“Except it’s yours?”
“Yeah, it’s mine. I don’t think she’d lie about it, especially after the shit her mother put her through with her own dad.”
Ethan sighs, and we both stop talking. Telling him the story now makes it all more real, but still incredibly fucked up. If I marry her, play out the season and ask for a trade, I’m the bastard who took Wilson’s grandchild away. If I marry her and stay, I’m the manager’s favorite, essentially making me the most hated guy on the team. If I don’t marry her, I can kiss my career with the Renegades goodbye.
“You’re fucked.”
“I know.” I agree with him. “To make matters worse, I moved her out of her hotel and into my apartment, and then I almost slept with her.”
“That will only complicate things,” he says, shaking his head. “Fuck, I sound like a chick.”
I can’t help but laugh because right now we both do.
“Does your dad know?”
“Oh, yeah, my big-ass mouth blurted it right out to him. He doesn’t know that Wilson is her father, though. Not sure how he’ll take that.”
“I suppose I’m out here because you want some advice?”
“Pretty much. I don’t know what to do. My career means everything to me, but it’s not going to matter what I do; any decision is going to be the wrong one. If I marry her, I’m Wilson’s pet. If I don’t, he fucks my career.”
“What’d Wilson say?”
“Shit, he pulled me into his office this morning and ripped me a new asshole. Told me to man up.”
“Fuck. I wish Daisy was here. She’d know what to do.”
“I went to your place first. She wasn’t home.”
“Let me call her.” Davenport pulls out his phone and calls his wife, putting it on speaker. He gives her the story, complete with the epic fuckery that is going on. Her audible gasps make me cringe.
“Cooper?”
> “I’m here, Daisy.”
“Marry the girl.”
“Excuse me?”
“Listen to me,” she says. “Marry her, but tell her and Wilson to keep their mouths shut about their connection. If he doesn’t go around telling everyone that he has a long-lost daughter and she doesn’t tell everyone he’s her father, no one, aside from Ethan and I, will know. Wilson’s a good guy, and I honestly think he’ll treat you fairly. You’ve earned your time on the team. Don’t shortchange yourself or your talent.”
“So you think I should marry her?”
“You’re having a baby!” she yells into the phone, making Davenport and me laugh.
“Yeah, I guess I am. Well, she is. I did the fun part and she’s doing the rest. Hey, can you do me a favor?”
“Anything. What’s up?”
“Ainsley is at my place. Can you show her around the next few days, get her to fall in love with Boston?”
“You bet. I’ll look after her. Don’t worry about it, but I gotta run now.”
“Bye, babe,” Ethan says before hanging up.
A smile spreads across my face when I think about Ainsley and Daisy hanging out. “Your wife is something else.”
“Tell me about it. You know she was a fan of mine. This woman would eyeball me something fierce during each game, sitting behind the visitor dugout. One game, I had finally had enough and had one of the ushers tell her I wanted to talk to her. We had a rocky start, but damn if I don’t love her. She’s amazing, and I thank my lucky stars for her every day.”