to our child and didn’t even deserve to know. There was only one thing I could do, leave. I needed some air and some time to soak it all in. It was all too much, and I felt like my head was about to implode. So leave I did.

  -

  The next three days were spent ignoring Katherine’s calls, and when she finally came over to the house, Helen had found out. She had taken it surprising well, telling me I was wasting time hiding away when I should have been over at Katherine’s romancing her and getting to know my daughter. She was more excited about being an aunt, and I had to stop her from going over to Katherine’s to see Caitlin. The entire family needed to wait until I had made peace with all of this.

  On the fourth day, I waited until I knew Katherine had returned from her second job, something I was so not okay with. I didn’t want to push her because I knew how stubborn and independent she was, but I didn’t want her working at all. Not when I had enough money to take care of both of them so that they would never want for anything. So when I got to her house, she had called Adam over to babysit while we took a walk.

  “Why?” I finally asked as I couldn’t think of anything else to say, that one word was enough.

  Tears had welled in her big, brown eyes and she was shaking her head vigorously, “Don’t.”

  I raised a brow at
that and watched as she furiously wiped her now wet face. Her tears wouldn’t stop me from demanding answers. Nothing would. It was taking all I had not to rush to her home right now to get that little girl. Funny how I had never thought of having children before and now suddenly I was feeling like a desperate parent and just wanted to be with my daughter.

  “It’s not like I had any other choice!” she shouted angrily.

  I laughed bitterly, “You really don’t believe that, do you?”

  “You want to know what I believe?!”

  “I’m asking, aren’t I?” I shot back.

  “I believe a girl should have her father in her life. He should tell her there are no monsters under the bed and read her bedtime stories. But not when it would cost him his dreams!”

  I opened my mouth then closed it again, wait, what? What was Katherine going on about? Cost me my dreams?

  “What?”

  She sighed and wiped her eyes again, “You were twenty-one, Jonathan, and you had your whole career ahead of you. I knew if I told you about the pregnancy you would want to be there every step of the way.”

  “Yeah, so? How does any of that affect my career?” I frowned.

  She shook her head, “You don’t understand. I was on bed rest half the time when I was pregnant with Caitlin. Would you have traveled and left me behind? When she was born, you would have wanted to be there for every second and not concentrated on your training. I didn’t want for you ever to have to choose between us and your career, not when you would end up resenting me for it. You know what my parents said when I told them? That I had just gone and ruined both our lives!”

  I understood it now, her decision not to tell me. I didn’t understand it actually, but I understood her and her fears. I didn’t agree, nor did I like it, but I understood. My poor Katie, she must have been so scared.

  “Why didn’t you ever try to reach out to me after, even after I had a stable career? We could have worked something out.”

  She smiled sadly, “Fear, I guess. I saw how you lived your life, the women you dated, and I was afraid of rejection. A big part of me was terrified that I didn’t know you anymore, and you might not want to be a father. Not knowing was better than that possibility.”