Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
G ot It Wrong
Kayleen
Three months later …
I sigh as I sit down in the restaurant to wait for my friend Emma Jean. My feet hurt and my belly is itching. At five months, my belly is beginning to pop.
I went for my first ultrasound today. Cam couldn’t be there. He’s in Atlanta with his team. I hated Atlanta from the moment we moved there, so I moved back home. Cam didn’t protest.
We’ve actually grown closer. Our friendship has slowly been rebuilding. Although I’m not sure we’ll ever get back the trust we once had.
Cam comes to Texas often to spend time with me and check on the baby. We look like a happy couple. However, we do put on our little squabbles for his mama.
Cam didn’t think it was smart to become a perfect couple out of the blue. I can’t say I’m not happy. I just really miss sex. Cam added to the revised prenup that there would be no sex.
I was taken aback by that, but I wasn’t going to blow everything because he didn’t want to sleep with me.
I can’t blame him. I did cheat on him for years. At this point, I’m happy with my little vibrator.
“Hello, Kayleen.”
I look up into the face of the man who just purred my name. I reach for my belly and cradle it as my heart begins to race. I got what I deserved with JR.
I can’t be in my feelings when I did the same thing to him and Cam. I blink back tears as I think of how much I miss him. I had so many hopes for us.
“Hi, JR. What are you doing here?”
He points to the seat across from me. “May I?”
I lick my lips and nod. He drops into the seat smoothly. He looks great.
“Why are you here?” I ask again.
“I might have called in a few favors. Simone asked Emma Jean to set this lunch up.”
“But why?”
“I need some closure. I don’t understand what happened. You cut me off. Blocked me. Then I found out you married Cam.
“What did I do? Is it the baby? You know I would have raised it as mine, right?”
He looks down at my swollen stomach. Anger fills me. I know I’m wrong for it, but I can’t convince myself otherwise. He cheated on me.
“I found out about the baby after. It had nothing to do with her,” I snap.
“After what, Kayleen? What went wrong?”
“That night I called you crying. I heard her. You didn’t hang up before I heard her.”
The pain of that night stabs me in the chest all over again. I swipe at my tears and take a deep breath. I don’t want to upset the baby.
JR’s expression goes from confused to sad. He reaches across the table to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I draw away from him and the sadness deepens.
“That was my mom. I had joined her on her trip and had to stay in her room because the resort was booked. I didn’t want to wake her so I was trying to whisper and make it out of the room. I banged my toe in the process.
“What you heard was my mom checking on me. Not another woman. I love you, Kay. It’s always been you,” he explains.
I sit there feeling stupid, with tears flowing down my face. How did I once again fuck everything up? I place my head in my hands and start to ball.
I hear the sound of a chair scraping the floor. Next thing I know, JR is holding me, cooing in my ear.
I don’t know how long I sit there crying. When my tears dry up, he drags his chair beside mine and returns to his seat.
“At least now I know. I’m sorry things didn’t work out. Congratulations on your marriage and the baby. She’s a lucky girl. The Perrys will spoil her for sure.” He chuckles sadly.
He goes to stand and leave, kissing my forehead before turning. I reach for his hand to stop him before he takes a full step.
“Wait, would you like to see a picture of our daughter?”
Cameron
“Better luck next time, Perry. We all go through it,” one of my teammates calls as I step out of the shower and head for my locker.
I’ve been playing like shit. There’s too much on my mind. All I want is to be with my girl and our baby.
It hasn’t been safe for me to go to her yet. I’m not willing to take the risk. I think I need to wait a little longer until we’re sure that motherfucker isn’t still watching us.
My blood boils every time I think of him. I swear I want to be the one who takes his life. However, I’m sticking to the plan.
My father has some friends investigating that asshole Dez. The bastard is smart, and they haven’t found anything that will put him away for any amount of time yet, but we’re hopeful.
“You coming out for a bite, Perry?” another one of my teammates asks.
“Nah, I’m headed home. Need to get back at it and find my swing again.”
“Suit yourself.”
I grunt and grab my phone from my locker. I smile down at the ultrasound picture Kay sent me. She’s having a little girl. I’ve known for about a month and a half now that I’m not the father.
Kay had the paternity test done not too long after we got married. I was willing to wait, but it was weighing on her. I could see she was stressing herself out.
That’s also why I didn’t argue when she wanted to return home. She wasn’t happy here. I covered for her with my mama. We told everyone she wasn’t happy and moved back on her own.
My daddy is the only one who knows that to be a lie. We knew telling them anything else would have seemed out of character for Kay. It was my daddy who footed the bill for the house in Texas Kay now lives in. He still feels bad for her, knowing I’m going to leave her for my family.
There is nothing tying me to Kay other than our friendship. Amina still doesn’t know what we’re having. She’s about a month, almost two, behind Kay. I’m hoping to be there when she finds out.
I’m moving heaven and earth to get to her soon. I miss her so fucking much. The burner phone I keep for her calls dings. The people she’s staying with suggested we not use my personal line or any others connected to me to communicate.
I answer the phone quickly, wanting to hear her voice so bad. Forgetting about getting dressed to get out of here, I sit to take the call. My heart races until I hear her voice on the other end.
“Hello,” I say.
“Hey, babe. I’m sorry about the loss.”
I shrug as if she can see me. “My head just wasn’t in the game.”
“Ugh, you were thinking about chocolate chip cookies too?”
I chuckle. I can always count on her to make me laugh. I’ve come to look forward to her calls after a bad game.
“Yeah, something like that. How’s my baby?”
“Little Perry is fine. Just a little exhausted from cheering daddy on.”
“Shit, I bet. The way I sucked tonight that had to zap you both.”
“We’re happily zapped now that we can hear your voice. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re not even the worst player on the team. The rest of those guys could start pulling their weight too.”
“Spoken like a woman who loves me. It’s so good to hear your voice, darlin’.”
“It’s good to hear yours too.”
“I think we have a solid plan. I’m going to attempt to come see you soon. Daddy’s working on covering the flight logs and anything that could reveal where I’ve been.
“I can’t wait to see you. As soon as I know details I’ll fill you in. I can’t wait to see your face and hold you in my arms.”
“Me either. So what’s Kay having. Today was the day, right?”
“A girl. Uncle Cam will still teach her how to swing a bat. She can use it for other things.”
“You’re a great guy, Cam. If we have a little girl, I know she’s going to adore you.”
I snort. “That baby is a boy. He knows it, I know it, and you know it. He better not come out flashing nothing but a pair of balls.”
Maribel bursts into laughter on the other end of the line. It’s good to hear her laugh. I wish I had the visual to go with the sound. I could watch her gorgeous face for hours.
I love that her skin always seems to glow with a bronze hue. It’s like that light is beaming from within. I close my eyes and try to picture it now.
“Cam?” she yawns.
“Yeah, baby?”
“It’s a struggle to keep my eyes open. I should probably go to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Get some sleep. I love you.”
“I love you too. Brush this one off, babe. There’s always the next one.”
“Sleep tight, gorgeous.”
I don’t tell her that if I keep going like this, there might not be a next one. I’m either going down to the triple-A or they’re going to place my ass on waivers. Either way, I can’t find it in me to care. I want to be with my family and I’m not going to be happy until I am.
“Goodnight, Cam.”
“Night, baby.”