ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: The Playmaker (Bad Boy College Football Romance) (New Adult College Alpha Male Sports Romance)

by Carly White

I smiled to myself as he looked away relieved. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

  Chapter 6

  Emily

  After the information I got from the police database and the conversation I had with my father, I tried to forget about the man that had been at the right place at the right time. It was what it was, I was sure of it. Nowhere else would we meet again, too far different to ever be in the same circle of people again. I blocked his number from my phone and went about my business, trying to forget about him.

  I did a pretty good job of it and it was only late at night that I missed Tony. I told myself there was nothing to miss, I didn’t even really know him, but it didn’t stop the memories of his touch. Of that I could be certain of. I may not know much about what he did or liked as a whole, but I knew where I could touch him to drive him mad. That information seemed to be enough for me.

  I finished off class and barely even thought about Tony anymore. Me and Jared were on talking terms again and before, I would have jumped with the chance to go back to him, I didn’t once break. Jared was working on me and I let him, but I knew it wasn’t going to turn into anything else. It was what it was but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t attractive and I wasn’t a hopeless flirt.

  We were walking in the park one afternoon. I was getting ready to start an internship for the summer and he was starting his first real job after getting his degree. It was something that we had always done together on Sunday mornings and I missed that. It wasn’t Sunday then though, it was Saturday evening right before dark. He was trying to convince me to have dinner at his house and I saw it for what it was, a way to try and get me into his bed.

  “I can’t Jared. I have to get up early in the morning and I still have to go over a couple reports and depositions.” I was already getting some work from the law offices of Weimer, but it was more of an excuse to not be alone with him. I was having trouble remembering why it was that we weren’t together. My body needed something more than holding hands while walking in the park. No matter how romantic the setting, it would be far worse in his apartment where I had such wild memories of when we were together. It was almost a conundrum. I was with Tony to forget about Jared, but now I had nothing to help me forget about Tony.

  “Come on. It’s just dinner. I have no one to cook for anymore.”

  I was tempted. The man could cook, but what he did better is what worried me. I wanted all of what he had to offer. I stopped and turned towards him to say something and he leaned in to kiss me all of a sudden. My lips were not ready and I pulled away before it could go any further. It was that kiss that made me realize how wrong it was. Jared was not the one anymore.

  “Stop. I thought we were going to just be friends.”

  He was mad, the look on his face incredulous. “No man wants to be friends with his ex, Emily. Don’t be so naïve.”

  I was the one getting mad next. It was stupid on my part to have even entertained the idea, but now I saw how silly I was being. I went home from the park, walking the several blocks to get to my apartment. I wasn’t thinking when I left the park. I had to walk through several bad parts of town that I would have rather not went through at night.

  By the end of it, I was almost shaking. But as I got closer to my apartment, the street lights were brighter and I didn’t have too much to worry about being accosted on the street. There was no one on the sidewalk when I went in the entrance, checking my mail on the way up to my apartment. I admonished myself the whole way home, wondering why I was feeling so stir crazy.

  I was convinced that it was because I was hormonal, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I hadn’t had a period that month or the last once I thought about it. It was the only thing that kept me from worrying about the savory characters I had passed on the street.

  It wouldn’t be that worrisome, if I had just been with Jared. We always used protection and it was never a problem. But that morning marathon tryst with Tony had been anything but safe and now that I was back at my place, looking at my calendar, I knew that the impossible had happened. I didn’t want to get myself all riled up, hoping that I was somehow wrong and somehow not pregnant, but the sinking feeling in my gut was enough to make me realize that I wasn’t wrong.

  I sat down on the couch and must have stared off into space for at least an hour. There was no one to call. Tony probably didn’t even remember me and if I told my dad, all he would want to know was who the father was. What could I do? It was times like this, that I wished my mom was still around. She always knew the perfect thing to say and I needed that now. I needed someone to tell me what to do.

  Convincing myself that I could be wrong and was freaking out over nothing, I knew I had to do something to ease my mind. There were a lot of reason that I could be late. I assured myself that I was just working myself up over nothing and that I would get a test and everything would be fine. That is what I told myself anyways, hoping that the bad feeling was just more over wrought emotions.

  When I went out an hour later to the drugstore to find out once and for all, I knew that my fears were not unfounded. I sat with the small stick in my hand and my mind reeled. What was I going to do? Tony would never want to be the father. I was sure that he wouldn’t even recognize me again. I wanted to think that what we had was something special, but I knew better than that. Men like him didn’t stick around. I was going to have to do it alone.

  The idea was scary at first, but as the weeks went by, I started to get used to the idea. I hadn’t gotten the courage up to tell my father what was going on, basically because I didn’t know how to tell him about the father of my baby. There was no scenario in which he would be okay with me being with Tony or having a child with him. But I had to do something soon. I was starting to show and even though I was starting to wear baggy clothes, I know that I only had so long before I had to say something. He was going to find out and I was already noticing a squint to his eyes when he looked at me.

