When he doesn’t reply right away, I turn on my audiobook and put in earbuds. Morning walks with Rose have become a way for me to carve out a few minutes alone each day. In these moments, I don’t want to think about anything. I want to disappear into a romance novel that is much simpler than my own love life. I want to laugh and smile and enjoy a story that doesn’t share the complexities of Tatum and mine.
Placing my phone back in the cup holder on the stroller, I keep walking. Maybe he’ll have responded by the time I get back to the car. Being in a relationship has been all new territory. And while Tatum and I haven’t exactly defined what we are, after our night together alone at the Hollywood Hotel, I feel more connected to him than I ever have with another man.
Not that it’s saying much. My history with guys has either been awful or awfully boring. Tatum is nothing like other men. He’s giving this hero in my audiobook a run for his money, let’s just say that. My body warms at the thought of us together. When I’m in his arms, I feel so safe and secure. And even though Ashley has made my life a mess in a lot of ways, I feel protected from her drama when I’m with Tatum.
By the time I’ve returned to the car, there’s still no reply to my text and so I buckle Rose in her car seat, fold up the stroller and head back to the condo. I call Tatum on the way, and again, no answer.
After parking, I wave to the doorman and ride the elevator to our floor. Our floor, it’s still hard to accept that my life is so completely interwoven with an NFL superstar, but my heart swells with pride knowing that this relationship is built on honesty. Nothing like what my mother tried to teach me while I was growing up.
I kiss Rose’s head as the elevator door opens. Even if the press wants to have a field day with Tatum and me, they will never get their claws into Rose. I’ll protect her privacy until the day I die.
“Drew?” I see Tatum’s teammate standing outside the apartment as I walk towards it. “What are you doing here?” I ask, opening the door.
“Tatum sent me.” His words are tight and I stiffen.
“What happened? Is he hurt?” My thoughts immediately go to his injury. Maybe something at PT this morning cropped up. I know how badly he was hoping to play in next week’s game. The season is ramping up and it kills him to be sitting on the sidelines.
“No, he’s fine… physically. But emotionally...” Drew blows air out of cheeks, shaking his head. “He’s a mess, Aria.”
Frowning, I set Rose in her swing, reaching for my phone to call him again. Something doesn't add up. “I know things are stressful but why exactly are you here, again?”
“Tatum wouldn’t tell you this himself. He gets so invested and hates hurting people’s feelings. But Aria, it’s over.”
“What’s over?” I ask, texting Tatum as Drew continues to confuse me.
Me: Where are you? What is going on?
Tatum: I can’t talk to you right now. I’ll call when I can.
My throat goes dry. The text is stiff, so formal. So unlike the Tatum I know.
“What’s going on Drew?”
“He’s with an attorney right now. He’s a wreck, Aria and it’s because of you.”
“Me?”
He pins me with a hard look. “And your sister.”
My blood goes cold. “Wait. Did Tatum hear from Ashley?”
Drew snorts. “He got plenty of information, let’s just say that. It’s best if you go. Make this easier for everyone. For Tatum.”
“Go?”
“He needs some time, Aria. And you being here with Rose, it’s not helping things.”
“And Tatum sent you here to tell me this?” Tears fill my eyes and I blink them away, my heart tightening as I try to process what Drew is saying.
“Tatum asked for my help, so I’m helping. Show me what you need me to help load up in the car.”
“Wait, like, I’m supposed to pack my stuff?”
Drew nods. “It’s time to think about Tatum. You need to go, Aria.”
I look at my phone. Tatum hasn’t explained himself, hasn’t explained anything. A tear falls down my cheek, feeling like the high I was on at the canyon only an hour ago is far away. This is what my mother warned me about me. Being blindsided by men. That I should never trust anyone but family.
But Tatum felt like family.
And Ash and Mom have never once put me first. Let alone put Rose first.
I have no idea what’s going on. No idea what I did to cause this.
“It’s best if you take Rose. Tatum needs space, Aria. Give him that.”
I stifle a sob and run to my bedroom, packing a tote bag quickly. I don’t know what is going on with Tatum, but until I hear from him, I’m not going to pack up my entire life.
But I am leaving until I get some freaking clarity. I’ve worked too damn hard to put my life together to let a man upend it.
A few minutes later, I’ve gathered the things Rose and I need and then am lifting her from the swing. I just want to get out of this apartment and get some space. Tatum can explain himself, but I won’t sit here where I’m not wanted, waiting for him.
Drew grabs my bags and helps me out. When we get everything loaded in my car, I try to keep my emotions at bay -- but it’s hard. Drew sees that I’m struggling and rests a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, don’t cry. Just be patient, okay? Tatum has a lot going on. With you and Rose, not to mention the team. He has a game on Sunday and he needs to be all in, Aria. You understand that, right?”
“He’s playing in this week’s game?” I swallow my pride the sting of the words so sharp.
Drew winces. “Sorry, he didn’t tell you that, either?”
I shake my head, wiping my eyes. “No, he didn’t.”
