Chapter 6
Kyle
He’d tossed and turned all night, not getting even a minute of sleep.
His mind was on one thing and one thing only: Celia.
She’d rocked his world and then run away. For a second time.
He was pretty sure he deserved it for the way he’d treated her. At least this time. The first time, all those years ago, that was on her.
It wasn”t his intention to take her to his room and fuck her. But when he’d seen her dancing with another guy, jealousy, like he’d never felt before, pulsed through his body. She was his and no one else could have her.
Only, she wasn’t his.
But when she’d been in his arms, in his bed, just for a second he’d let himself believe she could be. Just because he wanted that didn’t mean she did. And, when she’d practically pushed him off her body and ran out the door, he knew she would never be his again.
If that was the case then why had she asked him to meet her?
That was the million-dollar question. And he was about to get the answer since she was walking in the door.
Gone was the fancy make-up, hair piled high on top of her head in intricate curls, and the sexy dress. Today she was in jeans and gym shoes, with little to no make-up on, and her dark blonde hair in a low ponytail.
She was still the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
“Hey,” she said as she approached the small table he’d picked in the corner.
He stood, not really sure why, but kinda hoping she would hug him. She didn’t. Instead, she sat down in the only other chair and he took his seat again.
“Thanks for meeting me.”
“Sure. Like I said, I have a little time before my flight leaves.” He was beyond nervous and he wasn’t sure why.
Probably because they’d had the best sex of his life only hours ago and he was hoping for a repeat.
Not going to happen.
“Can I get you a coffee or tea?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Not yet. I just need to do this before I chicken out.”
Her whole body was visibly shaking and her eyes were full of the same fear he’d seen at the wedding. “What’s going on, Celia?”
She took a deep breath. “That day that I broke up with you,” she bit her lip, “I was pregnant.”
If she’d had slapped him, he couldn”t have been more shocked. “What? How is that possible? You were on the pill.”
“I was, but it’s not one hundred percent.”
He was shaking his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me? Why’d you break up with me? I could have been there for you when you lost the baby.” He couldn”t stop thinking of them having a baby. The kid would be about seven.
He could have a seven-year-old.
She covered her mouth with her hand, almost like she was going to vomit. “I didn’t lose the baby.” Her words were muffled by her hand, but he heard them clear enough.
“What? I don’t understand.” If she didn’t lose the baby then what happened?
She dropped her hand as a lone tear fell down her cheek. “You have a daughter.”
Everything in him stilled. The woman he’d loved for as long as he could remember was sitting in front of him telling him he had a child. That she’d had his child.
That she’d kept it from him.
Anger washed through him, but before he did something he’d regret, he pushed away from the table and ran out of the coffee shop.
He was on the sidewalk breathing heavily and trying to figure out what was happening when he heard her voice.
“Kyle, talk to me.”
He spun to look at her. “Talk to you. Oh, you mean like you should have done eight years ago?”
“I know what I did was wrong but I had my reasons.”
“That’s bullshit.” He took a step closer to her, rage boiling over. The fear in her eyes was now different. Like she was afraid he would hurt her. That had him stepping back again. “I need you to go. Just leave me alone while I think this through.”
“I understand.” Her voice was small and he could hear the tears in her words. “When you’re ready, come by any time and we can talk. I’ll send you my address.”
He heard her footfalls disappear, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and see if she was gone.
He had a kid. They had a kid. A kid that she’d kept from him for all these years.
He’d loved her with everything he had and he’d asked her to come with him. If she’d been pregnant, why didn’t she come with him? Why’d she turn him down? None of it made any sense, and he was having a hard time wrapping his head around it all.
He walked and walked, the cold winter air chilling him down to the bone, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t until his phone dinged in his pocket that he even stopped to look where he was. A park where there were kids everywhere playing.
Jesus. One of the little girls could be his. He had a daughter.
Pulling out his phone, he saw a text from Dallas. They weren’t super close but they’d met many times over the years and had easy conversations.
Dallas:
Are you still in town? Want to meet up?
Shit, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that he was supposed to be on a plane back home. He looked at his watch. There was still time to make it if he wanted. But did he? He had nothing going on in Arizona right now. And there was a lot going on here.
Kyle:
I am, but I’m not great company right now.
Dallas:
Listen, Celia’s here and she told me that you talked. I imagine you could use a friend.
Fuck. Dallas knew. How many other people knew?
Kyle:
A friend. Is that what we are? Is that why I am just finding out about this?
He was so fucking angry. Angry at Celia. Angry at Dallas. Angry at himself. He shook his head and dropped down to the bench next to him. He’d been replaying his memory of the day Celia broke up with him over and over in his head, and the more he remembered it, the more he saw how distraught she’d been. Something told him she hated what she was doing but that she didn’t see another way out. He knew her. She’d never do that unless she felt she had to.
No. No, he was not going to forgive her for this. She’d kept his own kid from him.
Dallas:
It wasn’t my place and I haven’t known that long. Just meet me and we can talk in person.
