The Game Changer (The Perfect Game 2)

“Can I ask you something else?” My voice sounded muffled against his chest.

He kissed the top of my head. “Anything. ”

“Did you ever think the baby wasn’t yours? I mean, I get that you thought she was pregnant, but did you ever think it was someone else’s?”

“She was a very convincing liar. She agreed with no reservations to do a DNA test after the baby was born. I honestly thought that if she were lying, she would have been nervous, or at least fighting me on the whole thing, but she encouraged it. ”

And then he took me back to when his world first started crashing down around him. When he was living in Alabama and playing on the Triple A team for the Diamondbacks. The night after he pitched his perfect game when Chrystle came on to him at the bar where he was celebrating with his teammates and he finally stopped resisting her. He gave in to her advances that night, and my life as I knew it would never be the same. I shuddered as I remembered the way my world started to spin around me and my heart felt like it was shattering inside of my chest when Jack called that afternoon to deliver the news. Not only had he cheated on me, but also the girl he had slept with was pregnant.

I ignored the knock at the apartment door, assuming that one of my roommates would answer, and continued folding my clothes. When I heard the sound of Chrystle’s voice filtering through the entryway and into my room, my whole body tightened. So we’d had a drunken one-night stand, and I threw her out when I came to my senses. What was she doing here?

She tapped on my bedroom door before walking in and closing it behind her.

“What are you doing? Get out of my room,” I snapped, refusing to give her the time of day.

“I need to talk to you. ” Her voice shook as she s

poke.

I exhaled through my nose, my impatience clear. “What is it?”

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.

“So? How is that my problem?” I asked before the realization punched me square in the gut.

“Because it’s yours,” she said before sitting on my bed.

I sucked in a breath, my mind refusing to believe her. “Bullshit,” I shot back.

“Bullshit nothing, Jack! I haven’t been with anyone else since you. Ask anyone if they’ve seen me around. Or if they’ve hooked up with me. I haven’t. ”

“I will ask. I’ll fucking ask right now. ” I stormed out of my bedroom and into the living room, where three of my teammates were eating lunch and watching TV. When I asked them if Chrystle had been with any of them, they all shook their heads and threw their hands up in the air in denial. I asked if they’d seen her with anyone lately, and once again, they all answered no. And then they proceeded to inform me that come to think of it, they hadn’t seen her around at all the past few weeks.

Shit.

My legs trembled as I stepped back into my room. My world spun around me as I willed my stomach to stop twisting. I didn’t want this. Not with her. Not now. Not ever.

“It’s yours, Jack. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never wanted this to happen. ” She buried her head in her hands, her body shaking with each sob.

I lacked the desire to comfort her, so I finished folding my clothes. “What are you going to do?” I asked, my tone cold.

“What do you mean?” She peered up at me, her face red and wet.

“I mean, are you planning on keeping it?”

I watched as her jaw dropped open. “Of course you’d ask me that. ”

“We don’t even know each other. Why the hell would you want to keep it?” My temper flared in a vain attempt to drown out the fact that I was scared shitless.

“Because it’s a baby, Jack! It’s a life, and I’ll love it even if you won’t!”

“I need you to leave. ”

This cannot be fucking happening. Please don’t let this be happening.

She stood up, wiping her eyes with her hand before saying, “Way to be a man about this. ”

The heat flooded my body as I stepped toward her, my fists clenched in anger. “Oh, I’ll be a man about it, alright. I’ll drive you to the clinic. I’ll pay for it. And then I’ll even drive you home. What do you say?”