3. Cobb

CHAPTER 3

COBB

B eing back in the bedroom I'd grown up in, knowing that it wasn't just for a visit, was weird as fuck. It was my room, but at the same time, it wasn't or it hadn't been in years. I'd gone to college—didn't finish because I entered the draft after my sophomore year the same as my brothers, though Urban and Silas might have been after their junior year. By the time we'd gotten to me, it was a given I'd be drafted. It was just a matter of where and I didn't want it to be Kalamazoo. Again, like my brothers.

Now we were all fucking here, though I didn't know if they knew I was coming. I didn't tell them and my mom could've gone either way. She was good about giving us space when she knew we needed it. I'd gotten in sometime in the middle of the night and then crashed, hoping I'd wake up after my parents had left for work or whatever my dad did during the day.

After a quick shower, I headed down to the kitchen for a little breakfast. I'd taken my time driving here from New York, even though I should've just flown. Driving meant missing two days of workouts, but I didn't think it'd matter. I'd make sure of it with my workouts the next two days.

This huge house was quiet without four boys and a girl running around like feral animals. Boy, were they going to be surprised to see me today.

Normally, I would've at least let Camden know then she could be the town crier and tell everyone, but this time, it would come with questions. Ones that I didn't want to answer. At least not right away.

I'd found out Wednesday that I was going to Kalamazoo and left the next day after quickly setting up for movers to pack the apartment up and move everything here. Today was Saturday and I had to show up for the workout to pitch Monday night. But first, I was going to my mother's office because I hadn't talked to her since I'd called her on Wednesday.

Oh, shit. Before I did that, I'd have to unload my car. Most of my things were arriving today by mover to a storage unit I rented online. Until I got my own place, I didn't need those things. I'd only brought my essentials in the car with me, but still, it had to be unpacked. We had some house staff, but I wasn't going to ask them. It only took two trips.

Then I was on my way to my mother.

Everyone greeted me as I made my way back to her office. They'd know I was her kid and never stopped any of us from going back there. We'd been doing it since birth basically given that Grandpa has been here most hours of the day at least during the season.

Mom's office door was open, but she was on the phone, so I strode in quietly and sat in the chair across from her. She'd redone this office when she'd taken over for Grandpa. Everything was light, airy, and clean. Modern.

Once she'd hung up the phone, she sat back in her chair and folded her hands in front of her. Mom's hair was blonde and cut into a professional style above her shoulders. Today she was wearing a dark-blue silk shirt and probably dress pants. She tended to prefer them.

"I knew I heard something in the house late last night." The corner of her mouth twitched. "Thought we might have raccoons."

I snorted. "Just me."

"You got in late."

"I did that on purpose."

She sighed. "You took your time getting here."

I shrugged. "Not often I have the time to take."

That much was true. Until the off-season, most of my time was spoken for.

Mom leaned forward so that her elbows were on the top of the desk. "All right. Tell me everything."

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but she was right. I had to tell her my side completely. We'd already talked, but I hadn't given her the details. But first, I got up to shut the door. The last thing either of us needed was for someone to overhear this private conversation. Then I was back in my chair.

"I sort of met… fuck. I don't even remember her name," I admitted. Mom scowled, though she probably thought I had slept with that woman and was denying it. Then I snapped my fingers as the name came back to me. "Hannah. I met her at this party that I didn't want to be at. She suggested we be doing something else." Because talking to your mother about a woman asking you for sex was weird as fuck. "I declined. She pushed. I still said no and we went our separate ways. Like a month later, I'm in the GM's office and Johnson wants me out. He said his daughter is pregnant and it's mine. Doesn't want me there if I'm going to ignore his daughter and our kid."

Mom nodded as I spoke. When I was done, she said, "And you're sure you didn't have sex with her?"

I narrowed my brows. "I think I'd remember."

"Not all men do."

That was true, but… "I do."

"All right." She blew out a breath. "Why would she say it's you, then?"

I shrugged. "How the fuck would I know? I don't know her other than the thirty second exchange we had. Peters did say she's vindictive. It's probably that."

Mom slightly cocked her head to the side, which told me I was being a little aggressive with her and I didn't mean to be. Mom was the one person in our lives who always had our backs. She might not have always been around due to work, but we could go to her and she wouldn't lose her shit like Dad.

I held my hands up in surrender before dropping them back on the arms of the chair. "I don't know, Mom."

"Tell me exactly what happened."

I let out a long sigh and told her everything again, trying not to forget a single detail. Mom was the one who would help me out of this jam, so if she needed to hear it a hundred times, I'd tell her, but I didn't know what good it would do.

"OK." She sat back in her chair, that line between her eyebrows appearing. We'd seen that over and over again when we'd been kids. Whenever she was serious, disapproved, or was chastising us, that line appeared. "I'm going to get you an appointment with our lawyer right away on Monday."

