Don't Worry Baby_A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance Page 10

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Maybe we can do that,” Hailey said. “But nothing crazy.”

  “Nothing crazy,” I promised. My storming out of the restaurant had been the kind of crazy we didn’t need to repeat.

  When I hung up with her, I had hope. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure she would come. She could still change her mind, but she had given me a bit of hope, and it was enough to cling onto for now.

  I met Ryan in the cafeteria for lunch, and after that, we went back to training. I pushed hard, and it was easy to focus on what I was doing now that I had decided on a course of action.

  After training, I headed home and changed, putting on jeans and a jacket. I didn’t want to meet Hailey in my sweats. I wanted to look good when I spoke to her, to show her the respect she deserved.

  I drove to the beach when I was ready. I had no idea what to expect. I desperately wanted to talk to her, to set the record straight, and I didn’t know how she would react to me or if she would arrive at all. I hoped she would show, but a part of me didn’t want to get my hopes up in case she didn’t show. After how I had treated her, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she didn’t show up at all.

  When I parked, another car was in the parking lot, and I was surprised to see it was Carly’s car. Hailey had used it to come see me. When the door opened and she climbed out, my heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t dressed in anything fancy, only jeans and a jacket the same as I was, but she looked amazing. She looked as radiant and attractive as she had when I had seen her that first night at Brad’s dinner.

  I climbed out of my car and walked toward her. Her arms were folded, and she hugged herself against the chilly wind that blew from the ocean. Her hair whipped around her face and I had to fight the urge to hook it behind her ear, to brush her cheek with my fingertips.

  “Thank you for coming to meet me,” I said.

  Hailey nodded, and I hated how strained it was between us. Since I had met her, it had been so comfortable around her. It was one of the reasons I liked her so much.

  “Do you want to sit on the beach?” Hailey asked.

  “It’s chilly. We can sit in a car,” I offered.

  She shook her head, and I wasn’t sure if it was because she liked the beach so much or if it was because she didn’t want to be locked in the car with me.

  We walked onto the beach. Hailey didn’t take off her shoes. We sat down on the sand, the distance between us almost enough for another person. I wanted to hug her to me against the cold, but she wouldn’t let me, I knew that. She was very closed off and distant as if something was seriously wrong. Had I hurt her this much? And what about me and how I felt?

  “Look,” I said. “Finding out that we knew each other from school was a shock. I didn’t expect it, and it freaked me out.”

  “I noticed,” Hailey said tightly.

  I sighed. “I was wrong for walking out on you. I shouldn’t have done it. No matter what the issue was, I should have treated you right, and I’m sorry about that.”

  Hailey hesitated before she nodded.

  “I guess I can get that,” she said. “It was a little out of the blue.”

  I nodded too. “Can I ask you why you waited so long to tell me who you were?

  “I was nervous about how you might react,” she said. “I was scared you might not want anything to do with me once you realized I was the one person in school you despised.”

  “I didn’t despise you.”

  Hailey shot me a “yeah, right,” look.

  “But you’re right. I understand what you’re saying. And I did exactly what you were nervous about.”

  “It was worse than what I’d been nervous about. I didn’t think you would blame me for stalking you.”

  I felt like such a jerk. “I was wrong,” I said. “It was a very egotistical thing to think.”

  We sat together in silence while I assumed Hailey processed it. She looked out over the ocean, and I watched her, trying not to stare. Finally, she looked at me.

  “I guess I can understand where you were coming from,” she said. “And I appreciate that you’re talking to me about it. Thank you.”

  I nodded. It was the closest to forgiveness I was going to get.

  The silence between us changed. It wasn’t as strained as before.

  “When are you going back to Colorado?” I asked.

  “Thursday. The day after tomorrow.”

  That was too soon. I wasn’t ready to lose her yet, not after we had lost almost two weeks now.

  “Can’t you stay longer?” I asked. “At least until after the weekend?”

  “What for?” Hailey asked. For me, I wanted to say.

  “I’m playing a game this weekend, and I was hoping you could watch,” I said. “Would you change your ticket and come see me play?”

  Hailey shook her head. “I can’t. Classes start on Monday, and I don’t have the cash to change the ticket. It’s a little late for all that now.”

  “I’ll pay,” I said without thinking about it. I wanted Hailey to see me play. I wanted her around for a short while longer.

  Hailey chuckled. “You can’t just do that,” she said.

  “Why not? I want you to stay. Please. Just to see the game.”

  Hailey hesitated a moment before she finally nodded. She was smiling. It was cautious, but it was a smile.

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Thank you,” I said and put my arm around her, pulling her against me. She leaned her head on my shoulder. I dipped my head and carefully inched closer, asking for a kiss but willing to accept a rejection. When she pressed her lips against mine, I was yet again surprised. The kiss was sweet and tentative.

  When we broke the kiss, Hailey sighed.

  “I have to go. I told Carly I wouldn’t be long.”

  I nodded. I could see her for a while longer, at least. It was something. I stood up, helped Hailey up and walked her to her car. She still seemed distant, a little unsure. I couldn’t tell what was wrong. I’d thought we were all right. I opened her door for her and closed it again after she had climbed in.

