Chapter Fifteen
Why were college football games so damn long? The thought went through Halle’s mind for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Shania and Quinton didn’t seem to mind. They were having a ball discussing the plays on the field and debating if the right calls were made. The two of them laughed, cheered and groaned together. Halle knew enough about football to get the gist of the game: the team with the ball had four times to move the football ten yards. But when Shania or Quinton talked about a blitz or an I formation, she was lost.
The get-to-know-you meeting she’d planned was not happening the way she wanted. She’d imagined them sitting down and talking. To maybe order food. Discuss visitation schedules and the rules to follow when Shania was with him. Watching the two of them cheer and grin and bond over football, she realized her vision was not going to happen.
“Mom, can you get some more chips?” Shania held up the empty green plastic bowl that had once held an entire bag of potato chips.
Halle looked away from the television to the empty bowl in Shania’s hand. “Why can’t you get more?”
“Because this game is good. I don’t want to miss a play.”
Sighing, Halle stood and grabbed the bowl. Quinton reached for the bowl at the same time. “I can get the chips.”
Halle pulled the bowl out of his reach. “No, you’re a guest. I’ve got it.”
“You sure?”
She gave him a tight smile. “I’m sure.”
She turned and went into the kitchen. She grabbed the bag of chips off the counter and poured the remainder of them into the bowl. Was this how things were going to be? She’d be the third wheel when they were together. She was happy that Shania and Quinton got along. She could have found her biological father and he could have turned out to be a jerk. Halle just wasn’t used to being left out when it came to Shania. She was trying not to feel like she was being pushed out in her own house.
“Hey, where do you keep the sodas?” Quinton’s voice came from the door of the kitchen.
Halle straightened and tried to smile. She hoped her earlier thoughts hadn’t shown on her face. “Why didn’t you ask me? I’d bring it.”
He came farther into the kitchen. “I don’t mind getting things for myself.”
“What about potentially missing a great play?”
The corner of his lips lifted. Not quite a smile but she’d noticed it was how he expressed amusement. “Shania’s phone rang and she had to run to her room and take the call.”
Halle tilted her head to the side. “Wait, she said she couldn’t miss a play for chips, but the phone is another story?”
Quinton shrugged his wide shoulders. “I guess whoever was on the other side is more important.”
She shook her head. “Kids.” She pointed to the fridge. “I’ve got soda in the bottom drawer.”
“Thanks.” He walked over toward the fridge, but stopped by the table. “Gregory brought that over?”
She glanced at the book Gregory had dropped off. Considering her daughter’s feelings about the situation, Halle wasn’t even sure if Shania would read the book since Gregory had gifted it to her. “How did you know?”
“I ran into him in the bookstore. I was going to get it for Shania.”
“Really? How did you know she wanted it?”
“I noticed she’d sometimes read the first book in the series while she waited on you to pick her up after practice. Last week she mentioned being excited about the next book releasing. I thought I’d do something nice.”
Halle held up a hand and smiled. “You actually lucked out not buying it. She thought Gregory was being weird and trying too hard by getting it.”
Quinton cringed. “Would she have said the same thing about me?”
“Who knows, but I don’t think you have to worry about bringing her gifts or anything. Just come watch football with her and she’ll be good.”
Quinton had nothing to worry about. Shania had already looked up to him. Halle would bet money that if Shania had a list of men she wished could be her father that Quinton would have been somewhere on the list.
“I’ll do that.” He went to the fridge and opened the door.
He bent over to open the bottom drawer. Halle’s eyes dropped to his ass. Then she jerked her gaze back up when she realized what she was doing.
She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck. “Do what?”
He pulled out two cans of soda and straightened. “I can come over on Saturdays or Sundays and watch football with her.”
“Wait. What?” He wanted to do this every weekend?
He stood next to her and put the sodas on the table. “It’s a good way to spend time with her and do something we both enjoy. Do you mind?”
