The Wide Receiver's Baby (3 page)

Chapter - Nine

Logan

“This is it,” Logan said as he kissed me on the forehead like a child.

“Arrggh, I don’t want High School to end,” I pretended to cry as I hugged him so tightly. Graduation had just seemed to come around so quickly. It felt like only yesterday we were at Prom, then the hotel and now... well, now it just felt kind of final.

“Babes, soon you’ll be in college. I’ll be at college and then, after that, I’ll be playing pro. You’ll be a physiotherapist, who can heal me whenever I have an injury. Then, we’ll be free.”

He made it sound so simple.

“Free?”

I didn’t understand what he meant. We were going to different colleges. At best, we would see each other once a month and during the holidays if I ever had any study time and all he could say was we would be free.

“Yes, free to be together every single day of our lives. So, to be apart give or take a few months for four years really, doesn’t bother me.”

I wished I felt the same.

“Because I love you so damn much.” He squeezed me so tightly that I thought my ribs would pop out.

“Stop!” I screamed and then I saw the one person I had been avoiding the last few weeks.

“Guys, get a room.” Todd laughed as he came to our side. Logan let go of me. As much as he’d tried to explain what had happened, I didn't get it. I didn’t want to get it either.

“I need to go. We need to get to our places soon, Mom and Brian are here,” my tone changed. I grabbed my hat, which had fallen on the floor, wanting to be anywhere but near Todd.

“Is it always going to be like this?” Todd asked, grabbing my arm. Logan was going to say something, but I stopped him as I lifted my hand and shook my head as if to say, ‘I’ve got this’.

I looked into the earth eyes that used to make me laugh all the time, and I thought about how he’d hurt Scarlett, and the fact that he wasn’t man enough to tell her the truth. Logan had said in passing, ‘Oh, yeah. Todd wants to break up with Scarlett and he’s not sure how to do it. So, he wanted to know - and by the way I told him no - if you could talk to her for him.’

Had he really thought that I would  do his dirty work for him?

I’d asked the magic question, why, and I’ve regretted it ever since.

I nod, “Yes.” I took my arm out of his grasp and carried on to where my girlfriends were waving for me to join them.

He chases after me, “I’m sorry.”

“I told you both,that if you want things to be civil, if you want me to keep my damn mouth shut, you two need to be discreet!”

With fire in my step, I walk away from Logan, MFF and Todd. I could hear Logan calling after Todd.

MFF, that was our nickname for her, the head cheerleader who had tried to sleep with practically every guy on the football team ever since she’d started wearing a bra. Hormones do funny things to some girls, and with Meghan it had just turned her into a slut!

The best thing for Scarlett to believe was  that Todd was confused, because of his parents divorce, because if she found out the truth, all the insecurities that she already had about her body, face and mind would escalate beyond control. She would think that it was because she didn't have big boobs, or that she wasn’t tall enough or pretty enough. Some crazy thoughts would enter her mind,  thinking that a slut like Meghan could keep her man and she couldn’t.

As I sat next to Scarlett, because her surname was the same as mine, but we weren't related. She asked the question that I hoped she wouldn’t do.

“What did MFF want?”

I smiled as I lied to her whilst holding her hand. “The same thing she always wants…”

And we said in unison, “Some footballer’s dick!”

Chapter - Ten

Alexa

It was weird graduating and being able to sit down and relax with our parents. For once, Mom had changed her shift so that we could have a graduation meal before the big event tonight, which was a wild party at Logan’s house.

Sitting on the fortieth floor of the Stock Exchange may have appealed to some people, but it just made me so nervous. I’d suffered from vertigo a couple of years ago. I never knew what set it off; one minute I was cool with heights and the next I wasn’t. It was weird. Logan held my hand. “The building is secure. It's not going to go down.”

"I know, I know," I felt so silly as I looked at the fantastic view of downtown Chicago. Even the aroma of the beef dish that had been served to the table next to us should have distracted me, but silly me had opted for sitting next to the window, thinking that my vertigo would somehow disappear. It came out of nowhere, so I figured seeing as I hadn’t been up any higher than the third floor lately that it would go away. I was wrong, and the room started to feel as it was spinning inside my head.

Maybe it wasn’t the vertigo making the room spin, but because someone had come to our house earlier asking for money. Mom had said she that would be home later to give it to them, but I was on my way to Logan’s, then dinner and, with the party afterwards, the whole idea of Mom handing cash over without me in the house kind of made me feel dizzy.

