the tests. Turns out, I have extremely low sperm count. The chances of me ever fathering a child are incredibly slim, if not impossible. So, I knew her being pregnant was a lie.”
She blinks at me, comprehending.
I remove her hands from my chest, both of us needing space.
“Are you sure?” She shakes her head. “Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“You have a right to know. It fucked up my head for a while until I decided coming to Adelaide was the best thing, and I threw myself into training.” I turn to the ocean. “And surfing.”
Macy’s hand rests on my cheek, and she guides my gaze back to hers. “I don’t care.” She shakes her head.
“What if I care, Mace. You said you wanted kids, and I’m not going to take that from you if we have a future together.”
“There are other ways.”
I take her hand and lead her along the sand toward my apartment. “I need some time on my own. I want you to process what I’ve told you. Other than Chance and my family knowing, it’s not something I share. I didn’t even tell Felicity. Just allowed the truth to come out when I pushed her to see a doctor for pregnancy tests.”
We walk in silence until we reach her car.
“I wish it were different,” I tell her while running the back of my fingers along her cheek.
“Reef, I—”
I place a finger over her lips. Replace it with my mouth, and show her how I truly feel about her, with all the emotion of a possible last kiss.
“Mate, I’m in.” Chance can’t hide the excitement in his voice.
“Always knew it was going to happen, mate. Only a matter of when. So, give me the details because I’ll be there to watch you play your first game.”
“Hoping you would. I kept a spare ticket for you. You ought to see the smile on Dad’s face when I told him.”
I laugh. “Yeah, when I spoke to him at Adele’s, I could see how proud he was. I suppose I need one of the face posters on a stick to hold up when you score a goal.”
Chance chuckles. “Smartass. And there’ll be a pass for you to come down to the locker room after the game. A home game in front of a home crowd. I’m so excited I could piss myself.”
“Get the excitement out of your system now, so you can focus clearly on the game. Good luck.”
“Thanks, mate.”
“Shit, I forgot to mention Macy gave me the gift from your road trip. I have a sculpture, and I think it’s the one you tried to replicate. The weird sculpture on your bar at Adele’s party.”
“Hey, it’s sick. I love my creation, but impressed Mace gave the professional piece to you.”
“My only advice is stick with kicking a ball. It’s your best skill.”
“Whatever. See you on the other side.”
I end the call, check for new messages before booking a flight to Melbourne for tomorrow night. No notifications from a certain someone, but then I did ask her for space and to take her time to think about her future. Heading to Melbourne to watch Chance play his first game is perfect to take my mind off my own shit.
Twenty-four hours later, I arrive in Melbourne and spend time with my family Friday night before heading to the soccer game on Saturday afternoon.
Noah convinces me to go on a run with him Saturday morning. I’m fit but can’t run the marathon distance he considers a casual jog, but he slows his stride so we can talk through heavy breaths. I need to tell him about Macy, and how it feels right being with her, and it also feels right being back in Melbourne. Apart from her knowing about my infertility, there’s no way she’ll leave her father to come to Melbourne even if we give it a shot, so I need to start finding a way to untangle my thoughts and feelings on how to make it work if she says yes. I expect when she has thought everything through, she’ll realise there’s no future with me.
Noah coughs to clear out his lungs before talking. “I’ve never seen you hung up on a girl like this even though you’ve convinced yourself you have no future.”
“Yeah. I was so focused on winning her back and being all positive like Chance, I ignored the real reasons we can’t be together despite being in love.”
“In love?” he rasps out between heavy breaths. “So, you