Page 146 of The Future Play

My head is pounding almost as loud as my heart as I drop my phone on the kitchen counter. Then I pick it right back up again and call for a car to take me to Ida, so I can spend the ride figuring out how badly I’ve messed up everything else.

I’m sittingat the kitchen counter of our apartment back home. The one I surprised Amanda with three months ago. I’ll never forget how happy she was. I thought this was going to be the place we started the next chapter of our lives. I’ve missed the comforting feeling of home it gives.

The door clicks open and I jump up, desperate to have my eyes on her.

She walks in, face ashen, and eyes as cold as ice.

“Hi,” I say lamely.

“Hi. So, did you cheat on me?”

Just like that. I shouldn’t expect anything else from her.

“No. I would never, ever cheat on you.”

Her eyes shimmer with tears. “And I should believe you why?”

“Because I’ve shown you over and over again who I am. We’ve built years’ worth of trust.”

“The funny thing about trust is it takes a long time to build, but only seconds to destroy. You may have shown me who you are—or who you’re supposed to be—but you showed the world something else with those photos.”

“It was Emily. I was supposed to have an interview with her, but after the game some of the guys wanted to take me out, so we went to the restaurant where I was meeting her, and I might’ve let them get me rip-roaring drunk. I’m not proud of it. When Emily showed up, she was pissed at me for wasting her time—which is more than fair. She’s a decent person, though, and helped get me home. She came into the building but never into our apartment. It was less than five minutes. I have the tapes from security?—”

“I don’t need the security tapes. Maybe it’s stupid, but I never really believed you would cheat on me.”

For the first time, I feel a bit of relief. Until she continues talking.

“The thing is, the rest of the world doesn’t care what the truth is or what I believe. All they care is what a picture says, and that picture makes you look bad and me look stupid. Do you have any idea how many phone calls and texts I’ve gotten from my family asking about it? Do you have any idea how those articles rippedmeapart? The person you’re supposed to love and protect.”

I avoided reading the articles, and I stupidly didn’t think they would say anything about her.

“With the way his girl looks, it’s no wonder he had to cheat.Let’s see, then there were the people who decided that I must’ve been having an affair with Mark Abbott after all, and that’s why you cheated on me. But I think the best one wasshe’s stupid if she thinks she can compete with the ball bunnies or the women in his social circles now. She’s a one and he should have a ten.”

I fucking hate people.

“I’m sorry?—”

“For which part?” She steps up to me and shoves my shoulder. “For getting drunk and being irresponsible, for making us tabloid fodder, or for ignoring my phone calls when I was breaking down and needed you the most.”

“I wasn’t ignoring you. My phone was in my bag?—”

“I don’t care!” she yells, tears cresting in her eyes. “Do you even want to know why I was calling you? Because it started hours before that fucking picture.”

“Why?” I whisper, wanting nothing more than to grab her and hold her close, but I know that’ll only get me slapped.

“While you were out getting drunk with your teammates, I realized I might be pregnant.”

My stomach drops and my blood goes cold.

Pregnant?

How would we deal with that? Are we ready for a child right now? Where would we live?

“Are you panicking right now?” she asks, almost smug. “Is your life flashing before your eyes while you try to figure out what this would mean and how we’d manage it?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“Well, that’s how I felt last night, only you weren’t standing mere feet from me. You weren’t answering your phone at all. I stupidly wanted to wait to take a test while I was on the phone with you because I thought you’d want that. Because I needed you! But you weren’t there. So after waiting and stressing for hours, I took one with the girls there to support me.”

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