by Ava Walsh
His lithe athletic body moved like the wind. He was tackled, but he soldiered through. It was easy to see that he was still the apple of everyone’s eye. None of these stories had truly changed their affection for their hero. He was still able to charm his way out of all this.
I clapped as the crowd cheered, a smile on my face. I was genuinely happy to see him on the field. He wasn’t himself, granted, but he was doing his best. He was doing what he was good at and those were the genes that my child would have as well. Kyle Murphy’s genes.
They won. I hadn’t expected them to win, and they had come close to losing, but Kyle saved the day again. His last kick was perfect, it arched through the air and he made it, serving his team with a magnificent victory yet again. When they carried him on their shoulders, he was close to the bleachers. I could see him clearly. The way his chest rose and fell with the excitement, the look on his face. He was surprised they had won, he was in shock that he had been able to do it all. I wondered if he blamed me for his under-performance.
I waited for a few more minutes, watching the team cheer, clap and wave. I adjusted the sunglasses on my face and stood up when they started to walk back in towards the locker room. It was time for me to leave. I had seen what I had come here to see. This would be my last memory of Kyle, in person, at least. I was glad they had won the game.
I weaved through the cheering crowds and made my way out. The crowd was thick and I was pushed around a bit, but I placed my hand on my belly protectively and managed to squeeze my way through.
“Erica!” I heard a voice behind me. When I turned around, I could see Lewis’ head bobbing up in the sea of people. He was waving to me, scorn on his face. I stopped in my tracks as he pushed people out of the way to reach me. “What are you doing here?” he asked when he had managed to come closer. He had to scream over the heads of thousands of fans.
I was still being pushed by the outgoing crowd, and I tried to hold my place. “I came to watch the game,” I said. I could sense the hostility emanating from Lewis. He wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t happy to see me.
“The media got wind that you were attending. They saw you at the seats,” he said, coming even closer now.
“Yes, I saw the cameras. I wasn’t here for them,” I stated, folding my arms. My shoulders were still being jerked by everyone who pushed against me.
“I find that hard to believe. Are you going to make some kind of statement?” Lewis asked. He came ever closer and I felt some of his spittle land on my face. Did he really hate me, or was he just being protective of his client?
“No, Lewis, I am not here to make any statement. I had just come to watch the game and now I’m going,” I said and I was going to turn, but he stopped me.
“You really shouldn’t be doing things like this. We need to put the relationship to rest. You shouldn’t be wagging the media’s tongue again. You know how it is, you’re a journalist,” Lewis lectured and I tightened my lips. It was insulting to have to hear this from him. I didn’t want to have to explain to Lewis, of all people, that I was in love with Kyle.
“I was a journalist, and don’t worry Lewis. You won’t be seeing me around anymore. I’m leaving the city,” I said and I was about to turn again, but he stopped me again, this time by placing a hand on my arm.
“Glad to hear it. But before you go, Kyle wants to have a word with you. He heard you were here,” Lewis said and then turned to go, expecting me to follow him.
Chapter Eighteen - Kyle
She was in a light floral dress, and I thought I could detect a slight baby bump on her already. Her hair was glossy, golden, and parted on the side. She had big sunglasses on, covering her eyes. Her lips were pink. This was the mother of my child, and I was delighted to see her.
I had asked Lewis to bring her to the back room, behind the locker rooms, so we could have our privacy. And she didn’t look happy to be brought there. There was discomfort on her face, and I immediately regretted asking her to come here. I didn’t want her to think that she was being forced into doing something she didn’t want to do.
“Hello, Erica,” I said, folding my arms. I was leaning against the table that was in the middle of the small stock room. There was one light bulb hanging from the ceiling between us.
“Hello, Kyle,” she said, keeping her distance from me. Lewis shut the door behind him, and I let out a huge breath.
“Thank you for coming to the game,” I said, trying to force a smile on my face.
“You won, again,” she said, still unsmiling.
“Despite your prediction,” I said jokingly as she slowly pulled the glasses off her face. Her eyes were dark today, a deep rich blue.
“I didn’t wish you ill,” she said.
I nodded my head. “I know, of course. It was only a joke.”
“And I also didn’t mean to cause a scene. I just wanted to watch the game. I had the ticket,” she continued. I continued nodding my head.
“Of course. You should come to all the games, by all means. You’re a sports journalist after all.” I tried to laugh again, but she wasn’t joining me.
“I don’t know why people keep calling me that. I used to be a sports journalist. I’m not one anymore.” She looked away from me, but she didn’t look sad. She looked sure of herself, as confident as ever. I wanted to hold her, I wanted her to let it all out.
“How are you feeling?” I asked and she jerked her head to look at me.
“With the child you mean?”
“With my child, yes.”
“I feel fine.” She waved the sunglasses in her hand, and I stared at her. I wanted her to tell me the truth.
“Can I see the baby when it’s born?” I asked, I knew I had to tread carefully.
