Page 118 of Scores Of The Heart

She presses her lips together, fighting back tears. I don’t know if she’s relieved, or sad, or what she’s feeling. And I don’t ask her because I have enough swirling around in my head to last me a lifetime, let alone one afternoon.

“I’m here for you,” I reiterate.

We both stand up after that and it’s awkward, to say the least. Despite my unchartered feelings about all of this, and not knowing what the fuck to do about any of it, I am there for her. I tangoed with her back then. She didn’t get pregnant alone.

I just wish she’d gone about things better.

“It’s going to be okay, Stace. You know that, right?”

“Yes,” she says. “Now I know you’re on board, and you’re not mad about becoming a father. That makes things easier.”

“Well, you have to look after yourself and the little one.”

“You’re a good man, Tyler. I always knew it.”

I smile as she reaches to hug me quickly, and I don’t pull away because that feels mean, given her fragile state. “We’ll talk next week.”

Hopefully, by then I’ll have something figured out about how this is going to go and what we’re going to do. Maybe I’ll have come to terms with the fact that I’m going to be a father. It’s just not in the way I’d ever imagined.

* * *

I drive straight to my parents’ place, briefly sending Dad a message before I start driving. I need to talk to Cindy, of course. She’s been on my mind the whole afternoon. But I need to see my folks and get everything off my chest before I even attempt to call her and try to work everything out. Cindy was obviously very shocked and confused when I saw her earlier, and I hate the fact she gave herself to me, and now she’s doubting it. I know how much of a big deal all of that was for her.

I know I am willing to fight for us and make things right again.

The fact I didn’t tell her straight away has come back to bite me in the ass, just like I knew it would. But it’s out in the open now, and I have to roll with the punches.

There’s no taking away from the fact that this is happening one way or another.

The paternity test will obviously confirm if I really am the father of Stacey’s baby, but I need to put the provisions in place now for when we get those results.

I very much doubt she is lying, she wouldn’t take it this far if she was. But I need to know for sure before I get too involved.

I shudder at what the fuck coach is going to say about all of this when he finds out. Not only have I been seeing his daughter behind his and the team’s back, but now I’m going to be a dad to my ex-girlfriend, a woman who may or may not want to keep the baby.

It’s shaping up to be one hell of a messy conversation, but that conversation has to happen now, not later. We need to get this all out in the open straight away.

And after I talk to my folks, that’s exactly what I intend to do.

CHAPTER 24

Cindy

After Tyler leaves, my stomach is in knots. I scoop up Henry and give him a cuddle as he licks my face because he can sense something is wrong. It takes me a while to even come to terms with what Tyler just told me.

His ex is pregnant! The words just don’t even make sense in my head.

I feel bad comparing the situation to finding Damon and Jessica together, because it’s nothing like that at all. I said those words in anger and I shouldn’t have done that.

I just don’t know what we’re supposed to do. Things aren’t simple when I’ve fallen for Tyler.

I’ve given my body to him in just about every way possible. And my heart is now on the line because I’m in love with him.

As much as I don’t like the fact there’s a high chance he’s going to be a father to another woman’s baby, a big part of me wants to try to navigate this, as weird as it all is. Jealousy surges within me just thinking about him and her, and it’s an emotion I’ve never felt before.

The reality is I don’t know if his feelings are going to change about his ex when he sees her. Maybe his old feelings will come flooding back and they’ll want to rekindle things?

Where does that leave me?

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