Leah bit her lip. "Are you telling me you're the type of man who could settle down? Have a family? Stay out of trouble?"

"Yes."

"Really?" She held her arms out, voice bewildered. "You were the one who lied to the league and used a fake relationship to protect you."

s.h.i.t. "Look-"

She wasn't done. "You wanted to have the baby when you saw how well it worked for another quarterback." Her voice lowered. "It isn't about fixing your reputation, Jack. It's about changing because you want to be a different man. Faking a relationship and having the baby fooled the media, but who are you trying to convince now?"

G.o.d, this woman. If she knew how easily she crushed me with a single question.

"Is everything between us fake?" I asked.

"I don't know what's between us."

"Yeah." And I knew why. "Why trust me when you can believe all the scandals instead."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

My words tasted bitter. "Just once, I wish you'd forget my reputation. Judge me for the man I am, standing here, pleading with you to give me a chance."

"Jack..."

What the h.e.l.l. I interrupted her, too desperate to hear words that would never pa.s.s her lips.

"I don't like myself much right now," I said. "But if you did..."

Her eyes widened. I shut up before I revealed something stupid.

"Forget it." I pulled my phone and texted Bryon. "I'm going out."

Her shoulders slumped. "What?"

"I need to get out of here. Clear my head."

She didn't have the energy to fight. Her words softened, a plea. "Not with those friends, Jack."

"What's wrong with my friends?"

"Don't pretend. You know what you're doing." She stood, her fingers steadying her on the couch. "Don't throw everything away because you're frustrated-"

"I just want to go out and have some fun. I need to get out of my head."

"You aren't going to clear your head. You're leaving because that's what made you happy in the past."

"So?"

She held my stare. "Don't get in trouble because you a.s.sume that's all you're good for."

"Oh, spare me the righteousness, Kiss. For f.u.c.k's sake-"

"I'm serious. Don't go out with those guys tonight. It's not worth risking a fight or being seen with a woman-"

"So what if I am?" Dangerous ground. "You afraid I'd go home with her? That I'd bang her in the bathroom? That I'll grab as many wh.o.r.es as I can fit in my car-"

"That's over the line."

I stormed from the den, hobbling my way across the house. Leah followed, but I ignored her.

"Don't wait up."

Her eyes welled with tears, but her voice sharpened. "If this is how you've changed, you won't have to worry about me waiting up. I won't be here when you get back."

The fear shredded my guts, but what did it matter? Leah said her piece. No need to tell her that the panic of her leaving me was more terrifying than if I was cut by the team and never signed again.

But if she didn't trust me, if I couldn't prove that I was a good man for her?

Why would I care what the rest of the world thought of me?

"I wanted to change," I said. "For you. Because of you. I'm sorry you couldn't see that."

Leah reached for me. "Jack, wait-"

I slammed the door behind me.

Going out on the town wasn't the biggest mistake I could have made.

I was an idiot for not telling Leah I was in love with her. I couldn't handle her not loving me back.

And that hurt worse than any injury.

Chapter Twenty Leah.

I made the worst mistakes of my life.

And I knew it.

I never, ever made mistakes. I had no room in my life for them, not when every decision I made came with a list of pros and cons that tangled me in so much uncertainty I was afraid to take a step in case I made a choice that was...wrong.

I'd lived my life carefully and methodically. Now I was pregnant, carrying the child of a man who thought a kid would help him to look more like an upstanding, moral gentleman.

But the baby wasn't a mistake. Even if he or she exhausted me, ruined my favorite foods, and caused me a bit of discomfort, I loved the baby. Jack did too. And I knew we could handle whatever complicated mess we caused if only to provide the little one with a life of love and happiness.

I didn't follow Jack. Instead, I hid in the one room we shared. The nursery wasn't finished, at least, not to Jack's specifications. But the room thrilled me, so peaceful and waiting for the excitement to come. The pregnancy wasn't how I planned it, but at least I had control over that aspect of my life.

The rest of my life?

The complication I never should have let into my heart just slammed the door and walked out. But I had no idea what I'd say if I chased and caught him.

Don't go.

Let's talk.

You have no idea how much you mean to me, and it scares me to admit it.

"Any of those would have worked." I sighed, but the tightness inside me didn't go away.

I sat in the rocking chair and held one of the dozens of stuffed animals dressed in Rivets' gear Jack bought. We had too much stuff for the baby-furniture and gadgets, pillows and blankets, so many onesies they were multiplying into twosies. But a child only needed one thing.

Love.

And so did I.

It was time to make some decisions.

Real decisions.

Not just where I was going to sleep at night or what we would do for dinner. We hadn't even thought of names yet. We just...existed. Together. In the moment. Stationary.

I should've made the first move. How many real relationships did Jack ever have? He didn't know anything about a functional romance.

Did we even have a romance?

So far it had been nights curled together. s.e.x. Gentle smiles. Teasing. More s.e.x. The occasional flirty glance and promise of more.

s.e.x.

Pa.s.sionate, unbelievably heated love-making.

No.

What we had was real. It had to be. I wasn't just imagining how his hands felt or the words he murmured or the way he looked at me. When Jack took me to his bed and entered me with a c.o.c.k so big and powerful and loving, we became more than two people in the heat of desire.

How long could I deny that I needed him? We had a peace together. Comfort. We offered ourselves to each other and earned so much more in return.

And yet...we never took it.

It scared me. And there was a reason for it. A big reason. One that lodged in my throat every time I went to admit it.

Jack had to feel it too. G.o.d, I hoped he did.

Or I was about to make an even bigger fool out of myself.

My phone rang. I lunged at my purse to grab it, hoping it was Jack. It wasn't. Worse, I didn't like the sudden twinge in my tummy when I moved. I took a deep breath and let the discomfort pa.s.s.

Was that a normal pain?

I hesitated to answer the phone. Jolene didn't have any reason to bother me, and I braced myself before I greeted her.

"Leah?" Jolene spoke in a rush, too busy to call without spilling her coffee and banging her keyboard. "Oh, Leah, I am so glad to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"

The rocking chair was comfortable enough, at least. The only real crisis was that the Rivets' bad boy quarterback was p.i.s.sed off, rogue, and determined to find trouble to prove how much he had changed. Sure. It was a great time to take a call.

"What's up, Jolene?"

"First...how are you?"

I didn't really want to deal with pleasantries. "Fine."

"And...the baby?"

Now she cared about the baby? I remembered her last words to me, a chastis.e.m.e.nt for my recklessness and disregard for my own life. Apparently, I'd let Jack ruin me.

I disagreed.

But I rested my hand on my tummy, stroking the little b.u.mp. I shifted, but the weird discomfort still ached through me. I really needed to take it easy. Probably spent too much time in the heat today.

"The baby's good," I said. "Everything's normal."

"Know the gender?"

"Not yet. We wanted it to be a surprise."

"You?" Jolene's voice cracked. "A surprise?"

I glanced over the sunshine yellow walls and neutral green blankets and toys. "Jack's suggestion."

"And you went along with it?"

"Well..." I smiled. "Yeah. He thought it'd be sweet if we found out together."

"I can't believe that works with your...plans."

Oddly enough, it did. Everything about the baby made sense with Jack. "So long as he or she is healthy, that's all we want."

"Wow." Jolene hesitated. "So you and Jack...?"

Wasn't that the question of the evening? "Yes?"

"Leah, you know he isn't the one for you."

"Jo, stop-"