Kyle:
I’m at some park. The sign says Brentwood.
Dallas:
That’s close. I’ll be there in ten minutes.
He sat on the bench trying to think of anything but Celia and how she’d looked when she’d been naked in his arms. But that was all that came to him. He hated her for what she’d done, but he still wanted her. Want was a mild word. He craved her. Over the years it had died down some, but the minute he’d seen her, it came rushing back. There was no getting her out of his head, or his heart.
If knowing she’d kept his kid from him didn’t do it, nothing would.
He lifted his head and saw Dallas strolling toward him. “Hey, man.” He took a seat next to him.
Kyle wasn’t sure what to even say or do. “Hey.”
“Are you okay? Do you want to talk or, I don’t fucking know, go get drunk?”
Kyle laughed. “Getting drunk sounds like a great idea but I think that might only make it worse.” If he got drunk, he’d think about Celia naked even more than he did sober.
“I’m not going to pretend to know why Celia did what she did, but can I tell you a story that is sort of part of it, and how Ruby and I came to be?”
He shrugged. He didn’t really want to hear the story, but anything was better than letting his mind wander in all different directions.
“When I met Ruby, she was not a fan of mine.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I didn’t have the best reputation, and even though I wasn’t going out all the time anymore when we met, she couldn’t let it go. She hated most athletes, even though she worked for a soccer club. She got along with most of the other guys, but I was the exception. Turns out it was because she hated my partying ways, and the reason why, was you. She told me about Celia and how she had a baby by a pro ball player who used her and then walked away.”
That got his attention. “What?”
“Hold on.” He lifted a hand. “There’s more. She still didn’t fully trust me and one day at a gathering that Celia happened to be at, it all came out. Celia told me she’d lied to Ruby about you and what you were to her, because she was afraid of what she’d think. I’m not sure how much you know about their mom, but she’s a real piece of work who called her own daughter a whore when she found out about the pregnancy.”
That had Kyle’s back going straight. He may be angry with her, but no one got to talk to her that way.
“Long story short, she told Ruby it was a one-night stand with you and that you offered her money for an abortion.”
“I would never!”
“Calm down. Ruby knows that now. Celia confessed, and while I’m not going to tell you her reasoning—that’s for you and her to discuss—I can understand where she was coming from. Her lie almost made me lose the best thing that ever happened to me and she knew that. She came clean because she wanted Ruby to be happy. She knows what she did was wrong, and I’m not making excuses for her, but I think, at some point, you should let her tell you her story.”
“I want to, but I’m so angry and hurt. We were in love. Did she tell you that part? I loved her and I asked her to go with me when I got called up.”
Dallas sat silently.
“She could have told me. I would have stayed. I would have taken care of her and the baby.” He would have married her and they could have been a family. “I have a daughter I’ve never met.”
“Jasmine,” Dallas said. “Her name is Jasmine.”
“Jasmine,” he repeated the name, wondering what she looked like.
“Do you want to see a picture of her?” He said, like he read his mind.
“Can I?” All of a sudden he was excited. He was about to see what his daughter looked like.
“Celia was crying pretty hard when she got to our house, but the one thing she said to me when she asked me to check on you, was that I could tell you anything you wanted to know about Jasmine.”
She was worried about him. He wasn’t sure why that made his heart want to leap from his chest. He was mad at her and couldn’t let his heart forgive her for what she’d done. He took the phone that Dallas held out for him, staring at the adorable girl on the screen.
“That’s her yesterday at the wedding. I think there are about a hundred of them there. Ruby loves her so much and couldn’t stop taking pictures.”
“She was at the wedding?” How had he missed her?
“Not when you were there. She was the flower girl and stayed for dinner but as soon as that was over, she left and stayed all night with a friend.”
He continued to swipe through the photos taking in everything he could about the girl in the pictures. His daughter. She was adorable and had Celia’s deep blue eyes. Her nose, that was all Dulanay. He might not have family now, but he’d seen pictures from his aunt. Everyone on his dad’s side of the family had that same nose.
There was no doubt that he was her father.
Not that he’d doubted Celia on that. She might have lied to him for eight years, but she wouldn”t lie about this.
How he knew that, and just seemed to accept it, was beyond him, but he did.
He spent long minutes looking through the pictures, categorizing her smile and facial expressions. She had so much of Celia in her, but every now and then in a photo, he’d see himself.
His chest ached to meet her and see her in person. “Does she know about me?”
Dallas sighed. “She will after today. Celia and Ruby are picking her up from her friend’s and plan to tell her. Celia said she’d lied too long and it was time she knew the truth.”
Kyle didn’t know what to think about that. The anger he felt for what Celia had done was still there. He wasn’t sure it would ever fully go away. But the part of him that had loved her, wanted to believe she had a good reason for what she’d done. The Celia he’d known would never intentionally hurt anyone.
Except she’d hurt him. More than once. First by leaving, and then by lying.
Maybe he hadn’t known the real her at all.