The Game of Love: (BWWM Romance) (16 page)

Sommer
stroked her knuckles. “Well, tonight everyone will know so you won’t have to deal with the guilt anymore.”

Caroline placed a hand on
Sommer’s stomach. “My little grandbaby. Grammie is going to spoil you rotten.”

Sommer’s
brows accusingly narrowed. “Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“You brought stuff, didn’t you?”

Caroline exaggeratedly touched a hand to her chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“For the baby,” Sommer prodded. “You just couldn’t resist, could you?”

Caroline pointed to the trunk. “You didn’t see that I brought three bags for just a few days? Two of those bags are packed to capacity with baby things. I’ve got bibs, bottles, onesies, socks, hats, booties, the cutest little dresses…”

Sommer stared at her mother’s face as her list continued. The tired lines in the woman’s face were gone, her dark circles had faded, and her sunken cheeks were beginning to fill in. She couldn’t believe that life was working out the way it was. Her baby was healthy, she was in love, and her mother was getting better.

“Then I bought this absolutely adorable pink polka-dot blanket with an owl on it, a gift basket with powder, ointment, things you’ll need, this cute little infant toothbrush, you know, to get her used to brushing her teeth…”

Sommer leaned into her mother’s side and sighed. Somehow, the entire thing no longer seemed daunting now that her mother was here. As long as she had her mother, everything would be alright.

*****

“Austin, I swear if I have to sing backup for that diva one more time,” Arielle complained, taking a bite out of her burger.

“What diva?”

“Aria.”

Austin burst out laughing, nearly choking on his burger. “I really thought you were talking about someone other than your six-year old daughter.”

Arielle smiled before popping a French fry into her mouth. “But she never lets me sing lead on the Disney songs, Austin. She always has to be Ariel, Jasmine…” She touched a hand to her chest.  “Just once, can it by my whole new world?”

Austin continued to laugh, shaking his head.

“But thank you for taking me out for burgers,” she added. “I just hope Ma doesn’t go crazy alone at the house with both girls and the twins. They’re mobile now and I swear, even though they can’t talk, they collaborate. Just a couple weeks ago, Arabella crawled up to me and started jabbering up a storm while behind me, Antonio was pulling a cookie from Izzie’s plate off of the kid’s table. What I think, is that Arabella was the diversion. They planned it. He even shared the cookie with her afterwards.”

He shook his head with a chuckle, took another bite of his burger, and glanced at the clock on the wall. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his sister’s face when he and
Sommer revealed their news.

“Ma will be fine,” he reassured. “She’s in her element when she’s with her grandkids.”

Arielle dipped a French fry into Austin’s ketchup, took a bite, and then scrunched her nose. “Ick, I still prefer my French fries plain.”

He grabbed a few fries, doused them in ketchup, and then tossed them into his mouth. Closing his eyes, he exaggeratedly moaned in delight while Arielle continued to scrunch her nose.

“Austin?”

They both looked up when they heard his name, and Arielle groaned when she saw Jessica’s face.

“Hi, yet again, Jessica,” he greeted.

“Funny running into you here,” she added. Then, her eyes flicked over to Arielle and she bent her wrist. “Jessica Costa.”

Arielle glanced at her hand. “Are you expecting me to kiss it or something?”

Austin grinned. “Arielle…”

“I mean, with the way she’s got it bent back and everything…”

“I’m sorry,” Jessica apologized. “It’s a habit.” She turned to Austin. “Did you say Arielle? As in your sister, Arielle?”

“We look nearly exactly alike,” Arielle added. “Who else would I be?”

Austin shook his head again at his sister’s sharp tongue. It might have been something that had embarrassed him on numerous occasions when they were younger, but as he got older, he grew to appreciate it. He even grew to admire it.

“I don’t mean to intrude—” Jessica began.

“Too late for that,” Arielle cut in.

Jessica pursed her lips. “Do you have a problem with me?”

Arielle glanced over at Austin in disbelief and clasped her hands on the table. “Let me get this straight. You dated my brother for what, almost a year, only to end up
spreading your legs for some old geezer because he had even more money. Then, you left without ever offering an explanation as to why. You do know that Austin being my brother means that he’s my family, right? So, you hurt my family, someone that I love, and now have the nerve to ask me if I have a problem with you?”

Jessica stared at Austin.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re just going to let her talk to me like that?”

“Jessica,” he began, massaging his temple, “For somebody that had nothing to say to me when she was sailing on a yacht in the middle of the Atlantic, and didn’t want to even talk to me afterwards, I’ve been seeing you a lot lately. What are you even doing here? You don’t come to places like this.”

She cradled the base of her throat. “I came here because I missed you, Austin. I remembered that you took me here for one of our dates, so I stopped in because it makes me think of you.”

Suddenly, he gestured to the seat next to Arielle. “Sit.”

“What?”

“Sit. I want to hear what you have to say.”

Arielle shot him a look, but he ignored it as Jessica slid onto the padded leather seat and placed her oversized purse on the table.

“Here’s your chance, Jessica, and this will be the only chance I’ll give you. Talk.”

She glanced nervously between him and Arielle, and just as he expected, she had nothing to say.

“I don’t know what—”

“Why’d you run off with
Remos?” Austin interrupted.

“I think we all know the answer to that one,” Arielle argued.

“You’re right,” Austin agreed. “Why did you leave me then? Is that a better question?”

