Page 22 of Closing the Distance

Doubt niggles in the back of my mind that he’s only doing this because we’re having a baby, but I push it aside for now. I want to live in the moment, and I need to remember that he made me feel this way before the baby even existed.

Maybe the baby is the thing that’s brought us back together, but tonight, he’s all mine. And I plan to enjoy every second.

“Fuck it,” he murmurs before surging forward and taking another kiss that has me giggling. He pulls away, a radiant smile filling his face as he stares openly at my eyes and my mouth. “I love hearing you laugh like that.”

I drop my gaze and nibble my lip, oddly embarrassed. This man has seen me naked, and I’m carrying his child. But the idea of giggling like some innocent schoolgirl has my cheeks on fire.

He clears his throat and pretends to get serious. “Right, okay, so what were we talking about?” he asks as he picks back up his fork. His other hand rests on my thigh, keeping me close, and I don’t hate it.

I don’t hate it at all.

TWELVE

“I really thought once you found Lexi, you wouldn’t be constantly glued to your phone anymore.”

A smile tugs at my lips, but I don’t look up until I finish texting Lexi. “Sorry not sorry.”

Dom chuckles. “What are you? A teenage girl?”

“Oh, please, like you don’t jump as soon as Alayna calls you.”

He holds up his hands. “Guilty as charged.” He takes a seat next to me in the locker room after our practice. “You seem happy. Things going good?”

I spin my phone in my hands. “Slower than I’d like, but that’s my own fault.”

“She’s still keeping you at a distance since she told you she was pregnant?”

“Yes and no. We’ve been on a couple of dates since then, and she lets me kiss her, but she’s still not as comfortable with me as she was before.”

He shrugs. “Maybe the chemistry was just that night cause you guys had been drinking.”

I shake my head. “We didn’t have that much to drink that night.”

I know the problem. She let me in and I treated her like shit. My reaction to her pregnancy announcement haunts me, and even though she lets me kiss her, I know I haven’t fully earned her forgiveness just yet.

But I will. I’m not giving up on her—on us. No matter what hoops she makes me jump through to prove it. And maybe that’s why I’ve brushed off Tanner’s continued suggestions that I get a paternity test done. I’m not willing to risk the progress I’ve made with her even if I can’t deny his doubts are valid.

“Honestly, I can’t tell if it’s her holding back because of how I reacted to her pregnancy announcement or me holding back because I’m afraid she’s exactly who my brother thinks she is.” I’d told the guys about Tanner’s plea that I get a paternity test. They were much more supportive about it being my choice, although they didn’t argue that a paternity test is the smart move to make given how little we know each other. I’m still torn about how to approach it because smart or not, I know without a doubt it’ll derail any progress we’ve made, and I don’t want that either.

My phone pings in my hand and I look down, frowning when I read her text in response to me asking her if we were still on for tonight.

Lexi

Can’t tonight. Today was rough and I don’t feel good. Maybe after you get back from Atlanta.

I leave tomorrow afternoon for our next away game. Tonight was my only chance to see her because of some teacher training classes she had earlier this week after work. It’s been five days since I’ve gotten to touch her, and I’ve been looking forward to tonight all day.

“I gotta go,” I say to Dom and then throw all my stuff in my bag and head out.

I make a pit stop at the store on the way to her place, which takes me longer than expected when I have to field some autographs for fans. The benefit of living in a place like LA is that they’re pretty used to celebs here. Most of the time I don’t get bothered when I’m out and about. So of course, I’d run into a tourist group filled with football fans on the one night I’m in a rush to get to my girl.

By the time I knock on her door, it’s been two hours since she texted me. Movement inside can be heard from where I stand outside her door, looking around at the apartment doors in this hallway. It’s not the worst neighborhood—in fact it’s relatively safe, considering—but I hate that she lives here.

When she opens her door, her ocean-blue eyes hit me like a punch to the gut. Fuck, even tired and looking a little green, she’s fucking gorgeous. She parts her lips, her brows furrowed in confusion, and I hold up the bag in my hands. “You said you didn’t feel good.”

I took Romel’s advice and learned on our last date what her food triggers were and what snacks were working for her. One of those was eliminated the other day when she ate it right before someone walked into the lunchroom with a hot dog and she had to race to the bathroom to throw up. Now she can’t have wheat crackers or even look at the box without thinking about that hot dog smell.

A soft smile lifts the edges of her lips and she moves aside, allowing me to enter. I drop a kiss to her forehead as I pass her, unable not to touch her when I’m this close and it’s been so long already. Placing the bag on her kitchen counter, I start pulling out the items I got for her—Fruit Punch Gatorade, Tim’s Cascade Original potato chips, Cheez-Its, pomegranate juice, ginger ale, and a frozen cheese pizza.

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