When I got back downstairs, the table was set, complete with a tea light in the center of the table.
“Fancy,” I exclaimed looking at the meal. I hadn’t eaten this well in a while. Chris had made steak, pasta, and sautéed vegetables. When I sat down, he poured two glasses of wine.
“I seriously can’t thank you enough,” I said. “This has been so perfect. You know you didn’t have to do all of this.”
“I wanted to,” he said, taking his seat. “Cooking for one gets really old after a while.”
“I hear you,” I replied, taking a bite. If having Chris around more often meant that he’d cook for me, I wouldn’t even think twice.
“Did you get things figured out at work?” he asked.
“For now,” I said. “The team owner is kind of crazy, so he does this sort of thing all the time. It’s annoying, but it’s part of the job.”
He nodded. “Well, I’m just sorry you missed out on the fun. We worked on throwing and catching, and I must say, this kid could be a star. He’s already much better than I was at that age.”
I laughed. “We’ll see. So you had fun?”
His eyes lit up. “It was great. Honestly. I can’t wait until next week. I told him that I could show him the locker room after the game. That is, if it’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure we could make that work.”
“So,” he said, as we finished our dinner. “Do you have plans for this evening, or do you mind if I stick around for a while? My publicist has been trying to get a hold of me, so I’d rather not be home right now.”
“Did you do something?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t involved in another scandal.
“No, it’s more of what I didn’t do. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a long and boring story.”
“I don’t have any plans. You’re more than welcome to hang out here for a while.”
“Cool,” he said, smiling. “I’m glad that we can sit down and enjoy a meal together like this.”
“Me too. Should we go to the other room?” I asked, taking our plates and setting them in the sink. Dishes could wait until later.
We sat down on the couch together; this time, he sat closer to me. I could feel the heat from his body. It sent shivers down my spine.
“So what does your publicist want from you?” I asked, sipping my glass of wine.
He looked embarrassed. I hoped I wasn’t bringing anything up that he didn’t want to talk about.
“Well, Wesley was working with another celebrity’s publicist and together they decided to put us in a staged relationship for the press. Her publicist wanted her to be more social and mine wanted me to look more monogamous, I guess.”
“Ooh,” I said, “Who’s the lucky lady?”
He paused for a moment before saying her name.
“Alexa Meyer,” he said casually.
I nearly spit out my wine. She was only one of the biggest stars in the world.
“What?” I asked, hardly able to believe it.
“Yeah, we were supposed to go out to dinner so we could be photographed together, but I didn’t go. Now I’m in a bit of trouble with the publicists.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. “So have you two known each other for long?” After all of my daydreaming about being back with Chris, I just knew that something would go wrong.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve known her for a few years. She’s pretty cool.”
My face fell. Why would he want to be with me when he could be with Alexa Meyer?
“But we’re not actually dating. Honestly, I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately.”
“You? Chris Taylor, who can get any girl he wants, says he’s in a slump?” I teased.
“Not any girl,” he said softly, looking toward the ground.
The silence was a bit awkward. I felt weird discussing his sex life, when I so badly wanted to be a part of it again. It was weird, but hearing him talk about taking care of our son made me want him even more. It’s like the purely biological side of me yearned for his ability to take care of our family. It made me want to jump on him.
“What about you?” he asked, breaking the tension. “Are you currently seeing anyone?”
I felt my cheeks turn pink. If I were seeing someone, then why would I kiss him? Maybe he was testing out the waters. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“No, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment,” I answered, hoping that answer was clear, but didn’t make me seem sad and lonely.
“I’m surprised,” he said. “When I saw you at the game, I thought for sure you were in a relationship.”
“Because of the kid?” I asked. He had no idea how many people assumed the same.
“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “And the fact that you’re a total catch. You’ve got a sweet career, an awesome kid, and you’re incredibly cool.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not easy to date when you’re a mother in her twenties. Not a lot of people want all of that baggage.”
“Any guy would be lucky to have you,” he said, looking me straight in the eye.
“Any guy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He licked his lower lip and leaned in a little closer.
“Absolutely.”
15
Chris
The way we were speaking to each other was so cryptic that I felt like I was in high school again, trying to find out if the girl I liked felt the same way about me. I wanted Natalie to want me as badly as I wanted her.
After spending the evening with Michael, I felt like I was ready to commit more of my time to my surprise family. At first, I was unsure, but after taking care of my child, it all felt so natural to me. Sure, I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, but making sure he was happy and safe just came second nature to me. When he put his little hand in mine, I wanted to protect him and give him everything he could ever hope for.
I didn’t know if it was because we shared a child together, but it made me feel like I had a closer bond with Natalie. Our love had made something incredible, and I wanted to enjoy that with her.
At any rate, I felt like now might be the time to settle down and commit myself to one person. I cared about Natalie and Michael, and I wanted to be part of their lives.
