Happily Ever All-Star: A Secret Baby Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,353

that. Not now.

“Lachlan.” Elle took Sebastian’s hand. She was like a natural with him. “I think you need to calm down. I know you’re disappointed about the game.”

“You have no idea.”

“So tell me. Talk to me. If you need help…”

I wasn’t having this conversation. “I’m tired. I’m sore. I just want to go home and ice my body.”

Elle understood—somewhat. “Want some company?”

“No.”

She frowned.

Fuck. Did I piss her off too? I didn’t have the energy or patience to explain how I felt. I just wanted to sleep it off and deal with the shit tomorrow.

“Not tonight.” I mussed Sebastian’s hair. He flinched away. Damn it. “Take him to my mom. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Even the Tinkerbell bag hurt my shoulders. I carried it gently, unwilling to let Elle or Bast see the pain.

Sebastian hadn’t mastered the art of the whisper. His voice echoed through the tunnel.

Heart-broken.

“Did…did I make him mad?”

Elle softened her voice. “Oh no. He didn’t mean it. He had a really tough game. He’s just tired.”

“I thought he did awesome.”

“Me too. Let’s go find your momma.”

I made it out of the stadium and to the team bus without collapsing. It was a short ride to the practice facility, but I had to drag my ass to my car.

It wasn’t adrenaline that kept me moving.

It was fear.

I stared at my brand new Lexis. I’d bought two new cars, two houses, new phones and computers and everything else that would spoil me, Mom, and Sebastian.

But now, it worried me. I’d played my second exhibition game, and all I had to show for it was a handful of pissed off coaches, a traitorous media, and skeptical teammates.

My once-in-a-lifetime opportunity faded. Everything I worked for—almost gone.

It wasn’t my sacrifices that hurt the most. It was Mom’s. Everything she’d done to help me. The schools. The travel. The personal trainers.

Sebastian.

It didn’t matter what happened to me. I had to make sure they were taken care of. I had to put the family first.

All of my family.

Including Elle.

I could see a future with her. Playing with Sebastian. Cuddling with me on the couch. Rock climbing in the spring. Sweaty sex every night.

She was so much fucking more than a mistaken elopement.

I knew I loved her, but admitting it to myself drove the air from my lungs like a hit from a linebacker. She was my everything now. A tease. A friend. A lover.

A wife.

This game wasn’t about me anymore. I’d work my ass off so I could provide for everyone I loved.

Mom. Sebastian.

And the woman I’d love for the rest of my life.

17

Elle

I was out of time.

The interns and videographers running around the office didn’t notice Peter’s fake smile.

He closed my laptop and summoned me with a curled finger.

“Elle, Coach Thompson and I wanted to speak with you. Got a minute?”

I was used to getting queasy now, but this wasn’t because the baby was using my stomach as an in-utero trampoline.

I picked up my camera. Peter shook his head.

“Don’t worry about that.” He stopped me before I reach for my cell phone. “This won’t take long. Leave your phone.”

He didn’t want me recording the conversation.

Damn it. That had been my contingency plan, especially since the only wire I had was the broken bit of my bra, poking me in the side.

I followed Peter to Coach Thompson’s office. The hall was quiet, most of the coaches and staff still working with the players on the field.

The door closed behind me. I sat in the chair opposite Coach Thompson’s desk.

The silence prickled every hair on the back of my neck.

Something was wrong.

Coach Thompson pulled a file from his desk drawer. I stayed silent as he pushed a glossy, 8x10 print towards me.

Just what I expected. The nude was a shade too fuzzy and a lot too nefarious to catch the cover of Sports Illustrated. I’d find it on TMZ instead.

I said nothing. I had no defense. The photos were clear, leaving no doubt that it was my naked tushy posing in the Rivets’ locker room.

“Do you know what this is, Elle?” Coach Thompson asked.

“Twenty-three years of good diet and exercise?”

“Proud of them?” He studied the images. “I would be.”

He wasn’t going to scare me.

“I look good in that particular lighting.”

“You’re right. Maybe you want everyone to see these pictures?”

“I don’t think it’d be much of a surprise anymore. Most of the team has seen the goods.”

“And what about people outside of the organization? Would you like to show the world too?”

“Do I have a choice?"

“Of course