  I was over at his house one evening. I always went over there for dinner a couple of times a week and since I was finally getting over my morning sickness, it was a lot easier to enjoy my visits to his house. But I was unprepared for the bombardment of questions after dinner was served.

  “I know something is going on with you Emily. You have been my little girl for all these years, I know you.”

  I tried not to sigh. I literally had not had my first bite before he was starting in on me. I wasn’t sure what I was doing to get the lecture, but I was sure if I waited long enough he would let me know. He was always good about that.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You barely eat for a month and you are always looking sick.”

  I sighed to myself. Obviously the whole glowing thing wasn’t going for me. “I am fine, just been feeling under the weather is all. It has been a cold winter and I am just not used to it this year.”

  I was scrabbling for an answer to his questions. He already had something in mind that was my problem. I could tell by the way he was looking at me. “It’s not that. I just, I don’t know Emily. Sometimes I wish your mother was around. She was always good with the emotional stuff.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Are you pregnant?”

  I stopped and looked at him. He already knew and there was nonsense in denying it. “Yes.”

  He closed his eyes and I saw a weight lifted off of his shoulder. The mystery had been solved. “Well when I heard about you and Jared, I was wondering if you were going to patch it up. You kind of have to now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well if you two are going to have a baby together, you need to think about marriage. I don’t want you to have to raise my grandchild on your own.”

  I wanted to pop off and just tell him that it was even worse than that. I knew that he was going to be upset, but I hadn’t considered the fact that he was going to think that it was Jared’s. If I was smart I would have told him that it was Jared’s. Then
I wouldn’t have to explain that it was some guy I didn’t know, even worse if I told him it was Tony’s. I was sure that he would have a meltdown if I did that.

  Stuck, I just tried to go with it. “You know, I always like Jared. I know that you two were young when you first started dating, you are still young, but I think he is going to be a good father and a good son-in-law. I always hoped it would be him. He always seemed to be able to calm you down. You two are good for each other. Before him, you were going through that gothic stage and running with all the wrong people.

  If he said anything else I was going to have to say something. It was like word vomit that kept coming out and the more he talked, the more aggravated I became.

  “It’s not Jared’s dad.” My voice was low and even though he was talking, he still heard me loud and clear. I almost regretted saying it for a minute. I had no plans to, but when he kept going on and on like Jared was the best man under the sun, I had to stop it somehow. It was really all I could do to get him to stop practically gushing over Jared.

  “Why, what happened with you guys?”

  “He blew off our last date and I caught him with another girl, you know going down on him.”

  “Emily. That is no talk for the dinner table.”

  I sighed and pushed the plate away. Even with everything going on and the pregnancy running most of my bodily functions, I couldn’t stand to look at food anymore. “That’s fine because I am not really hungry. Whenever you are done gushing over Jared let me know because he is a cheat and that’s the end of it.”

  “All men make mistakes Emily. If you two are going to have a child together, it’s not fair to leave him out of it.”

  I sighed louder. “I just told you that it isn’t his. Not because I don’t want it to be, but because it just isn’t.”

  “Then who’s is it?”

  I looked down. I didn’t want to talk about it. There was no way for me to tell him that it was Tony and it seemed impossible. “It’s just a guy. He is not going to be in the baby’s life, so it really doesn’t matter who.”

  That got me a look and I tried not to squirm under his sharp look.

  “I want to know who it is Emily. You can’t just let a man do that to you and then walk away.”

  “Women do it all the time.”

  “Well other women aren’t my daughter. You tell me who it is and I promise you I will make sure they are walking the line for you when it comes time for the baby to be born.”

  There was no way to get out of it. I should have just said it was Jared’s. The only problem was that he would go to him, most likely strapped and freak him out. I didn’t want Jared thinking I was pregnant and thinking that we were going to get back together.

  “I’m not telling you. There is no way that I am going to let you go down there and threaten him. He doesn’t even know. I just think it is best that I do this on my own.”

  He wasn’t buying it, but at least he got off my back some about it. I knew that it wouldn’t be the last conversation that we had about it, but I felt like I had made it past round one and that was going to have to be enough.

  Chapter 7

  Tony

  “Where the hell do you get off touching my daughter Castello?!”

  I turned to see Sergeant Price coming towards me in my own house. Vinnie was coming in behind him, unsure what to do. It was not something that I was expecting. One of Chicago’s finest in my house. “You better have a search warrant to be in here James.”

  The smile on my face deteriorated when he kept coming. I had to stop Vinnie from doing anything rash, holding my hand up. “What is this about? I don’t know your daughter officer. I am sure you have the wrong guy.”

  “Emily. My daughter is Emily. You’ve ruined her life and you don’t even know her name?”

  The name brought back memories that made me straighten up in my seat. She had been the one that got away and for the life of me, I had not been able to forget her. “I remember Emily, but what does that have to do with you?”

  “She is my daughter and you know it!”

