Page 24 of The Forever Play

She can’t be dating this douchebag.

The idea of his hands on her makes me want to throw up. The idea of him?—

“You want to do the best for your kid?” he hisses at me.

My shoulders tense.

“Stay the fuck away from her.” He points at me, then turns on his heel and starts striding back toward what I assume are the offices.

I’m so thrown by his venom that it takes me a second to find my voice, but I manage to yell after him just before he disappears from view. “She’s my daughter! I have a right to meet her!”

The man jerks to a stop and quickly spins. I can only see the side of his face as he yells back at me. “You forfeited that right when you threw away the best thing you ever had!”

And then he’s gone.

And I’m left reeling.

A daughter.

I have a daughter.

And an ex-girlfriend who wouldn’t even tell me about her.

Why?

Why did she change her mind?

Why the fuck didn’t she tell me!

I would have been there for her. I would have dropped everything.

My parents would have been so pissed, but I don’t give a shit.

Why did she think I couldn’t handle it?

Sure, I love football, but I would have put her before that.

Except you didn’t. You left her for football.

Fuck!

Bile surges in my belly, threatening to rocket right up my throat. Stumbling out of the arena, I start walking for the football stadium, wondering how the fuck I’m going to concentrate this afternoon.

I have a daughter.

Shit!

Sienna had to deal with all that on her own. Although she would have had her parents for support. They would have stepped up for sure. I mean, they pulled her out of school and hit the road her senior year, right? She probably begged them to take her away so she didn’t have to walk the halls of high school with a growing belly.

They would have supported her through the pregnancy and Zoey’s first couple years.

Shit, shit, shit!

It should have been me.Ishould have been there.

Wait, are they in Nolan with Sienna?

The thought trips me up, my steps faltering as I come to a stop on the sidewalk and glance around as if they’re about to pop out from behind the bushes.

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