We spend the rest of the evening with my teammates and their girls, who quickly adopt Finley as one of their own. They invite her to girls’ night, which she accepts with the biggest smile on her face. The spa room in the basement of Jett and Bailey’s house—where she does all kinds of skin treatments and makeup for the WAGs—is the place to be once a week…not that I’d know, since they have a very strictno boys allowedrule. Even I, the king of skincare, can’t get in.Not for lack of trying, either.But as long as they take good care of Finley, making her feel stress-free and beautiful, I won’t complain.
If she’s happy, I’m happy.
NINE
FINLEY
“You really don’t haveto spend your day off running me around. I could’ve called an Uber,” I say to Theo as he drives along the highway, heading toward my obstetrician’s office. The sun bleeds through the windshield, making every vein in the hand he has draped over the steering wheel even more visible than normal. I wish I could stop looking at him like a piece of meat, but my hormones are out of control lately, and I can’t stop it. I get that it’s biology, but eventually, I’m going to do or say something embarrassing.
Since I moved into Theo’s house last week, everything in my life has done a complete one-eighty. Not only have I felt more relaxed and freer to be myself, but my body is also changing. Over the course of the last seven days, my small baby bump has become so unmistakable that I can no longer conceal it with baggy clothes. After being filled with shame over my pregnancy for as long as I was, I thought I’d feel at least a little self-conscious when I began to show. But here Iam, wearing leggings and a form-fitting T-shirt, not giving a fuck who sees, or what they think. Theo was right…my body is doing amazing things, and I’m tired of acting like it isn’t.
“I don’t mind at all,” he replies, a soft smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. “Plus, I’m leaving for Miami tomorrow afternoon, so I won’t see you for a couple of days. I have to soak it up while I can, right?”
My cheeks heat, and I shyly tuck a rogue piece of hair behind my ear. If I’ve learned anything about Theo Calloway recently, it’s that he knows how to make a girl feel special. Even on the days when I look like death warmed over, he knows just what to say to make my stomach do little flips. I’m aware that we’re just friends and that he’s probably like this with everyone because he’s a genuinely nice guy, but it feels good, nonetheless.
The rest of the ride is uneventful, and before I know it, we’re pulling into the parking lot of the medical center. Theo puts the truck into park, killing the ignition and turning toward me. I can’t help but notice the way his movements are abrupt and jerky, almost as though he’s nervous to speak.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my brows knitting tightly at his change in demeanor. Minutes ago, he was going on about spending extra time together, and now he looks like he’s ready to smash the windows of his own vehicle just to get out.
“I…umm,” he stammers, fidgeting with his seatbelt. My pulse picks up, heart pounding behind my rib cage, because whenever someone has that look on their face, they usually follow it with bad news. That’s how it’s been for me, at least. But the next words out of his mouth are the exact opposite, catching me completely off guard. “Can I come in with you? Can I see the baby?”
My mouth falls open, my expression doing absolutely nothing to hide the shock that washes over me at his question. I’m almost nineteen weeks along and have had two ultrasounds. I’ve heard a heartbeat and seen the life moving inside me with no one by my side. Multiple texts were sent to Eric beforehand, but he ignored them all except the last one, where he told me not to contact him again. That was the day I stopped lying to myself and accepted reality—I would be doing this on my own.
It would’ve been a much easier pill to swallow if it only affected me. I’ve endured sicknesses and hospital stays without any familiar faces by my side. But the fact that my baby would enter a world where nobody other than me was excited to meet them tore my heart to pieces. Yet, here’s Theo with a pleading look in his eyes as he asks to accompany me inside.
I tuck my lips between my teeth, willing away the burn that tingles my nose before I answer. “I’d like that.” It’s a choked whisper, but it’s all I can manage. I don’t trust my own voice right now with the emotions that are bubbling below the surface, threatening to give me away.
He releases a relieved breath, a smile breaking free that I can’t help but return. My gaze locks onto his, and as soon as it does, I feel a swift flutter right under mybelly button. I freeze for a moment, my eyes going wide as my hand flies to the source.
“What?” Theo replies, jackknifing up in his seat. “Are you alright?”
“I…I think the baby just kicked, but I d—” I’m cut off when it happens again, this time more intense. I’ve been feeling it for a couple of weeks, though I wasn’t really sure, since I’ve never been pregnant before. But there’s no mistaking it now.
“Really?” he replies, his face lighting up with excitement. “Holy shit!”
A laugh bursts out of me at his reaction, causing the little peanut to move again. It makes everything feel so much more real. I’m really doing this…I’m going to be a mom.
We sit there for a few more minutes, reveling in the moment. He asks a million questions, wondering what it feels like and listening intently as I tell him. This is the first time since I saw the positive pregnancy test that I’ve truly felt happy, and it isn’t lost on me that it probably has something to do with the man beside me. With Theo, I don’t feel like an outsider or an inconvenience. He’s here because he wants to be, and that’s something I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to thank him for.
“We should go inside,” I say, more eager than ever. I wonder if I’ll be able to see and feel the baby’s movements at the same time. That would bewild.
We exit the car, his hand immediately finding my lower back as we approach the door to the medical building. The lobby is fairly empty, save for the receptionist who has herface buried in an e-reader. She doesn’t even look up when we walk by, finding an available elevator and heading to the seventh floor. Even though it’s a decent size, and we’re in here alone, Theo stands close. Our arms brush against one another as we ascend, causing small sparks of electricity to prick at my skin. Between him and the little flutters that are happening inside me, I’ve never been more aware of hownot aloneI am for the first time in forever.
The doors slide open, and we exit, his hand returning to the small of my back. I try to act unaffected, but it’s almost impossible with everything that’s happened in the last fifteen minutes. Shit, if I’m being honest, I haven’t been able to get him out of my head since the first night he brought me to his house. I’ve even snuck an extra smile or touch where I could, although I know I shouldn’t. I’m pregnant with another man’s baby, and my life is about to be turned upside down in just over twenty weeks. It would be stupid to develop feelings for Theo. I can’t complicate things even further.
We enter the Obstetrics Suite, and as soon as my feet hit the dense beige carpet, I’m taken aback. The place is packed from corner to corner, every single head in the waiting room turning our way. I’ve been here several times, and there’s never been more than two or three couples sitting in the chairs awaiting their turn. I look around awkwardly, noticing the number of eyes that have gone wide with recognition—which makes sense, since the guy I walked in with is a celebrity in this city.
Whispers fill the air, quiet voices talking amongst themselves aboutTheo Callowaybeing in their midst.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Who’s that girl he’s with?”
“I thought he was single.”
The happy excitement I was feeling just moments ago fades away, only to be replaced by a heavy pit of embarrassment. He came in here to support me and see the baby, and now he’s going to end up all over the internet with rumors of a secret child. I should’ve seen this coming, but I’m still not used to the fact that the high-profile athlete I’m spending my days with isn’t set on making sure nobody witnesses it.
When Eric and I were hooking up, we never went into public together, and we held off on any flirting or touching until we were within the walls of his house. I never had to consider what it would be like if people actually saw us and created their own stories about what we were.
