Chapter 19 Jamie
JAMIE
My mom just asked me what I was reading on the beach and got excited because she’s already read it. She wants in Book Club now.
—Text from Ryker to Book Club
Badass Book Club Chat
Dillan
Of course she did. She bought it at the shop.
Ryker
You knew my mom read it when you picked it?
Dillan
Umm . . . Yes.
Ryker
You’re such a brat.
Rome
Yeah, she is.
Dillan
Maybe you should spank me.
Jamie
Maybe you should stop before I puke.
Kaleigh
You do know your moms all have their own book club, right?
Dillan
Where do you think my love of romance novels came from?
Ryker
I don’t want to know my mom reads this shit.
Lexie
Why not? It’s good stuff. And I’ll bet it keeps your dad super happy.
Kaleigh
Yeah, Ryker. Don’t like knowing your mom gets off on shadow daddies?
Ryker
Stop. Please, fucking hell, stop. She doesn’t get off on anything.
Kaleigh
Dude. I’ve seen your dad. She gets off plenty.
Jamie
How many times have your parents been caught having sex at the beach house anyway?
Ryker
By me? Never. They don’t do that shit.
Lexie
I’m so glad I’m adopted.
Lucky
Why?
Lexie
Because I have plausible deniability. My parents never had to have sex to get pregnant. Sorry, Ryker, but yours did.
Kaleigh
I’ve seen your dad too. Guess again, Lex. That man is a DILF. Yours and Ryker’s both are.
Lexie
I hate you.
Kaleigh
You love me.
Rome
Pretty sure Bash has had your mom bent over the bench in the outdoor shower, Ryker.
Lucky
Not gonna lie. I’m looking forward to christening that shit this summer.
Kaleigh
Where is this shower, and exactly how much action has it seen?
Jamie
There’s a few at our family’s beach compound, and that shit has seen thirty years of action.
Rome
So much action.
Dillan
If it was before me, it didn’t happen, devil.
Rome
Nothing happened before you, stellina.
Kaleigh
Oh God. Stop before I’m puking more than Ashton after a night at Nonna’s.
Ryker
I refuse to believe my parents had sex in the same place I got my first fucking blow job.
Lexie
Aww. How cute. You’re following in daddy’s footsteps.
Ryker
Fucking gross, Lex.
Kaleigh
Oh, honey. If it’s gross, I think that means you’re doing it wrong.
Ryker
I’ve never had any complaints.
Kaleigh
Are you sure about that?
Ashton
Umm . . . has anyone ever told you, you guys are insane?
Dillan
On pretty much a daily basis.
Lexie
Yeah . . . That’s not a new one for us.
Ryker
Don’t listen to anything they say, ballerina.
Kaleigh
Welcome to Book Club!
“You don’t get paid to check your phone when you’re on the clock, old-timer,” Jonah taunts as he throws the basketball at my head instead of the net.
Lucky for me the kid’s got no game and doesn’t even come close.
“Like I seriously wasn’t going to catch that,” I laugh and throw it back at him. “Try again. And I don’t get paid to hang with you.”
“Whatever. My presence is your payment.” He dribbles it between his legs, watching me with the kind of carefree smile you only have as a kid. Even one who’s already seen too much. “Is your girl talking with you? That why you’re ignoring me?”
“What do you know about girls, kid?” I think back to what Mav and I knew at twelve, less than half of which was right, and cringe. “Wait. Don’t answer that.”
He tries to get fancy and dribbles around me, and I let him, stepping back and smiling when he sinks his basket. “And the crowd goes wild.”
I chant and play along.
“Come on, Murphy. You were talking to Kyrie’s mom, right?” He looks me up and down exaggeratedly and finds me lacking, based on the look. “I mean, if she can’t have me, she might as well have you. I’ve met the kid. When do I get to meet the hot ballerina?”
I smack the ball out of his hands and do the few trick moves I know before slam-dunking the net. Overall—not impressive, but it’s not like it’s a football. “The ballerina has a name. And you’re not allowed to hang around Ryker anymore.”
“Whatever.” Jonah crosses his scrawny arms over his chest and tilts his head, waiting for an answer. “Okay, fine. When you gonna introduce me to . . . Ashton?”
I check my watch. “If we leave now, we can pick her up first and drop you off on the way to our appointment.”
“You got an appointment, Murph?” I swear some days he sounds like he’s twenty.
“Yup. Put the ball back, and let’s go.”
Jonah spins the ball in his hands a few times before dropping it on the metal rack and turning around, concern etched on his young face. “You got something on your mind, kid?”
His right foot moves in a little circle, and he suddenly looks like the kid he still is, instead of the teenager he’s desperate to be. One shoulder lifts and dips as he feigns nonchalance. “Just wondering if Kyrie is your kid now?”
“What?” I grip his shoulder gently. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugs again, his lips pressing into a firm line. “I don’t know. I just thought . . . I mean . . . You’ve got Kyrie now. You probably don’t have time for me anymore. And that’s okay. It’s cool. I get it. Not like it’s the first time someone walked away.”
“Come here, kid.” I tuck him against my side. “I don’t care who walked away before. But it wasn’t me. And it’s not going to be me.”
“Sure, it won’t,” he grumbles, refusing to look at me. “The season starts as soon as school’s out, and you’re going to be busy with Kyrie . . . and Ashton. You won’t have time for me.”
I bend my knees and get on Jonah’s level.
“I guess it’s a good thing I come from a family of overachievers then.
You see, I’m not too bad with scheduling.
And you know, Kyrie could probably use a big-brother figure.
I mean, we’ll still get our time together, and maybe you’d be willing to hang out with Kyrie too sometimes. Totally up to you though.”
He shrugs again, but this time he’s smiling. “I’d be a better big brother than you.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that?”
