Page 131 of How to Score Off Field

I shiver.

“This whole thing is surreal. And if I’m being honest I don’t feel ready for it, at all. I had wanted to…I had wanted…”

“Wanted to what?”

“Date you. Date you and like, have you fall in love with me and then we could live happily ever after. We haven’t gone anywhere yet, not to dinner or to the movies, and it makes me sad in a way that the whole thing god sidetracked.”

I don’t want to say “screwed up” because the thought makes me feel guilty even having it; like I’m somehow talking shit about my unborn child.

“Yeah—in a perfect world, that’s how this would have gone. I mean—you falling in love with me and all that.”

He winks, our fingers brushing.

I move mine to his face; to brush the bruise on his mouth where my brother hit him.

“Does this still hurt?”

“No.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“Yes.” He grins. “Do you know how many times I’ve been damn near knocked out from taking a hit or gotten concussions from a collision? Dozens. This little gash was a pussy move, and I’ll tell Grady I said so.”

“God, please don’t.”

He grins, that familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Well, if it's any consolation, our future just became the plot of a seriously entertaining rom-com."

Is it?

Really?

At least he’s optimistic and at least he’s here with me now.

“I can’t imagine doing this alone.” I have Miranda and I have my parents but it’s not the same. "Guess we're the stars of our own unique story."

"We aren't even dating, and now we're having a baby," he says, his voice a mix of incredulity and uncertainty. "Seriously, whatarewe going to do?"

My heart flutters like a trapped bird in my chest, fingers tracing the intricate patterns of the bedspread, my mind racing as I search for the right words.

"I have no idea."

The word hangs in the air, heavy with implications.

I shift my gaze to the window, where the world beyond seems to stretch out in a vast unknown. "But what about us? What about our friendship?"

Drew's voice is gentle, a soothing balm to my swirling thoughts.

"Our friendship.” He clears his throat. “Are you friend zoning me again?”

I let out a shaky laugh. “Do you not want to be friend zoned by your baby mama?”

“Not really.”

“So what do you want? To be my boyfriend?”

Ironically, it feels too soon.

We skipped a million steps in the process, jumping straight to ‘lifelong commitment’ of the offspring kind and it muddles the waters by a million.

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