Chapter 51

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Jordy

Hot on his tail, I followed Wade in my truck to the hospital, while biting every one of my fingernails down to the skin.

After I abandoned my truck, which will probably get towed, I hid behind pillars and covertly shadowed Kali and Wade as they made their way through the corridors of the hospital.

Becoming impatient, for the last hour, I've been waiting for Wade and Kali to leave Lola’s private hospital room. Daryl and Piper left five minutes ago, so I’m hoping they leave soon too.

Finally, after what feels like a lifetime, Wade and Kali leave, along with the doctor. Thank fuck.

I remove myself from my hiding spot and check left and right before turning the handle of the door and sneaking in.

I think my heart might just give out.

Is she okay?

What’s wrong with the baby?

Our baby?

Eyes closed, lying on the hospital bed, she looks so peaceful, I don’t want to wake her, but I can’t wait any longer.

“Lola,” I whisper.

Her eyes shutter open, then widen when she sees me.

She moves herself up the bed to a sitting position. “Jordan.”

“Please tell me everything is okay.” My mind reels with questions, my fear palpable.

“You know?” Her face is etched with concern.

“I was there when Kali told Wade.”

Her expression stills and grows serious before she admits, “I promise, I never missed a day when taking my pill but the OB-GYN told me nine out of one hundred women fall pregnant on the pill.” She bites her bottom lip, which is something she does when she’s worried. “The doctor assured me that the two alcoholic drinks I had over the holidays wouldn’t harm the baby. I would never have had any if I had known, you have to believe me, Jordan.” Her voice sounds pained.

“I know how careful you are, Lola. You don’t have to explain.”

“This is not how I wanted you to find out about the baby.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

Lower than a whisper, she replies, “When I asked you at the wedding if we could meet up to talk, that’s why. I planned on telling you after my ultrasound, which is at the end of next week.”

Fuck.

And I pushed her away and told her in a roundabout way to go fuck herself.

What a jerk.

“I’m sorry for pushing you away, Lola.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Are you okay?” I’m about three heartbeats away from having a fucking heart attack.

“I’m fine. I've just been doing too much. I’m on complete bed rest.”

“And the baby?” Please let the baby be okay.

“Healthy. Thriving.” She cups her stomach that’s still flat. “I wish you were here for the ultrasound they did earlier to check everything was okay.”

Me too.

“Kali said you were bleeding.” I walk tentatively to her bedside when all I really want to do is run to her and kiss her until I can’t breathe, and celebrate the fact we are having a baby together.

Holy shit. This might be the best day of my life.

“It’s all normal, as is the cramping I had too.” Her dimples appear when she shoots me a small smile.

“Cramping?” Fuck, I don’t like the sound of that.

“Mm hm. And lower back pain. The doctor said it’s common. Everything is fine. We’re fine.” Lola takes my hand and places it on her stomach and it might be the best moment of my life. “We’re having a baby, Jordan.”

A warm glow moves through me as we share this moment… until a booming voice breaks it.

“You are fucking having what with who ?”

Wade.

Three things happen at once.

Wade storms into the room with Kali chasing after him, telling him to take a chill pill.

I hold my hands up and step away from Lola.

And Lola demands that Wade calm down.

Shit.

“You?” Wade points at me. “When? How?”

“The night you were in LA,” I confess.

“LA?” Wade yells, making the water ripple in the glass on the tray that is sitting next to the bed. “You have got to be kidding me. You took advantage of her when she’d just split up with her ex.” His fists clench by his sides.

“Whoa,” I say at the same time Lola snaps, “It wasn’t like that. This is why I didn’t tell you, because you are so hot-headed and you’re like a big, possessive oaf sometimes. I knew I would have to give you time to process the fact that Jordan was the father before you came face to face with him. He’s the father of my child, Wade, and that’s just something you are going to have to get used to.” I want to tell her to calm down as it’s not good for the baby, but she keeps going. “The night you were in LA, Jordy looked after me. He was so kind and made me feel special.”

“Did you not think about using protection?” The fierceness of his words pierces needles into my skin. “Was it a one-night thing?”

Lola’s stands up for herself. “I could ask the same question to you. Don’t be such a hypocrite, Wade. And honestly, it’s quite frankly none of your business when our baby was conceived but if you really want all the details, maybe it was the night after you came back from LA,” Lola suggests, and I can tell she’s fucking with him, which only makes the look he’s giving me turn more murderous and I want to beg her to stop. “Then there was the night we built a snowman. Twice, nope three times. Or maybe it was between Christmas and New Year. Then again on New Year’s Eve. Three times that night but, according to my last period, it was probably the first night we spent together. Give or take. Jordy must have super sperm.” She thumbs in my direction, and I want the floor to open and swallow me whole because I can tell from the red flush of his skin, Wade’s about to explode any second.