Richard, Logan’s Dad changed the subject, “Alexa, do you want to swap seats? I can only see the view from the corner of my eye.”

Marie, Logan’s Mom, laughed. “So, now she’ll be able to see the view from the corner and not have both eyes glaring at it. No, let’s just move tables. I want the guys to enjoy tonight. So that would be best.”

Two finger clicks later, and a bit of shuffling around, and we were moved. I didn’t even get the chance to tell them that it wasn’t a problem. I could have stayed at the same table, I just needed to relax. Even Mom looked as if she was glowing;she didn’t look her normal tired self.

“It's a shame that John couldn’t come tonight, to celebrate our kids going to college. I still can’t believe that our little babies are going to college!” Marie said to my Mom. Logan and I were holding hands under the table and, whenever Logan got a chance, he would try and hold something more than that and sneak his hands in between my thighs.

“Oh, we’re getting a divorce,” Mom sighed as if it was no big deal. Her face was sad for two seconds before she asked Richard to pour her another glass of wine.

“What did you say?” Logan asked before I got the chance to ask.

I nearly choked on my own spit. “Really?”

She nodded as she reached over to grab my hand. “Really, he’s out of our lives for good. Now he’s someone else’s problem.”

There were so many questions running through my head.

What made her change her mind?

When did this all happen?

How comes she never said anything before dinner?

Logan shouted out for the waiter, and in the quiet restaurant it wasn’t really the right thing to do. “Waiter, bring two bottles of champagne, we have a double celebration!”

The waiter looked at Richard for approval. He nodded saying, “We sure do!” He was the most conservative man that I knew. Logan didn’t take after him at all. He was usually quiet and our conversations never went past the typical greetings. Now, he wanted to celebrate my Dad’s departure.

Marie, who Logan obviously took after,  smiled at Mom and said, “I could just hug you Holly. Actually, I think I will.”

She stood up, and it was clear that we were making too much noise in the restaurant as the other diners started to focus their attention on our table. I didn’t care, because I wanted an explanation and Logan whispered in my ear, “Looks like our future is bright.”

I knew he meant well, but I still deserved an explanation. Something must have gone down for Mom to get rid of him, and it must have been pretty big. Nothing had made her do it until now.

As the champagne came, Marie stood up and said, “New beginnings. Happy ones. Holly, you can count on me for support - for anything. I will be there for you.”

A tear swelled up in Mom’s eye as she said, “I’m going to need it. Well done, Logan and Alexa, for graduating. I know you won’t make the mistakes that I’ve made.”

Marie shook her head as she held Mom’s hand, “No one’s perfect. Not even us. Life is about making mistakes so that you can learn from them.”

Richard agreed, “No one’s perfect.”

Right on cue, Olivia and Brian turned up. Olivia had been supposed to pick Brian up from his friend’s house nearly thirty minutes ago. With all the commotion, I’d forgotten all about it.

The waiter came to tell us that we were making too much noise and in Marie’s normal lawyer tone she said that she was never quoted the noise policy when she booked the restaurant, therefore she could make as much noise as she wanted.

A few diners were annoyed by this statement. Olivia in her jeans and shirt, looking as if she just came from home and couldn't be bothered to change,  picked up a glass of champagne and she shouted out, “Two bottles! What did I miss?”

Logan laughed as he said, “Everything! Late as always, sis.”

Brian gave Mom and I a kiss before he sat down. I couldn’t believe how grown up he looked in smart pants and a shirt. He’s only twelve but he looked like a mini gentleman tonight.

Olivia blurted out, “Fill me in. What are we celebrating? Did you guys order? I’m starving.”

Richard smiled, “We’ll fill you in later and, as usual, your Mom ordered for you.”

Maybe Logan was right. His parents may have had little time for them as kids, but there was no way my Dad could order for me if we were at a restaurant. He wouldn’t have a clue what I would like.

Mom repeated, as if she was telling herself that it was the right thing to do, “New beginnings. The future is bright and I’m so happy to be here tonight to share my news with not only my family, but my adoptive family too.”

“Here, here,” Logan shouted, but this time he didn’t reach for my hand. He had something else on his mind. He winked and whispered, “You and I in the bathroom after.”

