Page 70 of Playing It Forward

“It was an accident,” Nolan says. “I’m responsible. I accept the blame. But it was an accident.”

“I hope you have a boy who looks exactly like him.” Lana sighs. “Those blue eyes. That jaw. Those muscles.” She reaches forward to touch him and I bat her away.

“You can’t touch random people in the grocery store.”

“What random people? This is your baby daddy.”

I groan. She practically screamed baby daddy.

“I hate to say it, sprite. But keeping this baby secret is no longer an option.”

I scowl at him. “You promised not to tell your teammates.”

“And I won’t. But don’t be surprised if they find out. Football players gossip worse than a bunch of old ladies.”

“Hey, Nolan!” The librarian waves before hurrying toward us.

He grins at her and his dimple makes an appearance. “Hi, Edith.”

Edith? How does he know the librarian’s name? What is happening? Did Jasmine give me a drug and I’m hallucinating? I hope I’m not drooling while staring at the vitamin bottles.

“The book you requested came in,” Edith tells him. “You can pick it up any time. It’s at the receptionist desk waiting for you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you putting a rush on it.”

“Not a problem.” Edith’s gaze ping-pongs between us. “I understand the rush.”

“Understand the rush? What is this book?” I ask.

“It’s a book on pregnancy,” Edith says. “We couldn’t find an eBook version, so I had to order the paperback for him.”

My eyes widen. “How many books on pregnancy have you bought?” I ask Nolan.

The tips of his ears turn pink. “A few.”

Edith scowls at me. “Don’t you dare give the boy a hard time. He’s supporting you. You let him.”

Boy? Nolan is hardly a boy.

“That’s what I said,” Lana claims. “I don’t understand modern women. Always proving a point about being independent. Let your man spoil you.”

A rubber band squeezes my middle. Breathing becomes nearly impossible. My man? Nolan isn’t my man. We’re not even dating. He’s not here for me. He’s here for the baby.

“He’s not my man,” I manage to wheeze out.

“See?” Lana points to me. “This is what I’m dealing with.”

Edith pats her arm. “I understand. Young kids these days. No respect for the old days.”

“But they do make a cute couple.”

Is she hard of hearing? I literally told her two seconds ago that Nolan and I aren’t a couple.

“Relax, sprite, and let her talk,” Nolan whispers to me. “We are a family after all.”

We are? Does he want to be my family? And why does the idea excite me? I know better. Men leave. Babies die. And people abandon you.

I don’t think I’d survive Nolan abandoning me. It’d break something in me that would never heal.