Hooked (TKO 2)

“It’s not Lance’s baby,” I tell her, just as quietly as before.

Her eyes widen. “Does he know?”

“Oh, yes. He knows. We’ve never even had sex. The father was a big mistake on my part.”

She watches me with sympathetic eyes, and it’s taking all my strength to not cry in the middle of this office. Out of nowhere, she gasps, flinging her other hand over her mouth. “It all makes sense now. You were the girl dating Travis.”

“You knew about me?” I ask. Never mind the fact she just said his name.

“We all did. It’s no secret about Lance and Travis. That poor boy had it bad for you, but he just couldn’t let it go. He even quit here for a little while after the last run in he had with Travis.”

I gasp at the thought of Lance quitting what he loves, and because of me. There’s no way I could have lived with myself if he never returned. “Oh shit. I feel terrible.”

“Don’t. You have him now. I’ve never seen him with a woman before, let alone serious about one. This is a big deal for him. He’ll be good to you if you let him, I promise. His mother raised him right.” Her eyes have a bit of a twinkle behind them and I know without a shadow of a doubt she isn’t bullshitting me. She’s being one hundred percent honest and I appreciate that.

“I believe you. It was so easy to tell you. Now I have to tell my parents, and I can only hope they will take this news well. I haven’t really been home to talk to them. For all they know, I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I’ve let them down. What if they don’t forgive me?” The tears are sitting in my eyelids, and I know I need to wipe them away soon. I refuse to let them fall.

“Hey, don’t cry. They will forgive you. They’d be crazy not to. Everyone makes mistakes. We’re human.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

A genuine smile spreads across my face, and I’m feeling more confident about what I need to do. I know putting it off longer is just going to make it harder so I’ve decided that I want Lance to bring me by my house after he’s done, and I want to give them the news. Whitney is right. She’s got to be. They would be crazy not to forgive me.

I glance out to see Lance and Garrett sparring on the mats. Lance has so much passion radiating off of him as he moves. I wince every time Garrett throws a punch at him, but I know this is all in good sport. My heart melts a little in my chest and I can’t ignore the desire that’s building. Travis never let me see this side of him. I just saw him in the ring for competitions. This is different, and I love it.

Two hours pass, and Whitney and I continued talking. We’ve had conversations about everything from our likes and dislikes to who her obstetrician is. Garrett pops his head in and tells Whitney he’s heading out to Raegan’s appointment. He even tells me goodbye. I give him a curt smile as he walks out, and Lance follows behind him into the office.

“I hope you weren’t bored or anything these last few hours.” He tells me as he places his hand on my shoulder. I’m beginning to grow accustomed to the electricity that shoots through my body from his touch.

“Not at all. Whitney and I have been talking the whole time.”

Whitney winks at me, and picks up Randi Lynn who has just begun fussing.

“All good things about me, right?” His breath tickles the nape of my neck.

“Nope, I told her all kinds of atrocious things,” Whitney says. “Excuse me, guys, I think someone needs her diaper changed.”

“I was getting ready to see if Hil was ready to get out of here anyway. I’ll catch you later, Whitney.”

“Bye, Whitney, it was nice to meet you.”

“You too, Hilary. Keep your head up. I’m here if you need anything.” I stand, and she pulls me in for a quick hug.

We walk out of the office together, and Lance says goodbye to Howard. “She knows about the baby?”

“It sort of came out. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I stutter.

“Hey.” He stops once we’re outside, then pulls my hand into his and softly kisses my cheek. I close my eyes to take in the sincerity of his kiss. “You never have to apologize to me for anything, got it?”

“Yeah.” My breath is ragged, and I’m sure I sound insane, but right now I don’t care.

He holds my hand for a minute longer before leaning forward and pressing his forehead against mine. “You’re giving me another chance, and you have no idea how happy this makes me, Hilary. I swear I won’t do anything to hurt you. You can trust me.”

Every breath inside of me has been stolen. I open my mouth to say something, but words fail me. Instead, I rise up on my toes and softly kiss his lips. He kisses me back eagerly. A moan escapes my throat. His silky tongue slides against mine as he pulls me closer before breaking the life-changing kiss.

“Thank you for giving me another chance,” I tell him.