“Look, the guy has a lot on his plate is all. Just help him out by keeping Rose for a while okay? He’ll call when he’s ready.” He pulls out his wallet when we’re down in the parking garage. “Here’s some cash to help--”
I push his hand away. “No. I don’t need handouts.”
Drew takes a long look at the luxury SUV I’m driving and pushes his lips forward. Maybe I shouldn’t take it. It’s not mine. If Tatum wants to be an ass, he could call the cops on me, saying I stole it. Not that I think he’d do that, but I also never imagined he’d be kicking me out of his apartment.
But if he wants me out of his apartment this quickly, then I’m taking the SUV.
Drew nods, seeming eager to get me out of the way. “Take care then, Aria. Call me if you need anything. Just do what I said and give Tatum some space.”
Give him space. Drew’s words roll through my head as I leave the parking garage. I’m still shaking when I call Cleo from the car.
“Are you home?” I ask, tears streaming down my face as I get on the highway.
“Babe, what’s going on?”
“I just... I need... I need you.”
“I’m here. Come right over.”
As I end the call, I’m just grateful my best friend is someone I can count on. Because apparently, the man I’ve been living with isn’t.
I don’t know what game Tatum is playing, but I have a feeling I just lost.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tatum
“Shit man, I don’t know what to say.” Knox hands me a beer but I shake my head, which is killing me again, and dig my palms into my temple.
“This is so fucked up.”
“But at least you know the truth now.” Knox sits across from me. “She’s not your kid. You’re not responsible for her.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why? Because of Aria?”
“Yes... no... maybe...” I temple my fingers at the bridge of my nose and let out an unsteady breath. “You don’t get it. I thought she was mine. I thought... fuck. I fell in love with her.”
“Who? Aria or Rose.”
“Both of them,” I say, standing, frustration pouring from my words. “Both of them,” I repeat, this time quieter.
“Wh
at are you going to do?” He leans back and I see the pity in his eyes.
“I don’t know. I told you what my lawyer said. I don’t have any rights to Rose. If Ashley comes back, she can take her away--”
“You can prove she’s unfit.”
I rub the back of my neck. “It’ll take time.”
He shrugs. “Maybe she won’t come back.”
I close my eyes, replaying every scenario my lawyer talked me through. But the biggest worry isn’t Ashley. It’s whoever the bastard is who’s Rose’s real father.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
What am I going to tell Aria?
Hell, she has no reason to stay with me if I tell her that I’m not Rose’s father.
I glance at my phone and wince. All morning and afternoon I ignored her calls. But I needed to get my head sorted out. Needed to figure out what to do before I dropped this bomb in her lap.
“Look,” Knox says. “Aria seems like a cool chick. And I know this isn’t her fault. But maybe it’s for the best--”
“Don’t.” I point a finger at him. “None of this is for the best. Not for me. Not for Aria. And especially not for Rose.”
“Then sounds like you have already made up your mind.”
“Yeah.” I grab my keys from the table and start for the door.
He’s right. Before I even opened that letter, I knew that no matter what the DNA results said, that I wouldn’t give Rose or Aria up without a fight.
But a half hour later when I pull into the parking garage and see the SUV gone, I know immediately that something is wrong. It’s past six, the usual time when we start getting Rose ready for bed.
My heart starts to hammer in my chest when I walk into the apartment and it’s empty.
I call Aria’s cell, but it goes on voicemail after one ring. And when I text her the message doesn’t show up as received. I call her back, this time leaving a message.
“Aria, where are you? Call me back as soon as you get this message.”
I wait fifteen minutes, pacing the apartment, looking at my phone every five seconds, before I finally call her back. Again, it goes straight to voicemail. Her phone is off.
Thank fucking God for the GPS tracker on the SUV. Sure, maybe it’s an invasion of privacy to track her down, but after what happened with the guy threatening her at the studio, I only hesitate briefly.
I recognize the area where the car is parked in Santa Monica. I plug the address into my phone and follow the directions. The SUV is parked in the driveway of a single-story house.
My pulse quickens as I approach the door because there’s still that part of my brain that wonders what I’m going to find.
Ashley manipulated me. Lied to me. How do I really know Aria is any different?
I hate myself for thinking it, especially when Cleo answers the door and I realize this is her place, although I’m not sure how she affords it on a dance teacher’s salary.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, crossing her arms and glaring at me like she’d be more than willing to kick my ass if the need arose.
“I know Aria is in there. She wasn’t answering her phone--”
“Of course, she’s not answering her phone. You’re a real bastard you know that?”
I frown down at her. “Want to tell me what you think I did.”
She hesitates before saying. “Your asshole friend told her to pack her things and take Rose with her. That you needed space.”
“Fuck, Drew.” I rub my temple, knowing it had to be him. “What else did he say?”
Cleo isn’t interested in talking about Drew. I can see from the look she gives me that she wants to tear into me. And after what Drew did, I get it.
“Look. I didn’t tell Drew to ask Aria to leave. I wouldn’t do that.”