I smiled because it was the furthest thing on my mind, but Mom made me realize that she was right. Dad had to leave. It was the best thing for our family, because he never was a part of it. Not then, and certainly not now.

Chapter - Eleven

Logan

After dinner, the family went to the hotel as they had planned. Mom even suggested that Holly stayed with them. She said that maybe it was best, under the current circumstances. Just because she had thrown out John, Alexa’s dad, didn’t mean that he wouldn’t try to come back.

Mom was a divorce lawyer, so she quoted ten cases to convince Holly. Alexa, on the other hand was stiff. Real stiff. I thought she would be happy; I knew I was. I was scared that John would just go over the top and start gambling way out of control, his drinking already out of control. Holly said that it had happened just before she was coming to dinner. He came home and started to get rough with her.

Alexa was confused about what her Mom had done. Part of her had hoped that her Dad would seek help, get a job and maybe introduce her little brother to them, and they would all get on some how. Now she would never know her half-brother. She would never see her Dad again, and it felt final for her. Alexa had never thought this would happen, which made no sense to me, because after the Prom she’d been saying that she had wanted her Mom to split up with him.

This shit had been going on for years. The man was past help, and the only way he would get that was beyond the grave. It sounded harsh, but even Dad agreed with me. Dad told me that he had dealt with so many cases, and once a person was so low for so long it was hard for them to rise up again - near enough impossible.

I didn't take her to the bathroom like I said I would.
Nah
, she was too troubled and hardly ate at the restaurant. She was the Ice Princess at dinner, trying to look as if she was happy, but I could read between the lines.

Even as we were heading back to the house for the party, I wasn’t even sure if it was a good idea. She was so damn distracted in her thoughts.

“Dinner rolled on a lot longer than I thought it would.” I was wondering if there was any part of her that still wanted to party, “I think we have an hour or so until people start coming.”

She nodded, “Sure.”

This was going to be a drag. “Safety comes first, and I for one am happy that I’m going to Yale and I don’t need to be shitting myself every night that someone could come knocking on your door for money and Holly can’t afford to pay them.”

She shook her head, “Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean that his troubles are…”

Alexa couldn’t worry about that. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“But you need to think of it as one step at a time. It sounds, from what Holly said, that he is with the other woman. Your Mom will just have to redirect the debt to her.”

“Really?” she snatched her hand away from mine. “You think it’s that easy? Oh, John Russell doesn’t live here anymore. Can you please just go to so-and-so street and claim the debt there? You have no idea what it’s like. He’ll drink even more now that she’s thrown him out. He’ll be lost…”

That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks what was really going on, and I said, “Or he may completely stop, because he’ll be free.”

She stopped crying and waving her hands in the air.

The reality sank in that maybe, just maybe, John had been unhappy, that they were the reason that he drank and gambled the way he did. Now that he was on his own or with this other woman, he would have a reason to stop, whereas before he didn’t.

“So, you think that's the reason he did it?” She wiped her eyes, “Being with us made him unhappy? Now… he’ll go back to the way things were?”

As we pulled up outside the house, there were some people hanging outside shouting, “Where’s the party? Where’s the party?”

Everyone must have been in the mood to party, because they were never on time. I hopped out of the taxi, and threw a fifty at the driver. “Guys, guys I’m sorry.”

Todd patted me on the back and said, “No worries at least you’re here now.”

As I opened the door,  they rushed in like a swarm of bees. I realized that Alexa wasn’t by my side and I turned around and saw she was still sitting in the taxi.

Todd pointed. “What’s up with her?”

I shook my head, unsure how to talk to him, let alone her, about it all. I just didn’t understand what her problem was; for so long she had wanted Holly to throw him out. “Long story. Best to leave her alone,” I sighed, because she didn’t want to hear from me. Not tonight, that was for sure. I knew better to be the voice of reason when Alexa was in this mood.

“Leave it to me. Let me go and work some of that Todd charm.”

I was going to tell him to leave it.  The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Todd, the guy she loved to hate at the moment. I changed my mind thinking that maybe it was the thing they needed, after all they had been friends before the whole thing with Scarlett had hit the fan. Maybe they could be friends again.

I said to him, “Be my guest,” and headed into the house before any of the guys touched anything. The party was meant to be outside. I was cheering and smiling with them, but I wasn't in the mood either. John had ruined it with his bullshit. Even him being thrown out had managed to make Alexa sad, and make me damn angry.