Page 69 of Bad Ball Hitter
I shove his shoulder, knocking him off balance. “You dumb fuck. Everything’s good. Lila’s everything I thought she was.” And then some.
“I’m not following. Why the shitty performance, then?”
I shoot him a hard glare before returning my gaze to the sky. I want to tell him to fuck off, but I can’t shake this funk. His concern sounds legit. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to confide in my friend. Is he a friend? Hell, I’ve been solo for so long that I don’t even know what friendship looks like. Maybe this is why I hate sharing my shit.
“She has a kid.”
“You knew this going in. Is that a problem?”
“At first, I thought it would be, but the more I got to know him, the more the thought grew on me. He’s a great kid. But I…” I let my sentence hang, not knowing what to say. How do I confess my darkest moment and put myself out there? I’d rather discuss this with Lila. But the guilt, the suspicion, is killing me. It definitely affected my game when nothing had ever touched me before.
“You what?” Rappel prompts.
“When Lila and I broke up, I returned to town to visit her…” I go into the entire spiel and leave nothing unsaid. “So when she told me about Jake being Darci’s and with the timing, I?—”
“Am wondering if he’s yours?” Rappel fills in.
“Yes. And the worst part is, I don’t know how to tell her. Darci was her best friend, who she admired. How do I break that?”
He sucks in a breath through his teeth. “Yeah, that’s rough.”
“Ya think?”
His lips pursed. “You could take the paternity test secretively.”
“Yeah, but that seems highly invasive, not to mention shitty.” I pause, letting a couple walk past us. When they’re away from earshot, I continue, “Maybe I should wait until after the season.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want it to interfere with the game.”
“Bruh, it’s already interfering. Perhaps keep your distance from her until you figure this shit out?”
“That’s going to be hard to do, considering she’s living with me.”
“You moved her into your apartment?” He swears under his breath. “You sure work fast.”
“It wasn’t like that. Once everything came out and Miranda and I broke up, she kicked Lila out.”
“Harsh.”
“Yeah. But I get it.” I let out a breath. “She didn’t have much choice but to move in.”
“Is that messing with your head, too?”
“No. I know it’s quick?—”
“Dude, that’s not quick. That’s lightning fast. We’re talking The Flash kind of speed.” He actually bends his arms at a ninety-degree angle and swings them back and forth as if he’s running.
“You really need to get out of the DC Comics. Anyway, Lila has always been it for me. I just hate the years we’ve missed.”
“You need to tell her soon. Otherwise, this will eat you alive.”
“I know. I’ll tell her after tomorrow’s game.” We’re only back for two make-up games before returning to the road trip. I have to tell her.
A shuffling sound draws our attention to the alleyway. I brush it off as being a rat. They’re everywhere in the cities.
Rappel hits my shoulder. “Come on, man. We have a plane to catch. We’ll get them next time.”