“I didn’t think you wanted to,” she said, looking keenly back at me.
“Of course I want to. It’s my child. It’s our child, Erica.” I took a few steps towards her, and I was glad to find that she didn’t move away.
“But it was a mistake.”
“A happy mistake. I’m going to be a father. That feels great and I want to be a part of its life.” I took a few more steps towards her.
“I was planning on leaving the city, going back to my hometown,” she said, still looking at me.
“For a while? Not for very long, I hope. I don’t want to live far away from my child.” I didn’t know what else to say. My heart was breaking to hear that she had planned to go away. Ten days apart had been enough for me to know that I couldn’t live without her.
“I need my family’s support.”
“But you have mine.”
“Lewis asked me to stay away.”
“Lewis is an asshole,” I blurted out, and I saw the smile in her eyes. It encouraged me to edge closer to her. “He has no idea how I feel about you.”
Erica was silent, but she was asking the question with her eyes. How do you feel about me?
“That relationship may have been fake, Erica, but my feelings for you are not. I think I’m in love with you,” I said. The lightbulb above us was swinging. Her face was lit and then not lit, lit and then not lit. I thought I saw a smile spreading across her face, but I couldn’t be sure yet.
“Kyle, how can this be possible?” she asked, and I reached for her hand.
“I don’t know Erica, but it’s not impossible either,” I said. She let me hold her hand.
“No, I mean, how can this be possible? I thought I was the only one who was feeling this way. I’ve missed you, Kyle,” she said and she was in my arms in the next second. Her face was on my shoulder and I was stroking her hair.
My heart was beating fast, the warmth of her body was enough to make me happy. I was smiling.
“Why did you stay away from me for so long?” I asked her. She remained on my chest, her hair spread over my shoulders.
“Because I didn’t think you wanted me. I thought you were happy to see me go. I couldn’t imagine that you would want a baby.” Erica was speaking softly as I
held her close to me.
“That’s crazy talk. All I’ve done since I first saw you in that hallway after that first game is think about you. I’ve wanted your body, and now I want your soul,” I said and I felt her smile against my jersey.
We were both silent for several minutes, enjoying the warmth of each other’s body.
“What about that photograph? The one in your locker room?” Erica asked suddenly.
“I never found out who did it. Must have been one of my teammates. But it doesn’t matter anymore. We would never have been together if it wasn’t for that photograph,” I said, stroking her hair. She smiled at me and nodded.
Chapter Nineteen - Erica
The press had been primed, they had all lined up outside the stadium waiting for us to make an appearance. Lewis had grudgingly arranged for it.
Kyle was holding my hand tightly as we made our way out. My heart was pounding against my chest. I had never done something like this before. All my career, I had been on the other side. I had been the one asking questions.
Kyle was still in his winning jersey and he had a bright smile on his face as we made our way to the front. The cameras flashed. He was a natural. “Good evening everybody. I just wanted to make an official statement and put all the gossip to rest, once and for all,” Kyle began. The cameras continued to flash as he spoke loudly, but the murmur had died down. Everybody was waiting with bated breath to hear him.
Kyle Murphy had just won another game: he was the star of the show, also the hottest most eligible bachelor in the country, and now he was making a statement holding the hand of a girl who he had supposedly thrown out of his house only a few days ago.
“No, I will not be taking any questions.” He shot down someone from the crowd of journalists who had said something. “The truth is that Erica and I met here, in this stadium, after one of our games. We met and we fell in love. That was almost instantaneous. We have been together since then, and it is none of anybody’s business what goes on in our personal lives.”
The cameras flashed again. I was standing beside him and he was still holding my hand.
“We are very much in love, we have always been together, and little fights and arguments are a part of every relationship. I did not throw her out of my apartment. She chose to leave of her own accord to take a break. And now we are together again.” Kyle looked at me, and I smiled at him. He hadn’t told me what he had planned on saying, but I was glad he was saying it all. Nearly everything he was saying was true.
“I would also ask the media to exercise caution in their dealings with our relationship. We are expecting a child, and we do not want the paparazzi hounding our personal space and private lives.” He ended it on that note and turned to me. I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me, but he did. Right on the lips, in front of everybody.
“One last thing, as you can all guess by now. I am officially taken,” he said and pulled me away, and then leaned in to kiss me on the cheek again.
“All that wasn’t necessary, Kyle,” I whispered to him. He squeezed my hand, warm in his.
“Of course it was. I had to announce it to the world,” he said.
*****
THE END
Did you like what you read?
”Quarterback Daddy“ is a standalone book in a series of football stars secret baby romance novels. Other parts of the series:
- Football Daddy
- Touchdown Daddy
The books each have a guaranteed HEA and contain plenty of hot football players, steamy love-scenes and mature language.
Bonus Book 5: Hit by the Football Player
Description
An inexperienced nerdy girl PLUS a bad boy football player PLUS an indecent payment proposal!
