Page 103 of The Quarterback Sneak

He looks over at me with a side smile. “In the way that I tasted your pussy and realized I would kill anyone else who wanted to do the same.”

My eyebrows raise in surprise, but my stomach flips in excitement. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Because I didn’t want to get rejected by you… My dream girl.” The air crackles with intensity. We’ve both been fighting back our feelings for too long.

I go to kiss him, but he stops me. “As much as I want to kiss you senseless under these stars, there’s more I need to tell you.”

He pulls away from me, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasps his hands. “If I found that a problem, I have no idea how the hell I’m supposed to explain the next part to you, but you deserve to know everything.”

I stay quiet, letting him think through his words. His deep-green eyes turn black, hiding darkness I’ve never seen before. I want him to pour all that darkness into me and so I can feel it slithering into my soul and take the burden away. “Tiff got knocked up a little over a year ago. She was out at some party and met a guy. One thing led to another, and she found out three months later that she was expecting.”

Zach’s fists tighten, and jaw clenches. “Her dad, my mom’s brother, wanted her to get an abortion or give the baby up for adoption because she couldn’t remember the guy’s name, and they couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. Neither of those were a viable option for Tiff.”

“Is this the uncle you were building your bike with?”

He nods. “Yeah, we were close. He treated me like his own son because my dad was always working, but all of that changed when Tiff came to our house crying one night. She didn’t want to give Ella up, and my parents didn’t want her to either. Long story short, Tiff ended up living with us, and even though we were already stretched, we knew we had to give Ella the best chance at life possible.”

“So that’s why your bike was sitting on your drive. You don’t speak anymore?”

“Nope.” He pops the P, regret filling his voice. “Haven’t since the day Tiff dropped her bags off in our living room. He doesn’t even know Ella’s a girl, let alone when she was born.” He shakes his head. “Ridiculous because the minute I met Ella, the only thing I wanted to do was protect her from everyone and everything that didn’t want her.Iwant her.”

“What about the father?”

He drops his head and runs his hand through his hair. “That’s where this gets complicated, and I don’t know if you’re going to believe me.”

“What have you got to lie about now?”

“Tiff’s been elusive about the father since her pregnancy. Whenever we tried to broach the subject, she’d change it or tell us it was some rich prick she didn’t want to remember because it was so bad.”

“Was she raped?” It comes out before I can think about what I’ve said.

“No. No. She told me it was all consensual, but he’d given her a fake name and number.”

“Oh no.”

He nods. “Yeah, that’s why she was so cagey about the whole thing. She was embarrassed to admit the hookup and that she didn’t have a way to contact him.”

“So that’s why you let people believe you’re the dad and she’s your girlfriend?”

“I didn’t know about that little rumor until you told me, and Jamie was already on my shitlist.” His sorrow-filled eyes connect with mine. “Look, there’s something I’ve got to tell you. No doubt you’ll think I’m making it up. I didn’t believe it either, but I took action and got it verified. We haven’t figured out what to do with the information yet, but we’ll get there.”

“Just tell me already.”

“It’s Jamie.”

“What’s Jamie?”

“He’s Ella’s father.”

I blink a couple of times, letting that sink in.

“Jamie?MyJamie?”

“As much as I hate hearing you call him that. Yes. Jamie Nicks is the father of the best thing that ever happened to my family.”

“But it makes no sense.” I rack my brain, trying to figure it out. Furrowing my brows, I drop my gaze to the floor and take a deep breath. “That means they hooked up over a year ago.”

He nods. “You’d be right. It was the summer before junior year. Apparently, Jamie and a few of my teammates decided to gatecrash one of her high school parties.”

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