Chapter 30
CHAPTER
THIRTY
Liam
This can’t be happening.
I hang up and just stare at my phone like it might change what I just heard. But it doesn’t. The screen goes dark, reflecting my face—my jaw is clenched, eyes hard, like I’m one second away from punching a wall.
Fucking Aaron. Putting poison in her ear about me.
And I can’t do shit about it. I’m stuck here for three more weeks.
Camp isn’t a suggestion. It’s not optional.
We’re in full go mode, and I’m obligated to be here.
It doesn’t matter that my daughter is the team owner’s granddaughter.
Coaches don’t care if your world is blowing up and falling apart.
If you’re healthy, you’d better be on the field.
You’re under contract; you show up. End of.
And I should be excited to be here, but what I want more than anything … is to be in New York with Alie and Sera. My family. Instead, I’m living in a college dorm room in south fucking Pittsburgh for the next few weeks, while this asshole is trying to rip us apart with his lies.
I exhale and try to calm down, but everything feels tight. Like I can’t get enough air in my lungs. I need to get out of this room and take a walk.
I yank my door open with more force than necessary and let it slam shut behind me.
“Everything good, man?” Saint asks, opening his door across the hall.
“Yeah, I just need to get out of that room.”
“I’ll come with you. I’m feeling a little wound up tonight myself.”
I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now, but I also don’t want to be a total dick. Luckily, Saint isn’t a big talker.
We walk around the college campus in the dark. It’s quiet, and luckily, no one else is around.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I take it out, hoping it’s Alie telling me our conversation was a joke, but it’s not.
It’s a text in the group chat. Beck telling us that Charlie’s in labor.
And I’m happy for them—I am. But I can’t even think about anything else right now, and I don’t want to sound like I don’t care, so I just pocket my phone.
“Girlfriend?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, just one of my buddies. His wife is in labor.”
“That’s cool.” He nods. “So, you wanna talk about it?”
“I’m good. Just … life stuff.”
Saint’s eyes narrow like he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t push it.
Frustration builds, though, and I can’t hold it in.
“Timing just couldn’t be worse right now,” I exhale.
“What do you mean?”
Alie and I haven’t really talked about how to handle the team, and I’m sure there have been some people around the facility who’ve noticed that Alie and I spend time together. I mean, Miss Sandy sees me every day now. It’s not like we’ll be able to keep this under wraps for long.
“I have a daughter,” I blurt out.
“You have a daughter?” He nods. “That’s awesome.”
“Look, man, I’m gonna tell you something, but it needs to stay between us for now, okay? Well, Griffith knows, but that’s it as far as the team.”
“Yeah, of course.” He holds out a fist, and I bump it.
“My daughter is Seraphina.”
“As in Aliette Grant’s Seraphina? The one I’ve known since she was born, who runs around the field?” He smirks.
“That’s the one. But before you ask, that’s not why I was traded here.”
“I wasn’t gonna ask. Not my business. But James knows, right?”
“He does now.” I look at him, my brows raised.
“Oh shit. Like, recently?”
“Yeah, but that’s not really the problem.” I sigh. “I only found out that I had a daughter when I got here. And it wasn’t a planned meet. I walked into Alie’s office, and there she was.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah, turns out, my old college teammate Aaron Muldoon told her I didn’t want the baby when she found out she was pregnant. But he didn’t. When I asked him for her number, he blew me off, saying she didn’t want to have anything to do with me, that I was just a fling.”
“Okay, I gotta stop you. This is soap-opera bullshit right here. Aaron Muldoon is a piece of shit. I’m so glad he’s not playing with us anymore. Sucks, just seeing him around the building. But go on …” He gestures for me to continue.
“Right? I tolerated him, at best, in college.” I suck in a breath and exhale slowly. “Anyway, Alie and I are in a really good place, and Sera … she’s just perfect. She has me wrapped around her little finger.”
“She is a really cute kid. And now that I know she’s yours, I can see the resemblance. It’s the eyes.” He nods.
“Yeah, that’s what I noticed the first time I saw her too.
So, Aaron showed up today and started telling her lies.
And I think she’s confused, like she doesn’t know if she believes him or not.
And it sucks because they’ve been friends for, like, their whole lives, and I’m just coming in and trying to build a life with my daughter and hopefully with her. ” I run my hand through my hair.