Surprised, Arielle glanced at her brother. The evidence of the hurt Jessica had caused by walking out on him was still evident on his face. People who pretended to care about him and then turned out to be exactly who they said they weren’t had always been his Achilles heel. It also didn’t take a psychiatrist to figure out that it had everything to do with who their father had been.

“I don’t know, Austin,” Jessica answered, and some of the driest tears that Arielle had ever seen began to form at the corners of her eyes.

“How long were you involved with
Remos before the tabloids spilled your little secret?” He pressed.

She bit her lip. “Four months.”

“So, you were sleeping with me at the same time you were screwing him?”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

“Why didn’t you return any of my messages after I found out?”

Arielle folded her arms, also waiting for an answer.

“I was ashamed, Austin,” Jessica cried. “I didn’t know how to face you knowing what I did, so I just avoided it and hoped for the best.”

“And what was the best?”

“For you to forget.” She fished a tissue from her purse and dabbed gently at her eyes. “I just hoped that with time, you would forget about me. Forget about what I did. I know I’d hurt you because you’re a good man, Austin. You treated me like a queen and I didn’t even want to meet your family. I refused to cancel minor engagements to come to your games. I lied to you. I kept things from you. All I could hope was that you would forget about me and move on.”

Austin smiled as an image of
Sommer skated across his mind. “Well, you got your wish.”

Her tears instantly dried up.

“I’ve moved on. I got over you.”

Both Arielle and Jessica stared at him.

“She’s perfect for me, and I love her,” he added.

“Who is she?” Jessica demanded.

Standing, he tossed a few bills onto the table and nodded towards the door. “Ready to go, Arielle?”

Arielle exaggerated the grin that spread across her face, glad that Jessica had been put in her place. Now, she was curious about who it was that
Austin claimed he was in love with. She would be disappointed that it wasn’t Sommer since she’d always dreamt that the two would end up together, but Sommer had been away on vacation for the past few months and was most likely with the father of her baby anyhow. Either way, she was happy for him. She was happy for them both.

“Right behind you,” she said, taking one last look at Jessica. Wrapping an arm around his waist, they continued to chat as they left the burger joint.

When they got to the house, Austin spotted the SUV parked in the garage which meant that
Sommer and her mother had made it back and were hiding upstairs like they’d planned.

Inside, his mother was on the floor playing with the twins while Aria and Isabela danced to music coming through the stereo. Arielle rushed over and jumped right in, eliciting giggles from both daughters. Austin watched them for a moment, even more
excited than he was before, and then ran upstairs to get Sommer. When he saw her, it was as if he hadn’t seen her in ages, and he wrapped her up in a hug before pulling her in for a deep kiss. When the kiss finally broke, she blushed and glanced at her mother.

“No need to be embarrassed, baby,” Caroline reassured. “You’re already pregnant. There’s not much more damage he can do.”

Austin laughed, brushed a kiss across Caroline’s cheek, and then led them both by the hand down the stairs. When they reached the main room, Arielle was the first to spot them and let out a shriek that he was sure had cracked a few of the glasses in the cabinets. Emma eased up off the floor and her mouth fell open when she spotted a pregnant Sommer with her son’s arms lovingly wrapped around her from behind.

Arielle sprinted over and grabbed
Sommer up in a hug. “I saw you,” she accused, tears in her eyes. “I saw you at Stella’s office. Are you trying to tell me that you were actually sitting there pregnant with my first niece or nephew?”

She paused.

“Niece,” both Austin and Sommer answered, and Arielle looked as though she would pass out.

Emma was now beside them, still in shock. From the very first time they met in preschool
, when Austin had asked Sommer to play race cars with him and she’d tossed the cars clear across the room, Emma and Caroline joked that they would end up married one day. Then, with the way she would always catch Austin staring at Sommer with that little smile on his face when he thought no one was paying attention, completely hypnotized by her, both women began to realize how real the possibility of their children ending up together could be.

Her eyes darted to Caroline. “You knew all this time and kept it from me.”

Caroline chuckled. “And it was so hard, Em. I wanted to show you all the things I’d bought for my granddaughter and gush over what she might be like.”

Emma pulled
Sommer in for a loving hug and kissed her on the cheek. Then, she pinched Austin on the forearm.

“For keeping secrets from your mother.”

“Ow, Ma.”

She smiled and he bent to also receive a kiss on the cheek.

“When’s the baby due?” Arielle asked.

“In eight weeks,”
Sommer answered.

She quickly calculated in her head. “That’s close to the championship game, isn’t it?”

“She’s due the week after,” Austin answered. “But I’m not worried. I’ll be there for both.”

Sommer
leaned into his chest. “Austin’s been putting up the best numbers of his career, so I know they’re going to the big game. And, once they do, Dallas is going to shut the house down. I’m actually hoping she arrives before the game so that she can be there for Daddy’s victory.”

He kissed the top of her head and received a chorus of “
awws” from the three women.

“So
freakin’ cute,” Arielle screamed.

“What are you going to name her?” Emma asked.

“They won’t say,” Caroline answered.

“We want it to be a surprise,” Austin added.

“More surprises?” Emma placed a hand over her heart. “I’m still reeling from this one. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am about the baby, about the two of you.”

The doorbell chimed.

“I’ve also invited some of the guys from the team over,” Austin added, walking towards the door. “Then, because I know you two want to buy gifts, you can throw Sommer a baby shower later.”

“But
you
can’t buy any more gifts,” Sommer said, turning to Caroline. “You probably cleaned out the entire state of North Carolina.”

Caroline innocently shrugged.