Talking to Natalie on the couch, I couldn’t help but feel like she was sending out signals. We had both made it clear that we were available, and ready for the right person to come around. Plus, she had kissed me the last time we were together, so things were looking good for me.
Of course, there was only one way to find out.
I leaned into her, and kissed her on the lips. When she didn’t pull away, I knew that she must have feelings for me too. She leaned farther into me, kissing me harder.
She was nearly on top of me, clasping her hands on either side of my face. My tongue entered her mouth, swirling frantically around hers.
I broke free for a moment to press my lips onto her warm neck, her pulse beating rapidly beneath my mouth.
“Are we really doing this?” she breathed into my ear.
“I think so.”
“Then let’s go into my room. I don’t want to wake Michael.”
I followed her into her bedroom, Natalie closing and locking the door behind us.
“Do you think we can keep things quiet?” she asked, pulling her shirt over her head. “I’ve never done this with a kid in the house.”
“I can try,” I said, wiggling out of my jeans.
By the time we got into her bed, we were both completely undressed. We weren’t messing around this time. We both knew exactly what we wanted.
The second I had her all to myself, I kissed and licked nearly ever square inch of her body. She had barely changed since I was with her last. Her body was as tight as ever.
After she had gotten her fill of my touching and teasing, it was her turn. Her fingers lightly glided down my shaft, until it was rock hard. I couldn’t take the anticipation any more. I grabbed her hands, and pulled them up above her
head, pinning her to the soft mattress. She gave me an inviting look that made me weak at the knees.
“The condoms are in the second drawer,” she said to me, looking at the small table next to the bed. I grabbed one, rolling it onto my swollen member.
“We won’t make that mistake again,” she giggled, pulling me close.
I entered her, and everything felt right. Sex felt meaningful again; not just a way to get off, but a way to connect with someone. She pulled her knees up closer to her chest, panting quietly with her eyes shut. Natalie grabbed my arms, squeezing them tighter and tighter as she came closer to climax. Finally, a muffled groan escaped our lips simultaneously.
I rolled over onto my back, grinning widely. I looked over and she was smiling too.
“What?” she asked, noticing my ridiculous grin.
“Nothing,” I said. There were too many thoughts and feelings going through me at the moment to be able to articulate them. I wanted to stay in this moment forever.
We each crept across the hall to the bathroom to wash up. As I was pulling my clothes back on, Natalie stopped me.
“It’s really late,” she said. “Why don’t you stay here?”
“Is that okay?” I asked. “What will Michael think?”
“We can always tell him that you stayed in the guest room. He won’t think anything of it.”
“That sounds great.”
We got back into bed, this time with a little more clothing on. I spooned Natalie, as she curled up in the space in front of me. I hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time.
I fell asleep to the sound of her breathing, matching my inhales and exhales with hers. I knew that all of this could just disappear, so I held on to Natalie, and cherished the moments we had together.
16
Natalie
I woke up as the sun streamed in from the window, with Chris’s arm wrapped around my waist. My alarm clock read 7:44 and I couldn’t remember the last time that I had slept in this late.
I got up, wrapped my robe around me, and peeked out my bedroom door. It was suspiciously still. I tiptoed up to Michael’s room to see what kind of trouble he had gotten into while I was sleeping.
Surprisingly, he was still in bed, his football tucked in next to him. I quietly closed the door and went back downstairs to make a pot of coffee.
As it brewed, I thought about telling Chris to hurry up and go before Michael started asking questions, but seeing him spread out in my bed made me want to ask him to stay. He looked so sweet and peaceful, and I couldn’t help but crawl back into bed with him.
“Good morning,” he said sleepily, smiling up at me.
“Good morning,” I replied, stroking his hair. “How did you sleep?”
“Great. You?”
“I haven’t slept this well in a long time.”
“What time is it? Do I need to leave?”
“It’s nearly eight. And no, why don’t you stay for breakfast. I’ll make waffles and scrambled eggs. I think it’s a special occasion.”
I noticed his bulging package standing prominently in the underwear he’d slept in. I couldn’t help but run my fingers over it.
He raised an eyebrow. “Do we have time before Michael gets up?” he asked excitedly.
I groaned. “Probably not.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to wait until next time,” he smirked. “Unless this was a one-time thing.”
“I don’t want it to be a one-time thing. Do you?”
“Not at all.”
He put on his clothes from last night and joined me in the kitchen for a cup of coffee. A few minutes later, Michael came running in to join us.
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Chris,” he greeted us.
“Did you have fun last night?” I asked.
“Yeah. We went to the movie and I got popcorn. Then we went to the store, and Chris let me get ice cream. I ate it before dinner.”
I glared at Chris. He shrugged his shoulders in return.
“And then we played football outside and played with my toys and then I went to bed.”
“Sounds like a good time.”
“Yeah, it was so much fun. Can Chris play again today?”
I laughed. “No, he’s going to have breakfast with us and then he has to leave.”
