Page 9 of Verdict

Chapter 3

Cohen

10 months ago

I was physically at the team facility for off-season workouts, but my mind was still in Ava's apartment.

Fuck. She was pregnant.

How could I have let this happen? I was smarter than this. It wasn’t like this was the first time a girl had told me she was on birth control. And did I still wear a condom then?

Fuck yeah, I did. Always.

So why didn't I with Ava? What was it about her that caused me to lose my mind and throw all logic out the fucking window?

And the worst part?

The one person I wanted to run to—the one person who’d always been my sounding board, the guy who gave me advice when things went sideways—was the one person I was terrified of finding out.

I deserved this. I knew I did.

I’d been walking around like I was in-fucking-vincible. Thought I could get away with fucking my best friend’s little sister and come out unscathed. The thing was, Ava had never been, and would never be, just another fuck to me. I’d always wanted her. I’d just known I could never have her.

Off-limits. Untouchable.

Maybe that’s why I’d gone after her that night.

I never liked being told what to do… unless it was Ava doing the telling.

My mind flashed back to that night in my apartment, when she’d told me to get on my knees.

Not helpful.

When our workout wrapped, I skipped dinner with the guys and went straight home. My head was a disaster, and I didn’t trust myself not to let something slip. In the shower, I let the water pound down my back, my forehead pressed to the tile.

What the hell am I going to do?

Ava had given me an out. She didn’t expect anything. Didn’t want anything. I could wipe my hands clean of this, walk away, and my life wouldn’t change at all.

But hers would.

While I was off playing ball, chasing my dreams, hers would be put on hold… to raise our child. I would have freedom, no responsibilities other than myself. She would have schedules, sleepless nights, and the weight of the world on her shoulders. The thought made my chest tighten. I couldn’t live with myself knowing there was a kid out there—my kid—and I’d chosen to disappear.

Just like my father had.

And eventually, some other guy would step in. I slammed my fist against the tile.

Fuck that.

I dried off, pulled on clothes, and collapsed into the recliner, staring at nothing. I grabbed my phone—absolutely not hoping to see her name pop up.

Ava’s eyes flashed through my mind. That dark blue. The guilt. The fear she’d tried so hard to hide.

I scrolled to my sister’s number and hit call.

After a few rings, she answered. “What’s up, Coh?”

Callie was only eighteen months younger than me and still lived back in Tennessee, where we grew up.