“Uh...no, but what about you? You don’t hang out with your guy friends to watch the games?”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “My guy friends will be okay. This is about building a relationship with Shania. I’m good to do this. If you are?”
She tried to think of a reason to say no. A reason why she didn’t want him in her house once a week, bonding with her daughter over a sport that she only knew enough about to be dangerous. But what else was she going to offer? To say that he could only come over and do activities that interested her? That they could read together, watch documentaries and discuss current events? That wasn’t helping him get to know Shania; it was getting to know her.
“That’s fine,” she said lightly.
Quinton’s eyes narrowed. “We can do other stuff, too.”
“No, you both like football. It’s football season. That’s fine with me.”
“I don’t want to leave you out. How about we switch things up. One weekend we’ll watch football, another weekend we’ll do something you pick. Deal?”
She waved a hand. “That’s not necessary.”
Quinton took her hand in his to stop her dismissive wave. “It is. I’m not here to butt in. I’m here because I want to be around if Shania wants me around.”
His hand was large and still cool from when he’d held the sodas from the fridge. Despite that, warmth spread up her arm. Halle pulled back and he let her go. His touch lingered.
“I thought you wanted this, too.”
He flexed his fingers before settling his hand on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “I do, but I’m still finding this entire situation surreal.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I know what I did. And I knew what they were going to use my sperm for, but still. I never expected to meet her.”
“Do you wish it had stayed hidden?” Yeah, he’d accepted the situation and was willing to have Shania in his life, but that was because Quinton was a decent person. He wouldn’t have pushed Shania away. That didn’t mean he’d wished to ever be revealed.
His brows drew together before he shook his head. “I wouldn’t have taken the online DNA test if that were the case.”
“Why did you take it?”
He lifted one shoulder. “It was on a whim. I told my sister what I did in college. I mentioned that I wondered if I had a kid out there. She said I should register through the online testing site and maybe one day I’d find my kid.”
“You went looking for her?”
He shook his head. “I took the test, got the results with my ancestral background, turned on the part that allows family to find me and then never logged on again. I figured, if I had a kid out there and if the kid took a test and wanted to know me, it would be on them. I wasn’t going to search them out.”
“Why not?”
“Because whoever the mother was had chosen to go that route. The mother didn’t want to know me. They just wanted that part of me. So, why push into their life?”
The way he said it, as if he had nothing else to offer at the time, made her want to reach out and comfort him. It also made her evaluate what she’d considered when she’d chosen a donor. She hadn’t cared about the person, just their attributes. Who could give her a beautiful child with no involvement.
“Yet, here you are, in our life.”
“Do you regret that it’s me?” His expression revealed nothing, but she could feel the weight of the question. Was she going to push him away? Did she still only want his donation and not him?
She shook her head. “No. I mean, this isn’t going to be easy. Navigating this and having to tell the truth to everyone. People are going to talk. When school starts, rumors will get to Shania even faster. I don’t want her to be hurt.”
He stepped closer. “I won’t let anyone hurt her. Or you.”
“I told you we don’t need your protection.”
“I know you don’t, but I still want to give it to you. You’re part of my family now.”
The warmth that spread through her chest and wrapped around her heart brought a smile to her face. “What an unorthodox family we have.”
“Unorthodox doesn’t mean bad. We’ll make it work. Don’t you think so?”
“I hope so,” she whispered.
Their eyes met. The memory of his words, the promise to step in if Gregory and she broke up. The way he’d admitted to being attracted to her. She wanted to lean closer, breathe in the spicy scent of his cologne.
He leaned closer, or maybe she imagined that. Maybe she wanted that. She sucked in a shallow breath. Did she want that?
Shania came into the room, halting any wayward thoughts or unnecessary feelings. “Mom, you got the chips?”
Halle stepped back from Quinton. From a dream she wasn’t even sure she wanted to complete. She looked away from Quinton, from the look in his eye that wanted to hold her captive, and focused on her daughter. “Yeah, baby, let’s go watch the game.”