  Hailey pulled out, and I watched her go before walking back to my car. Everything had turned out perfectly, yet something still stood between us. I hoped it was nothing serious. Maybe she needed a little more time. We could fix it together, though, I was sure.

  Chapter 17

  Hailey

  Nick had offered to give me the cash to change my flight, and I would have been lying if I’d said I wasn’t happy. It had been horrible for a while, but I had dreaded the day I had to leave from the moment Nick and I had become serious. When he asked me to stay, I had argued it on principle, but it had been the easiest thing in the world for me to do. I would leave on Sunday to be on time for my classes. It was cutting it a little close, and I would probably be exhausted after traveling and whatever else we were going to do, but it was worth it.

  The papers Carly had given me were on the desk, bugging me. I caught myself looking at them every now and then. When Carly had first suggested it, I had been firmly against it. My family was all back in Colorado, and I couldn’t up and leave everything behind, even if I would still get my MBA. Nick was great, but things had already gone wrong. What if I transferred to online classes and moved to Miami and something went wrong again? I didn’t know him well enough. We didn’t know for a fact we were a good match, no matter how comfortable we were with each other.

  Still, those papers wouldn’t stop bugging me, and I read through them again and again.

  When it was time to leave, I put on jeans and an aqua jacket to stay in the Sharks spirit even though we weren’t watching the first-stringers play. I wanted Nick to know I was rooting for him.

  Carly came into my room as I pulled my hair back into a ponytail.

  “I can’t believe you haven’t been to a football game!” she exclaimed. She’d found out I was a football virgin, as she called it, and she had been shocked. She had been to football games her wh
ole life. But my family hadn’t been all that into sports, and I had never been to a live game.

  “First time for everything,” I said.

  “Right,” Carly said. “And you’re getting star treatment.” She looped her arm through mine. “It’s all about who you know.”

  We laughed and left the house with Brad driving. When we stopped at the Hard Rock Stadium where they were playing, it was packed, despite it being a second-string game. Brad led the way, taking us to one of the boxes that looked out over the field. Carly was right about it being like star treatment. With an open bar and a buffet, it was heaven. The others were all there already, the men huddled in the corner talking shop, and Kina beckoned us over.

  “This is so exciting,” I said.

  Carly filled them in on my inexperience, and they were equally shocked.

  “We’ll explain as the game progresses,” Lacey offered. “If you’re going to be a part of this world, you should learn the game as fast as you can. You’ll understand your man better.”

  I didn’t tell her that I wasn’t sure Nick and I would pull through. I laughed with them and let them educate me as the game kicked off.

  It was spectacular to watch. I had to admit to that. The passion was contagious, and the atmosphere was electric. I watched the game and listened to the women explain what was happening, and I realized it was an interesting sport. Football wasn’t all about the biggest men and who could run into who the hardest.

  “Did you see that?” Carly asked when Nick intercepted a ball and made a dash with it.

  “He’s better every time he sets foot on the field,” Kina said. She glanced the men who were talking excitedly. “I think they saw it too.”

  Nick had mentioned he wanted to play for the Sharks, to be an official first-stringer, and I was happy for him that the guys all seemed to be so impressed. This was where he would prove himself, he’d said. It was one of the reasons he’d wanted me to stay and watch.

  I watched Nick on the field, and there was something raw and powerful about the way he moved, something poetic about the way he danced around the players on the field, and I realized what it meant when people said he played his heart out. Nick was phenomenal, even to my untrained eye.

  Maybe I was biased.

  During halftime, Carly dragged me to the bathroom with her.

  “I hate being on,” she said. “My period is so damn annoying. It’s so little, it’s a waste of tampons, but here you see me having to run to the bathroom to check because I’m wearing white, and I’m paranoid.”

  She laughed, and I laughed with her until I started thinking about my period. I had been so distracted here in Miami, I hadn’t thought about it. I tried to figure out when my last period was, thinking back to events where I’d been on my period to anchor them to dates. When I knew when my last period was, I worked out when the next one should be.

  “Are you ever late?” I asked.

  “What?” Carly asked from the other side of the stall door.

  “Your period. Are you ever late?”

  “Sometimes. It depends. Why?”

  “I’m two days late,” I said, and my stomach turned just thinking about it. “I’m never late.”

  The toilet flushed, and Carly opened the door, walking to the basins. She washed her hands, looking at me in the mirror.

  “It could be from traveling. It’s a lot to go through, and you haven’t traveled that far before. Mine gets all bent out of shape when I travel.”

  I shrugged. “It could be.”

  “Besides, you’ve been under a lot of stress, both with Nick and the new semester. That also plays a role.”

  I pulled up my shoulders. I felt hollow. There had to be some logical explanation for it.

  “I guess that would make sense,” I said. Carly noticed my uncertainty.

  “We’ll stop at the store on the way back and grab a test. That way, you’ll know for sure you’re not pregnant.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that’ll help,” I said. But deep down, I wondered what would happen if I were pregnant. I was on the pill, and Nick had used a condom, but I was never late, and I was suddenly freaked out about it.

