Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Zaan
I didn’t sleep well last night.
Lexi sent me a text telling me she got to L.A. okay, and then another telling me she was going to bed. Nothing else. No I love you, no I’m thinking about you, just letting me know she’s safe.
I suppose that’s something.
But my pre-game nap isn’t going well either, so I finally give up on the hope she’ll get home before I leave and head for the arena.
I pace and eat and finally just sink into a chair in the players’ lounge.
It’s a big room where we have meetings, but it’s also a comfortable place to hang out and chill before games.
I’m here early today, so although I saw Simon doing yoga and Ian getting a massage from one of the trainers, none of the other guys are here.
My phone buzzes and I see a text from Anton.
ANTON: You at the arena already? Have you seen the news?
ZAAN: No… should I be worried?
ANTON: Not worried, I guess, but I thought you and Lexi were keeping the pregnancy quiet until she was through the first trimester?
ZAAN: Yeah, that’s the plan.
Instead of responding, he sends me a link.
And there on one of the entertainment websites is an article about Lexi being pregnant.
The author is a journalist I’ve never heard of, and he mentions interviewing her last night in L.A.
…though Ms. Rousseau was cagey about it, there’s no doubt she has a bun in the oven.
What this means for Nobody’s Fool and their upcoming world tour remains to be seen.
Rumor has it, Kirsten Aiken is up to be her replacement, but both Ms. Aiken’s and Ms. Rousseau’s camps declined to respond to this reporter’s request for comment.
Kirsten?!
She’s eighteen and going off to college in a couple of months.
What kind of bullshit is this?
Why would Lexi talk to someone about her pregnancy when we agreed not to make it public yet?
ANTON: Sasha says the guy reached out to her for a statement, but Lexi told her not to discuss it.
Lexi says no one but immediate family and the band knew about it, so you’re going to have to consider that someone on the team spilled the beans.
I didn’t say anything but they’re going to figure it out…
Motherfucker.
I forgot that I’d told them about Baby H?agen-Dazs.
It had been part of what motivated us to win the other night.
And I hadn’t even had a chance to tell Lexi about it.
Now I was going to have to come clean, in addition to all the groveling I would probably have to do as well.
ZAAN: I should’ve known better. Dammit. Lexi’s going to kill me.
ANTON: According to Sasha, she wasn’t happy but neither of them know you told the team. I’m assuming you haven’t seen her today or talked things out yet?
ZAAN: No. We’re both being stubborn, I guess, and she took off for L.A. last night. She said she’d be at the game, but right now that’s all I can focus on. I can’t think about anything else.
ANTON: Right on. I’ll be there in ten.
Tonight’s game is do or die.
If we lose, our season is over.
If we win, we’re headed to the championship.
And Seattle won’t go down without a fight.
Part of me wants to call Lexi and apologize.
For everything.
The argument, telling the team about the baby when I wasn’t supposed to, how stubborn I’ve been, all of it.
But this isn’t the time.
If I fall down that rabbit hole, I’ll never get my head in the game, and I’m already exhausted after a shitty night’s sleep and no nap.
I still don’t have any answers, but the one thing I know is that I love her and will fight to make things right. We will find a way forward.
Even if I have to swallow my pride, my common sense, and my manhood.