“That’s heavy. And you’re stuck here for another few weeks, while he’s there in her ear.” He shakes his head. “That really sucks.”
“I know. And it’s not like I can do something stupid, like storm into Coach’s office and demand to leave like I’m not some grown man, a team leader, with obligations and a career that impacts more than just me.”
My words hang in the silence as we walk, looping back around to the dorm. Because what can he really say?
“Do you want my advice?” he finally says, as we approach the building.
I sigh. “Yeah, go ahead.”
“I’ve known the Grant family for quite a few years now, and Alie’s a good egg.
She’s smart, and she seems to have a level head about her.
She’ll figure it out.” He pauses. “She’ll realize Muldoon is an asshole.
And if she doesn’t, that’s on her, but I don’t think that’ll happen.
You’ll work this out. You have a kid together.
So, whatever happens with the two of you, you’re tied for the rest of your lives. ”
I know he’s right, but I want it all.
One restless night of sleep later, I’m on the field again, and everything feels off. We had meetings this morning in our groups, watched film, had lunch, all normal. Practice starts like always—warm-up, stretching, footwork, loosening up my arm, running routes.
Aston cracks jokes that everyone laughs at.
Brody is hyper-focused on drills. Saint calls out defensive adjustments like he’s creating the game plans himself.
And I … go through the motions that a team leader should.
I’m here physically, but mentally? I’m in New York, picturing Alie when she said she didn’t know what to believe.
I feel like a man being tested. Like a man on the edge of losing something he just found. The most important piece of my life could be gone, as quickly as it came to me.
Coach blows the whistle, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Pitz! Eyes up.”
I snap back. “Yes, Coach.”
My focus slips again. Because I can’t stop hearing the words she said.
“He says you’re lying.”
My hands tighten into fists. I did not lie.
I didn’t fucking know. I would have been there for every second if I had.
I would have been at all the appointments.
I would have been at the hospital, holding her hand.
I would have gotten to hold Sera when she was tiny.
I would’ve done the late nights, the diaper changes, and the exhausted mornings.
I would’ve done it all. Because Sera is mine.
And I’m already attached to this tiny human in a way I never thought possible.
I’m attached in a way that makes me want to burn the world down if anyone tries to take her from me. Again.
Practice wraps for the day, and it wasn’t my best performance. They’re probably wondering why they traded for me. And I should be concerned about it, but I’m not.
After a quick shower, I make my way to the dining hall for dinner, but stop and take a seat on a bench to call Alie.
It rings once. Twice. Voicemail. Then I try again. Voicemail.
I lean forward and put my head in my hands.
“Come on, Alie,” I mutter to myself. “Please don’t do this.”
I try texting her instead.
Liam: Please answer me.
Liam: Aaron is lying to you. He’s manipulating you. Please don’t let him get between us.
Three dots appear, then vanish.
My stomach is in knots. I can handle pressure, pain, and some of the best defensive players in the game. But I can’t handle being ignored or silenced.
I try again.
Liam: You know I can’t leave camp. I feel really fucking helpless right now, Alie. But I am here. I’m not going anywhere.
I stare at the screen until it blacks out, but press the side button, showing me my lock screen picture of the three of us in Central Park. I won’t lose them before we’ve even gotten a chance to have a life together.
My anger returns. Sharp and helpless. Because there’s nothing worse than being trapped somewhere you have to be while the people you love are somewhere you can’t be.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t even notice the person walking toward me until I run smack into them.
“Oh shit, sorry,” I say, grabbing her arms so she doesn’t fall.
“Jesus H,” she mutters. Then she holds my arm because whatever expression on my face must be loud.
“Liam,” she says carefully. “Are you okay?”
“No, Presley, I’m not actually.” I release her and pinch the bridge of my nose.
She doesn’t react, just studies me.
Then she nods once. “Talk to me.”
I gesture to the bench I was just sitting on, and we both sit.
“What happened?” she asks frankly.
I blow out a breath, forcing out the words before I change my mind about talking to her about this.
“Aaron showed up at Alie’s office yesterday.”
Presley’s mouth tightens. “Of course he did.”
I blink. “You’re not surprised?”
She snorts. “I’ve been waiting for him to do something. His silence with Alie was just too suspicious. He was plotting and planning until he could get back to New York.”
My jaw clenches. “He’s telling her that I’m lying about not knowing about Sera. And that I didn’t want her.”