"What if he doesn't have an appointment on Monday?"

Mom chuckled. "He'll make time."

She was very used to getting what she wanted in the business world and truthfully, whatever lawyer she was talking about, Mom was probably his highest-profile client, which meant I would be too.

"What if this gets out?" That was the kicker. I'd spent most of my life trying not to bring bad press to our family… Hell, we all had. We'd done shit when we'd been kids, but we'd kept our noses clean of anything like this.

Would it be a sex scandal? The rich guy turning his back on his own kid—something none of us would do? Fuck… I just wanted it to be over.

"If it gets out, we'll handle it. Just you don't say anything if anyone asks. Your brothers and sister… in private. Teammates—nothing. And of course if a reporter were to ask, you have no comment." I opened my mouth to say I wanted to defend myself, but she stopped me. "I don't care, Cobb. You say nothing or no comment. Either will work, but there's no point in defending yourself in the court of public opinion. It won't work."

She wasn't wrong. And the chances of me saying something without making it worse was actually slim to none. People liked to take a woman's side by default and usually, it was the right thing to do. I couldn't blame them. Most likely, no one would believe me.

"I'm not glad of the circumstances," she said quietly, "but I am glad that you're here. Make sure you go see your grandpa. He's like a kid on Christmas morning."

I nodded then pushed out of the seat and told her I'd see her later.

My brothers needed to know what was going on and from what Mom had said, she hadn't told them.

Though my first workout wasn't until tomorrow, I went down to the clubhouse, anyway. Mom's office was way upstairs, but I was here, and they'd see me tomorrow. Not to mention, the trade was probably going to be announced today. It seemed like everyone wanted this done quietly, but it was only a matter of time before it was on every sports channel at the very least.

There wasn't anyone in the clubhouse when I arrived. This was almost like church for me. A place for quiet and calm—at least when no one else was there. When it was full, it may as well have been the middle of Times Square with the noise, but right now… it was pretty perfect.

But I didn't have a cubby yet. They were basically lockers without doors and way bigger than we'd had in high school. There was no need for doors and locks here.

"I'm sorry. Do my eyes deceive me?" That was my brother Urban's voice.

I snorted and turned around. "I'm a mirage."

He started toward me then brought me in for a hug. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

This made me sigh. I'd have to tell them all, but I didn't have to tell them one by one. "I'll tell you once the others are here." He'd know that I meant our brothers and not the whole team. "I don't want to do this more than once."

One by one, they trickled in and we greeted each other the way I'd greeted Urban. They of course all asked the same question. Mom really hadn't told them that I was coming today. She was leaving it up to me how much I wanted to tell them, which would be all of it. These were my brothers.

"Why don't you all get cleaned up and we'll grab lunch?" I told them. "I'll explain then."

They agreed and headed off to the showers. They'd done their morning workouts but now had time before they needed to be back for the game. I hadn't decided if I was going to watch the game tonight or not. I was leaning toward not. I still had to unpack.

Once they were ready, we headed out. Brooks drove the four of us to the closest restaurant that had healthy options. I could've gone for a big burger at Cleats & Kegs, but I didn't have to play a baseball game in a few hours. We got ourselves settled and ordered before Brooks took over.

"What the hell are you doing here, Cobb? You missed your last start. What's going on?"

"I missed my last start because I'm not on that team anymore."

"What the fuck?" Silas snapped. "What happened?"

"I've been traded. Here."

All three sets of their eyebrows shot up. "What?" Urban finally asked. "I just told Mom you were never coming here. There wasn't anything she could do because that's what you told me."

I shrugged. "The universe heard that and said, ‘I take that bet.'"

"What happened?" Brooks asked more seriously.

I took a deep breath then told them the story. It was becoming redundant by now, but I figured they should know what was going on because it could eventually affect them to some extent. If one of us was getting dragged in the press, the rest of us would be asked about it. That came with the whole being brothers all playing professionally thing.

"That's so fucked up," Silas said as soon as I'd finished.

"Especially since you're not even the best brother," Urban offered. I shoved him and caused him to laugh. He was fucking with me. We all did it.

"Yeah, I'm sure Amity and Everly would really appreciate it if this was one of you." I hadn't met Everly yet, but it was a safe assumption. Amity I knew from high school. We'd graduated together, so with her, I knew for a fact that she'd rip my brother's balls off then ask if the story was true.

"Uh…" Silas offered. "No, they would not." Our food had arrived while I told them everything that had happened and why I was here. He took a bite of his chicken then asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"Meeting with a lawyer on Monday to find out."

"You know, if you don't want to stay with Mom and Dad, you could move into the apartment where I'm living," Urban told me. "I can stay with Everly until I find the right house."

"That's probably a good idea. I haven't run into Dad since I just got home and have been wondering how long I can keep that streak going."