Margie Wilson is happy being a nerd. It means she always tops her class and is headed towards a high-paying job. Now that college is nearing its end, her life is turning out as she planned it. What she hadn’t planned on, however, was Lance Healy.
Dreamy eyed Lance Healy is known around campus as the bad boy. He is a football star on the college team, flexes his muscles as often as he breathes and has more women throwing themselves at him than Margie even knew existed. Lance needs her help, though. He isn’t prepared for the upcoming tests that’ll decide whether he gets to keep his sports scholarship or gets chucked out of college and loses his shot at making National League.
Margie agrees to tutor him. Who wouldn’t? She never thought she’d ever meet him face-to-face, let alone spend so much time so close to him.
Lance, however, seems to believe in give and take. He owes Margie a favor now and believes she deserves payment. There is only one way he knows to repay favors to girls, but Margie has never gone that far with anybody before. It’s certainly not what she signed up for. But how can she resist Lance Healy? Especially when she doesn’t know his plans.
Chapter One
Margie was the last one in the library again, for the third evening in a row. She looked around her and saw Mrs. Brown, the librarian, glaring at her from over the top of her small, square spectacles. Margie mouthed the word ‘sorry’, then quickly collected all the books from the table and deposited them into her backpack before standing up. She knew she was going to ace the exam, but she had nothing else to do.
“I promise I’ll keep an eye on the clock tomorrow,” Margie said, with the widest smile she could manage, as she headed out past Mrs. Brown.
The corridors of the building were all empty as Margie walked down towards the large front doors. She could hear the rubber soles of her canvas shoes squeak as she walked. Dinner was on her mind, although she hadn’t even realized she was hungry until now.
Her hands were on the door when it was suddenly pushed towards her, and she felt a tall, hard body slam into her. Margie’s backpack, which she was carrying on one shoulder, went flying and she felt a rough thud as her back hit the wall.
“Oh, shit!” She heard a voice as she blinked her eyes open.
“Are you okay? Shit, shit.” The voice continued. Rough hands pulled her back up and her eyes finally adjusted to normal vision. Her own hands were placed on Lance Healy’s chest. She had unknowingly placed them there for support, but now she pulled them away in fright.
“Hey. Are you okay?” he asked her again, and Margie managed to nod this time. She watched tongue-tied as he bent forward to pick up her bag from the floor and then stretched out his arm towards her. She noticed the way the muscles on his arms, peeping out from underneath the cotton half-sleeves of his T-shirt, flexed. She had never seen him this close before.
“Is the library still open?” he asked, seemingly unaware of the physical effect he had on Margie. She couldn’t find her voice, her throat had closed up. She shook her head while watching him, studying him closely so she could embed that image of him in her brain. The sharp clean jaw, thick pink lips, the way his chocolate-brown hair fell over his forehead and eyelashes.
“Aw, damn!” Lance cursed some more, his hands flying to his hair. He was running his fingers through it and Margie could feel herself going weak in the knees.
“Why? What do you need?” she heard herself ask, surprising even herself by the sudden voice she had found. Lance looked at her, his large green eyes focusing on her face as he spoke.
“I needed some books for a test. I’m so not prepared for it.” He dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“The economics test coming up next week?” Margie asked, in a low squeaky voice, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. She couldn’t look at him directly; her gaze kept falling to the ground.
“Yeah, exactly. Are you in my class?” Lance’s eyes lit up and Margie blushed. She was instantly embarrassed by the fact that he didn’t even know she existed. She nodded nonetheless and he stretched out his hand again.
“Lance,” he said, with a grin that showed his straight line of perfectly white teeth.
“Margie,” she said, blushing a bright red. She shook his hand nervously, notici
ng his grip, which was strong and tight. His hands felt rough and soft at the same time, sending tingles down her spine. She nearly giggled.
“Hi, Margie. I’m such a doofus. I don’t know what I’m going to do for the test.” Lance was grinning still as he shook her hand. He was the one who eventually pulled his hand away. Margie didn’t know when to stop shaking it. She knew she was blushing still.
“I have a few books here with me if you want to borrow them?” She started unzipping her bag and pulling out some of the books, which she already knew by heart. She started handing them over to Lance one at a time. He was laughing.
“You just carry these books around in your backpack all day?” he asked, and Margie blushed again. She wasn’t sure if he was making fun of her or just being friendly. He didn’t sound unfriendly, which was a very strange experience for her. Usually, Lance Healy, when he wasn’t winning football games for the college team, was attending frat parties and missing classes. It was no surprise that he didn't know who she was.
“So, you seem to be well prepared for the test already,” he added, cluelessly looking through the pages of some of the books in his hands. Margie was smiling silently at him, her confidence in looking at him directly growing.
“I’ve been studying for it for a while now,” she said, noticing now the way the thin material of his T-shirt stretched across the vast expanse of his chest. She couldn’t believe she had touched it. Lance Healy’s chest!
