Page 18 of Golden Goal

“Ummm . . .” I let out a shaky laugh. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Oh-kay.”

“I’m a dad.”

“WHAT?”

I hear his wife’s voice in the background. “I’m putting you on speakerphone. Jenna is here.”

“Hi, Holt. What’s going on?” Jenna asks.

I blow out a breath and tell them the Reader’s Digest version of what went down with my ex. “I’m kind of in over my head, and don’t know what to do first.”

“We’ll be right over with a crib—I’m assuming you don’t have one—and some other stuff. Caleb and I were just talking about how we should put everything into storage. But you can borrow whatever you need, for as long as you need it,” Jenna says gently.

“Thank you.” My voice comes out in a whisper.

“We got you, brother. Anything else we can do?” Caleb asks.

“The others . . .” I blink back the tears that are threatening to fall and clear my throat, hoping he doesn’t hear the emotion in my voice. I can only imagine what they’re going to say when they find out.

“I got you,” Caleb says.

“We’ll be there in an hour,” Jenna says.

“Thanks,” I whisper, hanging up the phone and sinking back against the couch.

My mind reels with all the things I’m going to need to do, including buy a safer car because my truck is fine for me, but it’s only got one row of seats. Probably not good for a baby.

I’ll need all the baby things—formula, bottles, diapers, clothes, and everything else.

Tugging off my shirt, I lean down and pick up my daughter. She squirms a little, and I’m afraid she’s going to wake up, but she doesn’t as I place her gently against my chest and just breathe. A sense of calm washes over me. I sit there in silence until there’s a knock at the door. Before going to open it, I snag my shirt off the couch and manage to put it back on without having to set my daughter down.

This time, the people on the other side are a welcome sight.

“We brought you a bassinet too,” Jenna says, walking over to me once they’ve brought everything into my apartment. Her eyes flitting to where my daughter is nestled against my chest, still asleep. “Which was a good call because she’s tiny.”

A few minutes later, there’s another knock, and I find Hunter, Elias, Madison, and Coach Weaver standing at my doorstep.

“Caleb called. We were at dinner,” Hunt says by way of a greeting.

“Thanks.” My voice comes out sounding hollow and far away.

As I’m closing the door, a voice calls my name. I open it again to find Brody hurrying down the hallway, Aubrey, Wes, and Sebastian behind him.

“How are you doing?” Brody asks, putting a hand on my arm, when we make it into the kitchen.

I half shrug, half shake my head at him.

“Right,” he mutters, glancing at his fiancée. They have a silent conversation before she gives him a small nod. “Come on,” he says to me, and I follow them into the living room.

The packed living room.

Everyone’s gaze turns to me, and I feel my face heat up.

For shit sake, Kat, you had to go and do this to me.

“Jenna. Mads. Aubs. Why don’t you guys work on setting up all the baby stuff? And we can all talk.” Brody turns to me. “Where do you want everything?”