Page 3 of Happenstance
“I don’t give a fuck what you say about me.” I leaned in and softly growled in his ear, “You touchedher.”
This motherfucker put his hands on Lana. He dared to touch the girl I’d been dreaming about for years, and now, he was going to pay.
Chapter 1
Parker
The first time I saw Lana Crawford it was her first day of kindergarten. Micha, Logan and I were showing Mason and Silas around, because having been there the year before, we obviously ruled the place. And then I saw her. This girl standing perfectly in a ray of sunlight, as if the heavens themselves were pointing her out to me. She looked like an angel, wearing a blue dress, red sneakers, and a sparkly purple bow in her wild, curly hair. I was entranced by her magnificence. The way her big hazel eyes and caramel complexion seemed to glow.
I stood there staring at this beautifully weird girl, jealous of the people she smiled at. Every time she stopped to talk to someone, my fists would ball. Why was she wasting her time with these people? A unicorn shouldn’t talk to a frog.
I wanted to hurt all the kids that played with her. Beat them down until they bowed at her feet, like I was ready to do. But she was a goddess, and I was just a boy. How could someone like me approach her? So, I stayed in the background. Watching with complete contempt as other people got her attention. Later that day, I found her bow on the playground and carefully picked it up like some treasured item to take home.
My intent was to return it to her the next day. Get down on one knee and present the lost item like one of those knights in the stories my mother read to me. Before I could ask for the princess’s hand, I had to prove myself. That’s what all those stories had taught me. A bow might not be as good as slaying a dragon, but it was a start.
My grand adventure came to a crashing halt when we were all sitting down to dinner. My mother started talking about the‘colored girl’they let into our school. She said‘Mansworth should be evaluating applicants better, because those people are taking over America.’
At first, I was mad. Why weren’t we doing more to stop these people? How could they let someone come in and take over our country? And then I thought, maybe these people were my dragon? I could slay them and really have a reason to ask for the princess’s hand. Then I realized exactly who my mother was talking about.
That was the first time I remember hating her.
“Heads up, Whitley!”
All I saw before I was knocked off my feet was Sean running at me, head down, and shoulder at the ready. My lungs deflated, exhaling all my air as I went flying back. I managed to hook my fingers in Sean’s shoulder pads and drag the prick down with me. While I was shaking off the ache rushing through my shoulder blades, Sean wrapped his fingers around my face mask and shook my helmet.
“That’s three, Whitley.” He crashed his facemask into mine, “Get your fucking head in the game.”
I gritted my teeth and growled back, “Go fuck yourself, Callaghan.”
Prick was enjoying this way too much.
Football was a rough sport, and as much as I hated to admit it, Sean was a great team captain. Most Quarterbacks avoided tackles during practice. Hell, they avoided tackles period. Sean not only embraced them, he was the first to go after the slacker. Today, that was apparently me.
Sean jumped to his feet, shot me a smirk, and held out his hand.
He was definitely enjoying this too much.
I stared at the outstretched arm for a second before accepting. With a grunt, he pulled me up and slapped my shoulder.
“You gonna go for four?”
He might not find this shit so fun if he knew why I was distracted. How happy would the smug fucker be if he knew I’d knocked up little sis’s best friend?
“Piss off, Callaghan,” I grumbled, shoving his shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be practicing your throws?”
His eyes narrowed, which made my lips curl. Last Friday he missed a pass, costing us the game. This time I got to watch Callaghan march away with a scowl. The second he was gone, the pit in my stomach came back, followed by the words that had been swimming around my head for over a week.‘I’m going to be a dad’. Me. Parker Easton Whitley. The supposed golden boy of Ashen Springs had knocked someone up. I was oddly proud of that.
Not because my baby was getting ready to come into the world, but becauseshewas carrying it.
The girl I once wanted to slay a dragon for. Even if she could be persuaded to get rid of the problem, I didn’t want her to. When I was balls deep in some chick, or stroked my cock at night, it was Lana I thought about. Now that image had morphed into looking into that baby’s eyes, while having my arms wrapped around her.
My girl and my baby. A family.
How fucking unreal was that? I was still trying to wrap my head around it. How it happened was no mystery. I didn’t put on a condom–which I always do. I was too excited. The only thing I could think about was getting my dick in her. Didn’t even ask if she was on birth control. Honestly, the thought never occurred to me. Why would it? I had the girl I’d been dreaming about most of my life wrapped around me. Who the fuck cared about anything else?
Maybe some part of me wanted to knock her up? Logan and Micha were always talking about claiming their women. As if it was a competition or some shit. Micha preferred the ‘if you look at her I’ll kill you’ approach, while Logan liked to physically mark Shelby. There was always something on that girl. A bite, a scratch, or some shit to let everyone know who she belonged to. Looks like I won that contest. What better way to mark a chick than to knock her up?
My thoughts got cut off when a football came sailing through the air and clacked off the side of my helmet.