  “Relax,” Carly said when we left the restroom. “Periods are sneaky things. It will sneak up on you at the worst moment. “

  We laughed and joined the others, watching the rest of the game. What Carly had said made sense, but now that I had worked my dates and found out I was late, I couldn’t forget about it. I was haunted by what-if.

  Nick’s team won, and everyone in the box was ecstatic. I was so happy for Nick, knowing how good it looked for him. Brad invited everyone to his place for a celebration party, and everyone accepted. Carly hugged me.

  “Isn’t this the life?” she asked. And I had to admit, it was. Being surrounded by so many friends and sharing a passion was beautiful. Everyone piled into their cars and headed back to Brad’s place. Liam had promised he would head down to the locker room and invite the team of the day as well.

  On the way, Carly asked Brad to stop at the convenience store. “We want to grab a few things,” she said to him, and I climbed out the car and followed her into the shop. We walked to the aisle where the tests were, and Carly took two.

  “We can’t walk back to the car with nothing. I can’t hide this,” I said.

  “So? We’ll buy ice cream or sweets or something. Chips for tonight. Brad won’t ask.”

  Carly proceeded to round up junk food that none of the men would eat so we could have it all, and we paid for everything. I chipped in for the tests. Carly had been right. Brad didn’t ask. He only laughed when we got back into the car.

  “Oh, to be young and beautiful and eat whatever I like,” he teased. Carly joked with him, and I listened to their playful banter in silence all the way home.

  I hadn’t meant to take the test until morning. It was the best time to do it, the instructions said. But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t concentrate on any of the conversations, and I couldn’t have a good time. When Brad brought out a bottle of whiskey, my stomach turned at the thought of alcohol. I had congratulated Nick on his game, but he spent time with the men, discussing the game.

  Carly found me in a corner, looking lost.

  “I can't stand this anymore,” she said. “We’re taking those tests now, so you can relax.”

  I started protesting, but Carly had never taken a no for an answer, and she dragged me to the bathroom, stuffing the tests into my hands. I complied and sat down on the toilet, peeing on the stick before recapping it and putting it on the counter.

  “Ten minutes is the longest time when you’re waiting for a pregnancy test,” I said.

  “That’s true, but I already know what it’s going to say,” Carly said.

  I agreed because I had a feeling what it would say too. I didn’t think it would be negative, though, the way Carly did.

  When the ten minutes were up, I took the stick and breathed in deeply, trying to settle my nerves.

  “Quick, like a Band-Aid,” Carly said.

  She was right. I looked down, reading the result in the little window. Two pink lines. I fucking knew it.

  “And?” Carly asked.

  “Pregnant,” I said.

  Carly looked surprised and grabbed the stick, studying it as if there weren’t only two lines, two lines that had just turned my life upside down.

  “This can’t be,” she said. “You’re on the pill. Take the other one.”

  I shook my head. The other one would only say the same. I knew it because I had known I my gut that I was pregnant. I was pregnant with Nick’s child.

  “We can figure this out,” Carly said.

  I shook my head again. “Let’s not talk about it tonight. Okay? Let’s just forget.”

  Carly nodded, but I knew she wasn’t agreeing. She was struggling as much as I was to process it. I flushed the toilet and wiped the stick, so I could keep it before Carly opened the door. As she did, Nick appeared.

  �
�There you are,” he said to me. “I’ve been looking everywhere. Are you okay?”

  “Perfectly fine,” I answered, and we all knew my response had been way too fast. Nick nodded slowly. He pulled me to the side, and Carly disappeared, moving away when she knew it wasn’t her business.

  “Are you sure?” Nick asked.

  I nodded again. I couldn’t tell him now. He had done so well, and I wouldn’t ruin that for him. I had to figure out how I felt about it myself, anyway. So I forced a smile and hoped it was enough.

  It wasn’t. I could see Nick didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push the topic, and that meant a lot to me.

  “It’s been a long week. I’m a little tired,” I offered, hoping it would work. “Now that we’re okay again, and I’m allowing myself to feel what I feel, it’s hitting me harder than I thought it would.”

  Nick brightened, and I knew he bought it. I’d been more convincing, and I was relieved. I felt guilty about telling him another lie, especially after the last one had gone so terribly wrong, but I needed to buy myself a little time.

  I had to wrap my mind around the fact that I was pregnant with Nick’s baby.

  Chapter 18

  Nick

  I’d left early on Thursday. I’d had too much on my mind to keep partying like nothing was going on.

  A lot had changed in my life. I had gone from playboy to a man who had asked a woman to stay in Miami instead of leaving. I had wanted Hailey to stay in my life. It was something I had to mull over and figure out where I stood.

  I liked Hailey. She was everything I had never had in a woman before. She kept me interested and on my toes. She was the whole package, smart, beautiful, funny. And most of all, she had decided she would stay to watch my game even after I had treated her like dirt. After everything that had happened to us, I only liked her more.

  And I wanted her to like me too.

  But Hailey was leaving in two days. We had managed to change her ticket to Sunday, so she was going back home in time for her classes starting on Monday. But I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted her to stay. I wanted to be with her.