  I hadn’t, but it was just another reminder of how small the world was. “I haven’t seen her in a couple of months. I assure you that I didn’t know her dad was a cop. I wasn’t thinking about her lineage when I met her.”

  It was the wrong thing to say, the man coming at me, fist back to hit me. I ducked out of his way easily, still not sure why he was so upset. Emily was an adult and though I could see how it would upset him, his reaction was a bit more than would be expected.

  Vinny grabbed him and pulled him away from me. I made the gestured for him to let him go. “Sorry about my associate. He is not used to people barging into my house and putting their hands on me. Sit down and we will discuss why you are so upset.”

  I could see him trying to sit down. He grabbed his chest unconsciously, but I saw the wince. It would not do for him to have a heart attack in my house, so I waited for him to calm down some. The very fact that he was there was like a sign. I shouldn’t have stopped calling Emily. There were a couple of times I had been driven over to her apartment building, but I had never gotten out. It was strange territory to even want to see her again.

  “So now that you are calmer James, what is the issue? I didn’t know that you were her father. She certainly didn’t say anything and she is old enough.”

  “That’s not the point. Emily was not meant to be with someone like you. You have destroyed her life Tony and you don’t even care. I can’t let this go.”

  He was working himself up again and I was really starting to imagine all of the police that would swarm my house if he keeled over. How many people knew he was here?

  “I met her one time. Hardly long enough to do all of that. I am sure you have the wrong man.”

  “I wish I did. I know it was you.”

  I was still confused and I was starting to get aggravated about all of it. The man had a lot of nerve to be here in the first place. The only thing that was keeping him alive was who his daughter was and the fond memories I had of Emily. In a way I wanted to ask where she was.

  “Don’t grin about it.”

  “Grin about what? Really James you need to start making sense or I am out of patience.”

  “She’s pregnant. You got my daughter pregnant! That doesn’t make any sense in so many ways. Do you not understand what you have done to her?”

  I felt like I had been hit with a brick in my chest. There was too much information coming in. Not only was she the damn Sergeant’s daughter, but she was pregnant too? I sat there stunned and it was the first bit of relief that he had. “So you didn’t know?”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t speak my throat constricted as my mind reeled. How could I have let it happen? I was always so careful, but I hadn’t seen her coming. How could I? She came out of nowhere and now I was left with a warm feeling over the news. I shouldn’t be happy, but I was. We now had a bond that could never be broken and she couldn’t ignore me forever. But she hadn’t been the one to tell me.

  “Why am I finding out from you?”

  “Because she isn’t going to tell you. Emily is embarrassed I am sure.”

  I gritted my teeth and knew that in some ways, it must be true. The fact that I was finding out from him was all of the proof I needed. Emily had every intention on having my baby and not saying a word about it.

  ***

  The conversation I had with James had not ended as badly as one would have expected. He was more upset over her being left to fend for herself more than anything. When I told him that she would be taken care of, he seemed to lose a lot of his anger. He didn’t try to hit me again, so I was going to take that as a good sign.

  I went down to her apartment that night once I knew she was out of school. I didn’t pause on the outside as I had before. I had more resolve and though James was freaking out and I am sure Emily was as well, it was what was supposed to happen. Never had I wanted a woman twice, but Emily was different and
the very idea that she was now mine forever spurred me to press the button to her apartment.

  “Yes?”

  “Let me up Emily. We need to talk.”

  I waited for her to say something or buzz me up. Neither happened and after a minute, I buzzed again. “Emily.”

  “Now is not a good time Tony.”

  “I don’t care. Open up.”

  Finally I heard the buzzing sound as she let me in. I walked up the stairs two at a time, trying to figure out what I was going to say to her. What was there to say? When I knocked on her door and she answered, I knew that I wasn’t going to need words. She knew who I was and I knew the secret that she was hiding. There was no going back for us.

  “Tony. What are you doing here?”

  I pushed past her and waited for her to close the door before I turned around. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “Your dad came by my house today.”

  She sighed and looked down. It was then that I noticed what she was wearing and the slight bump in her midsection. She was ready for bed and I knew then that I was too.

  “I’m sorry Tony.”

  “I know your secret, you know mine. Now you are mine. You and the baby Emily.”

  I moved towards her, done talking and not wanting to hear anything else but her calling out my name as she came all over me. I could still hear the sounds in my head.

  “What are you doing Tony?”

  “Taking what’s mine.”

  I pulled her against me and like before, her slight frame fit perfectly. “We can’t Tony.”

  I pressed my lips against her waiting for the sound that came with her submission. It wasn’t long before the hands that were trying to stop me against my chest, were wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer. Then the sound that I was dying to hear, the soft moan as my hips pushed against hers. She was mine. Whether she liked it or not.

  I pulled away, picking her up and walking back toward what I hoped was the bedroom. I set her on the bed, pulling her shorts off and then her T shirt as she fought with the idea of us. It didn’t matter what her mind thought, with a touch, her body would say differently.