Page 15 of Closing the Distance

“I have to tell you something,” she whispers.

“Okay,” I say, sure that nothing she could say would deter me from pursuing this—unless she’s married, but considering she nearly freaked out the night we were together because she was worried I wasn’t single, I doubt that’s the case.

She closes her eyes, and her throat bobs as she swallows and then opens them, the dark blues swirling with fear and worry that makes my heart ache for her.

“I’m pregnant.”

Everything freezes.

I gape at her, not sure I heard her correctly. “W-what?”

“I’m pregnant,” she whispers.

I sit back, my heart dropping to my stomach as I stare at her in complete shock. And then the shock morphs to burning disappointment tainted with anger. She was supposed to be different. She wasn’t supposed to be a jersey chaser trying to nab herself a baby daddy and a guaranteed eighteen years of checks. All the excitement I felt at seeing her disappears in a haze of red as anger slithers through the disappointment like a quick-acting poison in my veins.

My jaw tics as I stare at her, my eyes narrowed. I know this game. She’s not the first to try to play it on me, and I won’t be manipulated.

But I wish she still didn’t make me feel things for her so I could focus on my anger instead of oscillating between that and the crushing disappointment. Instead, I focus on getting to the root of the issue.

“When did you find out?” I spit out. I have to know. Did she know I was a famous football player that night, or did she find out after? If she knew then, she’s one hell of an actress.

And that only pisses me off more because I never saw it coming. She seemed so real, so down to earth, so genuine.

Fuck, this hurts.

She flinches and drops her gaze. “It was confirmed by my doctor yesterday. I tried to find you right away after my appointment.”

I shake my head. “I mean, when did you find out about me?”

Her brows furrow, and I refuse to let myself find it cute. “You? W-what do you mean?”

“Cut the bull, Lexi. When did you find out I was famous? Did you know I played for the Wolves that night? Or did you find out after? I deserve to know the truth if you’re carrying my kid. If it’s even mine,” I spit out.

She blinks at me, and then a mask falls over her face, and she shakes her head like she doesn’t recognize me at all. I hate the sheen of tears filling her eyes, and disgust—at myself—fills my gut.

She swallows once, then twice like she’s trying to find the strength to speak but can’t. And it’s the way she’s trying so hard to hold herself together while her body cracks right before me that has my anger dissolving as quickly as it came.

This isn’t right.

She’s not responding the way I’ve seen others react. She’s certainly not responding anything like my ex when we broke up and I called her out on her bullshit—on the way she used me and manipulated me for months.

Lexi isn’t acting like that at all. I’m questioning if this is an act, or if I’ve once again let my past relationships get in my way.

Did she really not know?

She drops her gaze to the floor and practically whispers, “This was a mistake.”

Then she gets out of her chair and walks out.

NINE

He thinks I’m making it up. Or that I tricked him.

I rub at my chest as I walk away from him. The second I’m out the door, I pull up my phone to get an Uber. I just need to get back to my car and then go home and forget this day ever happened.

I never should’ve gone back to his place. I should’ve taken my first rejection from his doorman as a sign from the universe. Because now he’s done the one thing I was so afraid of—he’s tainted the memory of our night together.

The look he just gave me in there…

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