Page 99 of Reckless Love

“Hey, Rhodes, how are you doing?” He shook my hand and pounded my shoulder.

“Doing all right,” I said, trying to force inflection into my tone.

I sounded like a liar.

“Great game last week. You killed it.”

“Thanks.” I smiled politely.

“Any thoughts about next season?” he asked. “I’ve been hearing lots of rumors with your contract winding up.”

“I’m giving it lots of thought,” I said.

At least that wasn’t a lie. There were several offers on the table, and I wanted to make the best decision, especially now.

I heard Elle coming down the stairs and looked up, myinsides sailing sideways the way they did every time I saw her, especially when it had been a long time. She grinned at me and then it faltered somewhat. I tried to wipe my expression clear of any sadness. She came over and hugged me hard.

“Hey, it's so good to see you,” she said. “I was so excited when you said you were coming through. Come on back.”

“Uh, I was wondering if maybe we could go out for a little bit,” I said. “It's such a pretty day.”

“That sounds good. Let me get my purse.” She turned and grabbed her purse off of the hook nearby.

I said bye to her dad and we walked to the car. Elle chatted about the movie we’d both talked about seeing the week before—she’d seen it and I hadn’t. I drove us to the park.

“You're awfully quiet,” she said.

I parked the car in front of a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. There was a path here that we hiked whenever I came to visit.

“Sorry.” I turned and looked at her. “I’m so glad to see you,” I said.

But just looking at her sweet face, my own started to crumble.

“Rhodes,” she said, concerned. “What's wrong?” She took my hand.

“Elle,” my voice cracked, “I’ve really fucked up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't even know how to say this. I’ve wrecked everything.Everything. This is not how I saw my life going.” Tears ran down my cheeks and she put her hand on my face.

“Talk to me,” she said. “Please. Tell me what's happened.”

Her eyes had filled with tears just seeing me cry and the crease between her brows deepened.

“I got a girl pregnant,” I said.

It felt like an ax split into the car.

Her face fell and her hand dropped from my face. My life felt fucking over.

She leaned back in her seat and turned to stare straight ahead. When I looked over, I saw the tears falling from her face and I’d never felt so helpless. She lifted her hand up to her mouth, and her hand shook.

“Elle,” I whispered, reaching over to touch her shoulder, but before I could, she lifted her hand.

“Just give me a minute,” she said.

“Please, look at me.”