Page 103 of Second Down Darling

Have to convince her I’ll be there for her if she decides to have thisbaby.

A baby withCharlotte.

I close my eyes, and I can see it. My sweet woman cradling a little bundle. She’ll be a fantasticmother.

Me conmueve.It chokes me up alittle.

Because I want thatlife.

And in this moment, all of my anxiety fades away. So what if this baby pisses off Coach? So what if NFL teams think I’m ajackass?

All that matters is getting Charlotte to understand I love her to the moon and back and I’ll be by her side come hell or highwater.

All that matters is proving to her that I’m on board for this baby. I’ll love him or her and welcome this new addition to our family with openarms.

All that matters is showing Charlotte I’m one hundred percent devoted toher.

Will I be pissed if I don’t get drafted? Of course. No one works this hard, this long, to accept defeat. But I guess I could always work for my brothers. Being a mechanic won’t have the same kind of paycheck, but it’s respectable, steady employment. And it would mean my kids grow up around my family, which I’dlove.

Reluctantly, I admit working with my brothers wouldn’t be sobad.

My phone buzzes with a text, and I scramble for my phone. Only it says “THE PSYCHO.” What the fuck does Dakota want at this hour? She’s been radio silent for years and nowthis?

Good to see you, Jakey baby! I know you’re still mad at me, but you’ll see this is for thebest.

I can actually feel a vessel in my neck throb. This bitch has some nerve. I couldn’t bring myself to yell at her in front of Asher. My parents had an ugly divorce, and my brothers and I were privy to their screaming matches. I don’t want that for my son. So if I have to bite my tongue until it bleeds when I’m around her, so beit.

But Dakota is batshit crazy if she thinks I’m going to bend over and take thiscrap.

I just have to figure out how to beat her at thisgame.

Because there’s no way in hell I’m giving up Charlotte. Not when I just got her back in mylife.

42

JAKE

“You look like shit, dude.”Billy slides into the booth across from me in the study lounge tucked back in the field house and motions to the uneaten chicken burger in front of me. “You gonna eatthat?”

“Go for it.” I watch him scarf down my food at recordspeed.

When he finishes, he pulls out a bottle of water and chugs it down. “You gonna dish orwhat?”

Why is Billy always the guy lurking around when my life gets fucked up? I look around for Cam. He’s more normal, but I don’t see himanywhere.

I finally relent. “Charlotte’s upset with me.” That’s putting it lightly. The last forty-eight hours have beenhell.

“Yeah. Iheard.”

Of course he did. “What exactly did youhear?”

“That you thought she was preggers and you went full-on mute and hurt her feelings since, apparently, you were a knight in shining armor when it came to your ex baby-trappingyou.”

My eyebrows lift. “How the hell do you know allthis?”

“I have myways.”

Unbelievable. I’m guessing Roxy gave him a play-by-play.

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