AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How the hell is she supposed to finish college with a baby hanging off her hip?
How am I?
During hockey season, I’m away so much, and when I am here, expectations are huge. I’ve got workouts, training, tutoring, classes, assignments, studying… How am I supposed to juggle all of that and a baby?
And then there’s Caroline.
Sweet Caroline with her luscious lips and hair and smell and smile and… Fuck.
Dipping my head, I plow my fingers through my hair, wondering if I can squeeze out my brain so I don’t have to think about this shit anymore. She tortures me—in the best kind of way—but I seriously don’t need this right now.
I’d give anything to go back to the way things were before she threw those pregnancy tests at me.
But then, if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have spent the afternoon with me on Sunday, and I’m scared to admit how much I enjoyed it.
“Let’s go, Pierce!” Asher shouts at me as he wanders out of the locker room.
I raise my hand to acknowledge that I heard him but still move like a snail as I get ready for the day.
I have classes all morning, then a study break this afternoon where I seriously have to get shit done. I have two assignments due next week, plus a test that I should probably start studying for. And I have hockey practice this afternoon, and the assistant coach already warned me that it’s going to be intense.
If we win this game, we’ll have a shot at competing in the quarter finals for the Frozen Faceoff. We’re ranking top of the table with two games to go. Puck yeah! We’re gonna be NCAA champions this year. I can feel it.
Slapping my locker closed, I pull on my jacket and snatch my bag off the floor. Racing after Asher, I make it to his truck just before he starts pulling out of his parking spot. The asshole was gonna leave without me.
“I can’t be late again because of your slow ass,” he grumbles, peeling away from the arena.
I don’t make him late that often. The guy is just anal about being on time.
We walk to the sciences building together, then go our separate ways, and I go to each of my morning classes, taking notes and listening like the good boy I am.
My head is pounding by the time I’m finally free for lunch, and I swear I’d give anything to go home for a nap. But I should probably head to the library and…
Any thoughts of studying disintegrate the second I spot a curvy redhead down the adjacent path to me.
“Caroline!” I call her name without even thinking about it and score some curious looks from the group loitering next to me. “’Sup.” I raise my chin at them before picking up my pace and jogging over to a girl who is looking kind of nervous.
I have no idea what’s up, but I’m frowning when I reach her. “You okay?”
“Uh… yeah.” She grips her bag strap and swallows, her gaze darting away. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you.” Forcing a smile, she finally glances up at me, but she can only hold my gaze for a second.
“What’s going on?” I pry for more. It might not be my place, but she looks jittery as hell, and I don’t like it. “Has something happened?” I lean forward, whispering near her ear, “With the baby?”
“No.” She jolts back from me. “Everything’s fine. It’s fine. I’m fine.” Clearing her throat, she swallows and goes to turn away from me, but I snatch her arm before she can retreat.
“You are not fine. You’re acting weird.”
“I’m not trying to be weird. I’m just—” She clamps her lips together.
“You’re just what?”
Closing her eyes with a sigh, she tips her head back, then glances around us like she’s about to tell me some great secret.
I lean a little closer, but her eyebrows are puckering, and I barely hear her when she murmurs, “It’s just hard to be around you.”
“What?”
“It’s hard,” she grits out. “To be around you.”