Silas groaned. "Not long enough, I bet."

But I didn't see him before I moved my few things into Urban's apartment, which was technically the team's apartment. It was big with a good view of the city and would do until I found something that was just mine. Camden would probably help with that, though surprisingly, she texted to tell me she knew everything and was sorry to hear, but I didn't see her before Monday.

There was something comforting about being back with my family during this. In New York, I'd been on my own and left pretty quickly. If I had stayed, I would have isolated myself out of worry that others would hear what had happened. Now, my family knew and I could go to them for support if I needed it.

And after a weekend of pitcher workout, I was at the lawyer's office Monday morning telling this fucking story again. His office was across the street from the courthouse and next to this coffee shop I knew I'd be hitting after I was done here. Technically, I needed to report to the field early, but Mom had made everyone who needed to know aware of the fact that I'd be there as soon as I could be.

Which meant there was time for coffee.

But first, dealing with this.

Manning, the lawyer, was tall and thin and wore an expensive suit. His hair was brown without any hint of gray, though he had to be my dad's age. He was behind this huge, dark-wooden desk listening to the details of the fucking story I had to tell again. He needed to know everything and stopped me several times to ask if I'd touched her when I said something or had she given me a look.

But I hadn't touched her at all. Not even innocently.

"OK," he said with a heavy sigh. "This should be easy enough. You'll have to take a paternity test. I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"Not for me," I told him. "Happy to do it. Can I do it now?"

He smiled, but it wasn't with humor. "Not today, anyway. I'll reach out to her to get her lawyer's information. That won't be hard. I'm sure they're planning on filing something. If nothing else, I'll get a hold of her dad. He's more public, so it'd be even easier."

True. As the owner of the team in New York, he had a very public profile.

"But until I can contact them, there's nothing to do. She might refuse a paternity test until the baby is born. It's hard to force that, so don't get discouraged if we can't."

"Why can't we force it?"

"They're not asking for anything at this point. Normally, we'd file for a paternity test after the other side filed for child support. She's not doing that and can't do it easily before the baby is born. The only other way would be to admit you had relations with her and want to stake your claim on the kid."

"Well, that wouldn't be true."

"Exactly. So we aren't going to do that."

"So it could be months?"

He nodded. "It could be, but I don't think it will be. I'll have a better feel for it once I find out what they want and if she'll do the test. Given the timeline you've told me, she wouldn't be able to do a test now, anyway. I think she'd have to be nine to twelve weeks along and it sounds like she'd be more like four to six. I'll double check all of that so we get it done as soon as we can."

My blood boiled. Best-case scenario, I'd have this hanging over my head for three to six weeks. And that was best-case scenario.

"What if the press gets a hold of it?" I asked because if it could remain quiet for however long it took to do the test, I could live with that.

"If that happens, we'll take care of it. They can't accuse you of things like that." He paused then shrugged. "Well, they can, but when we prove you're not the father, we can sue them for defamation. Don't worry about this, Cobb. I'm good at what I do. I'll make things clear with her lawyer today."

After shaking his hand, I left his office feeling like this wasn't going to impede on my life for long. Optimistic, I'd almost say. Though it had already fucked things up. I was in Kalamazoo, where I didn't want to be, on a team that I never wanted to play for.

At least there was someone doing something about it.

As I'd planned, I headed over to the coffee shop for a coffee and once I was there realized I was starving, so I also grabbed a breakfast sandwich then took a seat at the long table. Since this place was across from the courthouse, it was busy as hell. All the single seats were taken and in the middle was one long table with chairs all around it. I didn't care. I just wanted to scarf down this sandwich.

Just after I'd finished it and balled the paper up, a long, frustrated sigh came from beside me.

There was a woman there. Beautiful with strawberry-blonde hair, angry, blue eyes and a tight jaw. Though the freckles on her nose as well as her short stature made her anger seem not as scary as I thought it probably was.

"Can you move your bag?" she asked the man sitting two chairs from me and it did not sound like a request.

"Excuse me?" he asked while looking her up and then down in that gross way guys did when taking inventory of a woman's assets, which irritated me. There was a way to do it without being gross. I could only imagine how she felt about it.

"Move. Your. Bag." She didn't raise her voice, which I thought probably made it worse. "Bags don't get chairs. There's not another free one. I'd like to sit, so please move your bag."

The guy furrowed his brows and right as I was about to say something to him, he snatched the bag off the chair beside me so that she could sit down with her iced… coffee of some kind. Then he grumbled and got up from the table. I watched as he left the coffee shop just to make sure he wasn't coming back.

"Bad day?" I asked her, for what reason, I had no idea. It would've been smarter to keep my mouth shut and head to the ballpark.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said, not looking over at first.

It took everything for me to not chuckle. I'd had a shit start to my morning as well. "Try me," I told her and she finally looked over then took a deep breath.