Jonah crooks his finger at me, and I move closer. “I hate to tell you this, but I’m way more fun than you.”
An hour later, Ashton and Jonah have met.
My honorary little brother has hit on my woman, made her smile, made her laugh, and smiled at me over her shoulder when she hugged him close.
I swear to God, I thought the kid might pinch her ass while he was at it.
Lucky for him, he thought better of it. I mean, the thought would have crossed my mind too, but he’s sure as shit not allowed to.
He also declared himself Kyrie’s protector, and judging by the way he sat on one side of her while Gus sat on the other, I’d say the two of them are working together and maybe against me.
But we’ve got time to figure that out. Oh yeah, and when Dillan showed up at the house to stay with Kyrie for us, Jonah went and hit on her too. The kid has mighty big balls.
“He’s adorable.” Ashton waves as we drop the little Casanova off at his house on the way to the hospital for her appointment. “Maybe I could . . .”
“Could what, Ace?” I push.
“I was thinking maybe I could take him to one of your preseason camps in August or maybe a game. Has he ever seen you play, Jamie?” That beautiful flush creeps up her cheeks like she’s not sure whether she said the right thing, and I wonder what I’ve done to the people in my life to make them so unsure of themselves around me.
“You want to come to my games?” I ask, a vision of this woman in my jersey flashing in the forefront of my mind. And now that I’ve seen it, I’m going to make it my life’s mission to make that happen.
“Maybe one . . .” She nibbles her lip, and fucking hell, I want a taste. Finn has been off and at home for the past three days, making it nearly impossible to spend any time together. “Or two . . .”
“What’s it called when you score in football, beautiful?” I ask as I pull into the parking garage, a smile on my face that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we’re about to see our baby in a few minutes for the very first time.
She blinks up at me and looks away. “A goal?”
“Ashton . . .”
“Fine. What if I promise to pay attention? Then can I bring him to a game?”
I turn the car off and wrap a hand around her head. “A touchdown, baby. A touchdown or a field goal. They’re the two most common ways to score.”
She licks her pretty lips and brushes them against mine. “Then I want to bring Jonah to a game so we can watch you score a field goal, charmer.”
“Oh, Ace . . .” I get out of the car and open her door for her, extending my hand and holding in my laugh. “I’m not even on the field when we kick a field goal.”
Ashton
“Okay, Ashton, lie back and relax.” Dr. Hayes-Sinclair smiles at me and winks at Jamie.
Not in a creepy way. In a friendly, we’ve vacationed together and you were at my wedding and kid’s christening kind of way.
He sits next to me, my hand held tightly in his, and I’m not actually sure he’s breathing as she opens my gown and squirts cold jelly on my stomach. “Relax, Dad. Nothing to worry about.”
Dad . . .
Okay, maybe I’m the one not breathing now.
Dr. Hayes-Sinclair stands in front of us, biting back a smile. “Okay, you two, I’m going to need you to breathe.” She toes Jamie’s sneaker with her red-soled high heel. “Both of you.”
“Sorry, Kenz. It’s just . . .” Jamie stops and squeezes my hand. “It’s just nuts. You’re about to show us our baby. Our baby . . . for the first time.” He brushes the hair away from my face and kisses my forehead. “Our baby.”
And I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding.
“Our baby,” I whisper and look at the doctor. “We’re ready.”
She rubs the ultrasound wand through jelly and over my stomach slowly.
“Kenz . . .”
“Give me a second, Murph,” she shushes him as a fast-paced galloping sound echoes around the room.
“Kenzie,” he demands, and she shushes him again in a way only family can get away with.
“Jameson Murphy.” She smiles at me, then throws a fake glare at him. “Would you please stop talking and listen to your baby’s very strong heartbeat?”
I’m not sure who I fall more in love with in that very moment.
Kenzie, for the way she manages to shut Jamie up.
Jamie, for the way his beautiful shamrock green eyes fill with tears as he drops his forehead to mine.
Or our baby . . .
“Oh my goodness,” I whisper in wonderment.
“Do you want to know the sex?” Kenzie asks as she presses a few buttons on the ultrasound machine, and Jamie looks at me like a kid on Christmas morning who can’t wait to rip open his presents.
“Your call, Ace. Do you want to know the sex or do you want to be surprised?”
“I . . . Am I a bad mom if I say I’m not sure?
I just kept hoping and praying the baby is okay.
” I turn to Kenzie. “I didn’t know I was pregnant.
I didn’t know . . . I mean, what did you say?
I’m sixteen weeks pregnant, and I didn’t even know until last week.
I just wanted the baby to be okay. But now .
. . Now you’re telling me that she . . .
or he . . . that the baby is healthy and I can get to know if they’re a boy or a girl? ”
“You don’t have to decide now, Ashton,” she assures me and presses a few more buttons.
“But you’re right. Your baby is perfectly healthy.
You’re measuring a little small for sixteen weeks, but based on your small frame, I’m not concerned.
I’d like to continue to monitor you though.
We’re actually on the early side of being able to determine the sex, but your baby just happens to be cooperating. ”
I turn my head and squeeze Jamie’s hand. “I want to know.”
“Then let’s find out.” He brushes his lips over mine.
Iwalk out of the office, holding the first official picture of our son in my hands and a perma-smile etched on my face.
Jamie presses the button for the elevator, then wraps an arm around me and kisses the top of my head.
“A boy . . . We’re having a boy. You’re giving me a baby boy,” he murmurs, awed, with so much love for this baby, who’s the size of an avocado, I think I might fall just a little bit in love with him.
I push up on my toes and throw my arms around his neck and giggle as Jamie lifts me, my feet dangling above the floor. “We’re having a boy.”
“What the fuck?”
Oh no. “Finn?”