“Enough,” Wade yells, making me jump.

“I was going to tell you Jordan was the father after the first ultrasound, and only after I told him.” Lola sounds exasperated.

The pulse pounds in the thick vein in his neck. “He’s my best friend.”

“Which is why I was worried about telling you.” Another thing I love about Lola is that she might be a little thing, but the way she stands up for herself makes her appear ten feet tall.

Wade points at me again. “You, outside. Now.” Oh fuck. He’s going to smash my face in . Which he’s good at. He broke Zane’s nose.

“This is what I mean.” Lola flips back the covers, moving faster than a whippet. “Jordan, stay here.” Her voice is strong as she instructs me what to do, while she and her brother have a standoff.

“You move.” He points at me again, then at the open doorway. He then points at Lola. “Stay right there, Lola. And you,” he turns to Kali, his face instantly softening, “sit, keep cooking our baby and just, you know, be beautiful.” He kisses her on the lips, and she melts into a puddle like butter in a hot pan.

While all of this is happening, my main thought is that I hope Lola was paying attention to the funeral parlor I selected because I’m about to meet my maker.

Wade walks to the door. “Move, Jordan,” he snaps, and I follow him like the fucking pussy I appear to have turned into tonight.

“He’s using his full name,” Kali whispers, which means Wade is as serious as a judge.

“Wade,” Lola shouts but he shuts the door behind me as soon as I’m in the corridor and walks out of earshot of the girls.

Legs wide, arms folded across his chest, he looks broader and taller than usual.

“So?” He pops a brow in question.

“I’m sorry.”

“You knocked up my sister?”

“I didn’t know she was your sister.” I need another shower. I’m sweating my nuts off.

“Okay. Let me reword that then. You knocked up my assistant, who was an Eagles’ employee at the time.” He takes a breath. “She was staff, Jordan, and you know how that ends. She would have been fired, and at best, you would have had game suspensions. Did my past fuck ups not teach you anything?”

He’s got me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Tell me what the fuck you’re going to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Support her, be there for her and the baby? What exactly?”

“Of course I am going to be there for her. What kind of man do you take me for?”

He takes a quick intake of breath, as if he figured something out. “Shit. Is she Teacup?”

Unable to look at him, I run my hands down my face. “Yeah.”

Silence stretches between us for what seems like forever.

“So, she’s the one?” Wade asks, much softer this time, as if remembering our conversation from that day in the locker room before New Year. “She’s the one that could be something truly special?” he quotes me verbatim.

The skin of my cheeks heats to a billion degrees. “Yes. But when the media discovered she was your sister, she called it all off. She didn’t want to upset you and didn’t want anyone to find out about us. She’s always putting everyone first before herself.” I lay my hands on top of my head and lace my fingers together. “It’s been fucking killing me not seeing her every day. She won’t reply to my texts. She said she needed to end us because you were the most important thing to her, and she wanted to focus on her family.” I drop my arms. “And what started as a rebound thing for her became so much fucking more, Wade. I promise it was never a fling for me. It never once felt like that.”

Narrowing his glare, he chews his bottom lip as if contemplating. “Do you love her?”

“It’s pretty hard not to. She’s fucking?—”

“Amazing.” His voice is full of admiration.

I shove my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “And she’s having my baby. I can’t believe I’m going to be a dad,” I say as the realization hits me, and I can’t wait. I’m so excited.

“Happy?”

My mouth breaks into a massive smile so big it hurts my cheeks. “Ecstatic.” I’m having a baby with the most beautiful girl in the world. “I fucking love her.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Wade rushes over and lifts me off the floor in a giant bear hug.

I struggle to get my words out as my legs dangle. “Because I thought you were going to kill me.” He lowers me to the floor and holds my shoulders while I try to remain cool, when secretly inside, I’m freaking out.

“Break her heart and I will.” He tilts his head to the side in a sinister way. “I’m just fucking with you.” He pats my shoulder twice, laughing his head off. I’m not testing that theory, although I have no intention of breaking her heart. “Right, let’s get Kali, and then we have work to do.”

“Work to do?” I ask.

“I have a plan.”

“A plan?”

“She wanted to focus on family, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you’re part of our family now.” Wade holds his hand out for me to shake. I grab on to it and he pumps it up and down. “Welcome to the family, Jordan. I’m so fucking happy for you, man. And I know you’ll look after her.”

“That’s if she’ll let me.”

“She will.”

We stand back from each other as emotion builds in my chest.

He smiles at me then surprises me with his next words. “My sister and my best friend. You two make sense, you know. And fucking hell, it’s just dawned on me, she even wore your jersey tonight.” He scoffs, his eyes widening.

“That doesn’t mean anything. I love her, but I don’t think she feels the same way about me.” She’s been pushing me away for four painful weeks.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

What the hell does he have planned?