Page 15 of The Sacrifice

“Sure.” He swipes his hands on the sides of his shorts. “Okay. Let me show you to your room so you can get settled in.” He shoves past me and stops. “Shit. Wait.”

He turns and walks back to me with a slight tinge of red on his cheeks.Is he going to kiss me?My heart thunders in my chest. “Here. I’ll take those.” He snatches the suitcases out of my hands and rushes to the stairs.

Wow. Could you be any bigger of a moron?

He takes the stairs two at a time as I speed walk to keep up with him. I force myself not to glance inside when we go past his room. It’s not any of my business what his room looks like. Or what he does in it.

Yes. Yes, it is. I don’t want to see or hear anything remotely sexual coming out of his room.

“Are you seeing anyone?”

His shoulders stiffen, and he stalls in front of what must be Hadley’s future room. He swivels his head to look over his shoulder. “Why?”

“Well, I….” I clear my throat and stare at his feet. Why does the man have sexy feet? This is my brother’s best buddy. Remember that. He’s the joker who got my brother suspended in school and got a surprise baby dumped in his lap. Just because he comes in a pretty package doesn’t mean anything. Ted Bundy was attractive. “Listen. I don’t want to hear beds squeaking and moaning at all hours of the night.”

He spins to face me. “Neither do I.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about. When I’m working, I don’t have guests.”

His eyes fall to my mouth, and the walls of my sex convulse. “Doesn’t that get lonely?”

“No.” Of course, it does. But I’m not telling him that. And what difference does it make? It’s not like having sex is all that exciting anyway. They make it seem like a big deal in the movies. And in books. But it’s anticlimactic. Okay. It’s not climactic.

“Then, you’re in luck. I don’t get lonely either. I haven’t been with anyone since Hadley’s mom a year ago. When I got dropped to the second string, I went off the deep end. Having random hookups. Drinking. Not giving a shit. But my quarterback came and slapped me awake that next morning and told me to get my head out of my ass.” He opens my door. “I guess I needed it more than I realized. From that day on, I’ve been laser-focused on getting my life together. Get settled in. I’ll be downstairs.”

As he disappears, I snap my mouth shut. I don’t know whether it’s because he’s been celibate for a year or because he spilled his guts to me like he wanted me to understand him. I shut the door and rest the back of my head on the frame. I need some advice.

Chapter Nine

Jackson

What am I doing? Mia is Andrew’s snotty older sister. No, she’s the hot older sister of my best friend. She was attractive in high school, but her lip curled whenever she saw me. Which was kind of a turn-off. Now, not so much.

Nah…. I shake my head. It’s the celibacy talking. I haven’t gone a year without sex since I had sex the first time.

I dial Spencer Atherton, my attorney.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. I need some legal advice.”

“What’s up?”

“An eight-to-ten-pound baby wearing a 3–6-month onesie with pineapples on it.” The pineapple design is growing on me. I was expecting the typical pink clothes with hearts or balloons, but this makes Hadley look unique. And, if nothing else, today has been unique.

“Woah, what happened?”

“A woman I had a brief encounter with twelve months ago dropped off a three-month-old female child at my house this morning, and it’s been a whirlwind since then.”

“I can imagine. My niece was a handful at that age. With all sleeping they do, you’d think it would be a sinch, but it’s not. Are you positive the child is yours?”

“I’m not one hundred percent positive.” I walk over to the drawer on the floor. She stirs briefly and settles back to sleep. “That’s one of the reasons I called. I need a discreet service for paternity testing. I don’t want this flashed all over the news until I know for sure.” Her chubby cheeks disguise her dimples, but the birthmark shouts her linage loud and clear. “But I’m pretty sure of the answer, or I wouldn’t have her here with me.”

“Well, in that case, congratulations. Is the mother there? Are you planning to co-parent or be together for the child’s sake?” Spencer’s voice is professional and reassuring. There’s something about him that soothes frayed nerves and makes a person feel like everything will be okay.

“No. We aren’t together. She’s someone I hooked up with after I was franchise tagged and sliding down that slippery slope.”

“Ah, the rough patch.”