“Okay. When can he come back?”
I looked over at him to answer. We hadn’t really worked out a set schedule, besides weekend days that he had free.
“I’ll be back soon to hang out with you,” he said smiling.
“Now that that’s settled, let’s make something to eat.”
“Can we have waffles?” Michael asked.
“Of course,” I said, to his cheers.
Chris and I prepared the food as Michael set the table. Chris even let Michael help him scramble the eggs.
We sat down together to eat, like a little family. Chris was telling Michael about his away game the next day. After eating, we sat back and talked, enjoying our lazy Saturday morning.
Then, my dad came in through the front door without warning. Michael got up and ran to greet him. I froze like a teenager who had just got caught sneaking out. I thought about pushing Chris out the door, but there was no time. Even if I managed to get him out of the house before my dad saw him, Michael would certain say something. The timing wasn’t great, but we had no choice but to address the issue now.
When my dad saw Chris at the table with us, his jaw dropped. At first, he looked like he was seeing things, but then he realized with certainty just who was joining us for breakfast.
“What are you doing here?” my dad asked in a low voice.
“I could ask the same!” I screeched.
“My schedule got changed. I came by to surprise Michael.”
Michael was first to speak. “Grandpa, this is Chris Taylor. We’re friends.”
“Michael, honey, could you go upstairs and play for a little bit? The grownups need to talk for a while.”
“Okay,” he said, marching upstairs. We waited until we couldn’t hear him anymore to speak.
“Dad,” I said, “I can explain everything.”
“What is there to explain?” he barked. “I told him to never cross paths with our family ever again. Now, you’re bringing him over to your home to sleep with, while your son is under your roof? I already hate that the kid looks up to jerks like you,” he said, pointing to Chris. “You should have stayed in her past, Chris.”
“Michael needs his father,” I blurted out.
My dad rubbed his eyes. “Him?” he asked wearily. “Oh, Natalie, you promised me that it wasn’t him.”
“I didn’t know what else to say. I knew that you’d be upset and go after whoever it was that got me pregnant. We were better off that way.”
“So what makes you think that Michael needs his father now?”
“I saw him at his game, and we reconnected, I guess. I finally told him that he had a son, and they finally got to meet. Dad,” I said, looking him straight in the eye. “Michael absolutely loves Chris. They get along so well. If you could just see them together, you’d understand.”
“And what do you have to say about this?” he asked Chris directly. “How can we expect you to be a family man, after everything we know about you?”
“It’s been a big surprise,” Chris said, “but I want to be in Michael’s life. And Natalie’s life. I really care about them both.”
“And how do you think you’re going to juggle family life with your work life? Do you really think you can do both?”
“You did,” Chris said.
My dad sighed. “Yes, but it’s not easy. I wasn’t around for my kids a lot when they were young. I had to sacrifice a lot to make both work.”
“If you can do it, then so can I. At least give me the option to try.”
Chris and I looked at him, waiting to hear his final word.
“I’m not going to get in the way of your career if you’re trying to do right by my daughter and grandson. But
the second something goes wrong, you’ll be hearing from me.”
We both breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think you should get going,” my dad said. “I want to speak privately with my daughter.”
Chris nodded and grabbed his wallet and keys.
“Someday, I hope we can put all of this behind us,” Chris said. “I want to be part of Michael and Natalie’s life, and that means that we should be on good terms. Can we sit down again and talk, once we’ve had a chance to cool down and think? Maybe over dinner?”
“We’ll see,” my dad said. “Goodbye, Chris.”
“Goodbye. Goodbye, Natalie,” he said, looking sadly at me. I watched as he walked out the door and got into his car.
“Dad,” I cried. “Things were going so well. I don’t want to scare Chris out of our lives again.”
“When were you going to tell me, Natalie? You didn’t think I would eventually find out?”
“We didn’t even talk until you were gone on your trip. I was going to tell you everything tomorrow, when you got back.”
“And what did Chris have to say about that?”
“He told me everything that went down the day that he left me. He said that you threatened to end his career if he ever got in contact with me again. How could you do that? He’s the father of my child. I tried to tell him years ago, but he wouldn’t respond to me because you told him not to.”
“What good does it do to have him back? Besides the fact that Michael knows his father. I hope he made plans to pay child support.”
“I still have feelings for him. And I think he has feelings for me too. Can we just see what happens? I’m not a child anymore. I have a career and a young son.”
“Okay,” he relented. “I trust your judgment. But, if he messes with you or Michael, I can’t promise that I’ll just stand by and watch.”
“Okay,” I said. “Why don’t you go play with Michael while I clean up the kitchen?”
He nodded and made his way to Michael’s room. I put my head in my hands. At least the worst was over. Maybe now, Chris would have a chance to prove himself to my family.
Game Winning Catch: (Secret Baby Sports Romance (Pass To Win #5) Page 10
