Page 24 of Always My Comfort
Think, Logan! Why does he, the new pitcher of the Atlanta Braves, need you?
“Because my ex is Richard Balmer, and I hear you want to replace him on the Braves, and I want revenge.” I mentally high-fived myself.
“So, he’s the asshole who hurt you, huh? Makes sense. He’s a lowlife. Funny that you slept with me that night. Seems like fate wanted us to meet, sweetheart.”
If only he knew what fate had in store for us. It wanted more than for us to meet. It wanted us to raise a child.
“Do you want to be friends or not?” I didn’t have the patience to play this game anymore. I was exhausted, bone tired from crying, and high-strung from anxiety.
“What exactly is your plan?” I didn’t have one, but from the gleam in his eye, something told me he had one.
“What do you have in mind?” I stepped closer to him.
“I want him off the team.” Seemed fair to me after he used me to stay on it.
“Sounds good for me. Friends?” I extended my hand, hoping he didn’t see the tremble in my fingers.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, sweetheart.” His warm hand closed around mine, and we shook on the grounds of a fake friendship to hurt my ex.
Like a true gentleman, the type you only read about in books, Jaxon walked me to my car, held open the driver’s door for me, and then closed it once I was in my seat. I only wished my heart would stop fluttering because as he said…
He wasn’t ready for a relationship. Which meant he was certainly not ready for me or this baby.
* * *
“Let me get this straight—youchickened out and told your baby daddy you want to be friends?” Scarlett asked, sipping on a glass of red wine. I was back at her place, and we were sitting on the couch, snuggling into a blanket while commercials played on the television.
“I’ll admit it didn’t go as planned.” I cringed at her giggle.
“You don’t say. Is he hot, even when you’re sober?” Matt turned away from his computer to glare at his wife.
“You do know I’m sitting right here.”
“Hush. You know I love you, just like I know you like to watch the cheerleaders at the games.” He shook his head, returning his focus to the video game he was playing. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how hot are we talking?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I was pregnant with his baby or that the last time I had seen him it was dark, but he was definitely hot.
“Ten—totally a ten. So, naturally, I’m not sure how we ended up having sex that night. He must have been smashed.” Scarlett scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Right. I hate when you pretend that you’re ugly. You’re a ten, right, Matt?” He sighed and agreed without really listening to our conversation.
“It doesn’t matter. None of that does. He doesn’t want a relationship. He wants to get Richard off that team, and I promised to help him.” The latest episode of The Bachelor replaced the commercials, and Scarlett quickly paused it.
“Okay, let’s pretend like you two aren’t going to have hot sex in a few weeks or fall madly in love by the end of this stupid arrangement. You’re really going to sell out Richard’s secrets and get him kicked from the team? I know he hurt you, but that’s not you, Logan.” She took a gulp of her wine rather than a sip, and I wished I could the same.
“Don’t get involved, Scar,” Matt uttered from the corner, shooting his wife a glare.
“Don’t tell me what to do with my best friend.” She didn’t spare him a glance.
“He’s not a good guy, so hurting him the way he did to me is deserved. Is it what I had in mind when I went to see Jaxon tonight? Absolutely not, but I have to get close to him somehow.” She nodded and then downed the rest of her wine.
“What happens when you start showing? You aren’t a few weeks pregnant, Logan. You’ll have a noticeable bump soon. What are you going to tell him?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Pulling the crumpled list from my back pocket, I glared at the last line. I hated that I wasn’t able to tell him.
“I’ll tell him I’m pregnant,” I uttered, crumpling the paper into a ball and tossing it on the coffee table. Scarlett watched me quietly.