The Perfect Game (The Perfect Game 1)

“I knew I’d fuck up, but I never meant for this to happen. ”

“ You don’t get to do that. No. You don’t get to blame this on anything other than your own inability to keep your dick in your pants. You got drunk. You brought another girl home with you and you slept with her. I deserve better than that. ” I ranted at him loudly, my voice catching.

“You’re absolutely right. You do,” he agreed without argument.

“Yeah, well it was supposed to be you, Jack, because you are better than that. ” I was frozen in place, vibrating in shock as my future crashed around me.

“I’m scared. ”

It took everything in me to put my pride, feelings, and emotions aside and not hang up the phone. I didn’t want to care that he was scared. I didn’t want to care about anything other than my own breaking heart.

But I couldn’t ignore his pain.

“What is she going to do?” I asked first, before the obvious tore through my mind like a tornado. “How did you get her pregnant?” He huffed out a quick breath. “I know how you got her pregnant, but, tell me you didn’t, Jack. Tell me you didn’t sleep with her without protection. ”

If I thought my heart couldn’t break any more, I was wrong. Because that realization sent earthquake-sized cracks shooting through me with such ferocity, I thought I might pass out.

“I was really drunk that night, Cassie. And I don’t keep condoms anymore,” he said weakly in his own defense.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The pain of this was too much. Everything hurt so bad…even breathing. It was all a reminder that I was still alive and this nightmare was really happening.

“She wants to keep it, Cass. She wants to have the baby. ”

“And what do you want?” I asked sharply.

I heard him inhale before blowing the air out long and slow. “I don’t know. ” I could picture him in my mind. He was probably shaking his head, his brow furrowed. “I mean, I just want to play baseball. I’m not ready to be a dad. Especially not with this chick. But then again, I don’t want to be the kind of dad that my father was. You know, absent. I’m all mixed up inside and I don’t know what the right thing is. ”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t listen to him talk about having a baby with another girl while I was so fiercely in love with him. “Jack, I can’t be the one you talk to about this. I have to go. ”

I didn’t wait for his response.

I couldn’t.

I knew that if I waited for him to answer me, he’d change my mind. I’d stay o

n the phone with him for as long as he needed me to. And I couldn’t be that for him. Not right now. Not with this.

I turned my phone off and stared blankly ahead, my thoughts all-consuming. I pictured him saying things to this girl that he said to me. Kissing her the way he kissed me. Touching her the way he touched me. The thoughts made my stomach churn as tears ran unchecked down my face.

My throat burned and I sprinted to the bathroom, losing today’s lunch in the white bowl. I leaned against the bathtub, wiping beads of cold sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. Made-up images crept into my subconscious, threatening to make me sick again unless I forced them away. I curled up into a ball on the shaggy bath mat and cried.

I never realized until the moment it disappeared how much I truly trusted Jack. It took seconds to annihilate the foundation we’d worked so hard to build. In its place were piles of powder, jagged bits of concrete, and shards of my broken heart.

The front door slammed and I heard Melissa shout my name. When I didn’t respond, she wandered through the apartment looking for me. Her brown curls fell against the wall as she peered around the bathroom door. Her eyes widened once she caught sight of me.

“Cass? Are you okay?” The sound of her voice prompted more tears to fall. “Oh my God, what is it? What happened?”

I tried to focus, but Melissa turned into a big blur of brown through my watering eyes. “Jack cheated on me. ”

“What? When? I’ll fucking kill him. ”

“The night he threw his perfect game. He said he got really drunk and this girl was really persistent and he gave in. ” I could barely say the words out loud. “Why would he give in?”

“’Cause he’s an asshole. And he’s stupid. He’s a stupid asshole. ” Melissa’s eyes welled up.

“She’s pregnant. ”

“Who’s pregnant?” she asked before releasing one of those surprised and horrifying gasps that just slip out uncontrollably. “You’re kidding?”