“So what? Your douchebag friend just came over and made it all up?”
“If you let me in, let me talk to Aria, I can explain.”
Her lips are still pursed, and I’m prepared for her to slam the door in my face when I hear Aria behind her.
“Let him in, Cleo.”
She doesn’t move for a full twenty seconds, but then she steps back and I see Aria standing there, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
I take four long strides to get to her, but before I can pull her into my arms, she puts her hands up to stop me.
“I didn’t tell Drew to come over, I promise you that. I was upset, and I don’t know what the fuck he was thinking, but you have to know I’d never ask you to leave.”
She sucks in an unsteady breath. “But you were upset? He had to have some reason to come over, and--”
I place my hands on her shoulder and pull her to me. She’s stiff, full of tension, but I need her touch, her strength. Just a moment of it before I rip her world apart again. I press my forehead to hers, inhaling her scent, knowing everything will change after what I’m about to tell her.
“I need to tell you something,” I say, pulling back slightly.
“Okay.” She braces herself; I see it in the way her chin tilts up, the way she straightens her spine. She’s preparing for the worst.
Good.
“I got a letter this morning when you were sleeping.”
She frowns up at me. “Okay?”
I cup her jaw and rest my forehead against hers. Closing my eyes, I try to find the strength to tell her.
Her hands go to my chest and she pushes back. “What did the letter say, Tatum?”
“I’m not Rose’s father, Aria.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aria
I’m pretty sure I forget to breathe, but when I remember to, it comes out in a whoosh, “What?”
“The DNA results confirmed that I’m not a match. There’s no way I’m Rose’s biological father.”
I shake my head, trying to wrap my brain around what he’s telling me. He tries to hold me to him, but I push him away and walk to the window, keeping my back to him.
It’s another one of Ashley’s cruel jokes.
I hear as Rose starts crying through the monitor, and I’m about to get her when Cleo shakes her head and tells me, “I’ll take care of her. You figure this out.”
“Figure it out?” I whisper, more to myself. Because what’s there to figure out. Ashley lied. Again.
“Aria.” Tatum is behind me; I can feel the heat of his body. The constant tug that makes me want to turn and bury my face in his chest.
But I can’t. Because this was all a lie. We’ve been playing house, pretending we are a family, and the joke is that neither of us is Rose’s parents.
“That’s why you had Drew tell me to leave.” I get it now.
“No.” He spins me around, those hazel eyes hard. “I didn’t ask Drew to go talk to you. He thought he was helping. And when I see him, I’m going to--”
“It doesn’t matter.” My words hold nothing but exhaustion. That’s what I feel. Tired. Weak. Like all the energy has been sucked out of me. “Me leaving, it was inevitable anyway.”
“I didn’t want you to go, Aria. I just needed a moment. One fucking moment to process this.”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry she did this to you.”
“She did this to us.” I can hear the panic in his voice. “Yeah, it was a fucking shock to open that letter this morning. To find out that... that I’m not Rose’s father. But it doesn’t change--”
“It changes everything, Tatum.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
I hold his gaze, and I see all the promises there. “God, you’re such a good guy.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No.” I place my palms on his chest, knowing what I have to do. “But I can’t... I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. I want to be in Rose’s life... in your life. Get your stuff and let’s go home. We can talk about everything once we’re back at our apartment.”
“Your apartment, Tatum.” I blink up at him, finding the strength t
o do what needs to be done. “I appreciate everything, but I’m not leaving. I’m staying here with Cleo.”
His eyes darken. “So, what? Everything between us was just... what?”
What am I supposed to say? That I’m falling in love with him. That I’ve never met a man so good, so generous, so able to make my heart and body feel again. That it’s killing me inside to push him away.
But I have to.
For his sake.
“Don’t make this any harder than it is, Tatum. Just go. You get your old life back.”
His lips pull up in a sneer. “I don’t want my life back. I want you.”
The tears I’d been holding back, stream down my cheeks now, but when he gathers me in his arms, I push him away.
“This was already a messed-up situation. But now... it’s too much. And I need to figure out what I’m going to do. I have to find my sister. Please, just go.”
He shakes his head and I know he still plans on fighting me. So, I do what I have to do.
“It was all pretend, Tatum. You, me, Rose.”
“Bullshit. I love you--”
“No. You loved the idea of me. You wanted a family. All the things that Charlotte has. That’s what you wanted. But I’m not her. And Rose isn’t yours. So, no more charades. You get a clean slate. A chance at that happily-ever-after you’ve always wanted.”
Hurt and rejection twist his features and I hate that I put it there. But I know he’s better off without me. Without the baggage I carry. He deserves all those things, with someone worthy enough to give it to him.
He opens his mouth, then shakes his head before turning on his heels and walking out the door.
When I lock it behind him, I crumple to the floor in tears. Because I know I just destroyed the best thing in my life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tatum
I know what Aria is doing. She’s pushing me away, trying to protect her heart. It took all my strength to leave without her, without Rose. But I know I need to give her space.
Game Day Baby Page 11
