Page 7 of Bae

But I refrained. Her eyes were too sparkling for that.

She was pregnant. My baby was having my baby.

Life was good.Betterthan good.

The idea of our daughter folded seamlessly into our life. So many moments. So many moments we had to get used to the idea, to want her… to love her.

Then she was ripped away.

I’ve never seen pain like that in my wife’s eyes. I still remember carrying her out of the hospital (like I’d let her ride in a wheelchair when my arms worked just fine.). She’d looked at me and said, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

No. No, it wasn’t.

But it was.

And here I was. Herewewere.

In those first few weeks, I poured everything of myself into Rimmel and making sure we got through this. All of my anger, sadness, and frustration was restrained because it wouldn’t help her and it wouldn’t erase that void deep in her eyes.

In fact, I worried if she ever saw it, it would only make what she suffered worse.

The prep for the new season started, and an outlet presented itself. I unleashed it all on the field. During practice, at pre-games. Hell, any chance I got really. It helped. I still had Rimmel, my family, and I knew we’d have another child someday.

“We’re the bomb dot com,” B said, slamming his hand into the closed locker beside my open one. “We’re taking the Bowl again this year.”

I grinned. “Hells yeah.”

“That was some nice throwing out there tonight,” he said, leaning against the locker with his bare arms folded over his chest.

“Yeah? Well, you lived up to your name out there, too,Hulk.”

Braeden flexed, lifted his biceps, and kissed them. “Sprinkles. Does the body good.”

“Dude. Never say that again.”

“Haters gonna hate,” he retorted.

“Posers gonna pose,” I mocked.

Braeden scowled. “You’re an asshole. I’m hitting the showers.”

I laughed. “I’d join you, but I wouldn’t want to make you feel inferior.”

Braeden stopped and turned back. The ends of the white towel wrapped around his waist slapped against his legs. “I’ll whip it out right here, Rome. You know I will. We’ll have a dick-measuring contest right the fuck now.”

Several guys around us started cackling. “Keep it in your pants, Hulk!”

“Unleash the Kraken!” someone else hollered.

Braeden gave everyone the finger. I grinned and pulled off the rest of my uniform and wrapped a towel around my waist. Just as I was closing the locker door, my cell went off.

I reached for it, glancing at the screen. It was a text from Trent.

I pulled it up and stared down at the pic he’d sent through. Around the phone, my hand tightened, and all the muscles in my neck bunched. It didn’t matter how hard I went out on the field tonight, this was all it took to make me ready to smash heads again.

I sucked in a deep breath and expelled it.

“What is it?” B asked from right beside me. His voice was low, all sense of teasing gone.

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