Page 23
“What?” I said through a cackle. Sure I’d thought of how he was famous and a random woman claiming to have his baby is a bad look, but I hadn’t thought people would assume I’m a gold digger. I pictured him back at TJ’s, wearing a well-worn team T-shirt. He didn’t scream rich then. “Is that really a concern? You’re just an American soccer player. Do y’all even get gold diggers?”
“I make a decent amount,” he said, chuckling.
“Oh really? More than a public school teacher?” That got him to full belly laugh and I was glad I was in my car so no one could see my stupid-ass grin. I’ll need to be careful around this guy next time I see him; laughing together was just as good a way to the bedroom as his cute little dimples under bar light.
“I’d like to have more faith in our education system, but it’s probably upward of ten times your salary.”
“You’re making $600K?” I shouted, jerking up in my seat so fast I knocked my knee on the wheel. I guess I should have realized Niall was rolling in it. He had a nice, eco-friendly car and a condo from a movie scene. But in my head, he was still just a soccer player. And as far as I was aware, the US didn’t really care about that sport enough to toss dollars at the players.
“A bit more. Sorry.”
“What’re you saying sorry for? Did you con your way onto the field without knowing how to play?”
“No, no, I worked for it. It’s just … it’s weird to talk about money when I don’t know … how you’ll take me paying for things.”
My jaw tightened and I fought the knee-jerk reaction to say no way in hell would I let him pay for anything. But this wasn’t some guy trying to buy me dinner when I was done with a fling, this was the father of my child. A father who wanted and had the right to be involved in our child’s life, even if I’d rather push him away with a ten-foot pole to keep myself safe.
So since I couldn’t keep him at a distance, I settled for fortifying my walls.
“That …” I drew out the word, “will be something we need to discuss. I’m kinda a strong independent woman and the idea of taking your money, even for things that are our dual responsibility, gives me hives.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” I repeated. “Your teammates said something about you ordering stuff, did you?”
“No, no,” he said quickly. “I just set up a 529 account because I was excited and it was the only thing I could do immediately. But I was thinking of setting something else up for more immediate expenses, like your medical bills and—”
“Mmm, that’s where we hit the uncomfy line. The savings account is a good idea though. I’ll start contributing when I can, maybe after the first year.”
“You don’t—”
“I will grant that you have a valid argument and it’s an important discussion, but you’re gonna have to give me the time to sift through my feelings so I can determine what I really care about versus what I’m just being stubborn about. I’ve been financially on my own for … an amount of time and I’m saying all this awkward shit to not shut you down immediately like I want to.”
“Oh, well, I appreciate you being upfront with me.” He chuckled. “And of course, take your time. We’ve got about … seven months to iron those things like that out.”
“Heh, good math there, Cap.” We shared a soft laugh.
“Well, I’m sorry about Freddie. I’ll talk to him tomorrow to make sure he doesn’t do anything else. And if you need me to talk to your boss, I’m happy too.”
“That’s not necessary, but thank you. Tell your PR dude I’m only a gold digger because I’m in public education. If we paid teachers fairly, I wouldn’t have to resort to this sort of thing.” We laughed again but the noise was quickly replaced with awkward silence. I fiddled with my keys, unsure of how to end a call with my apparently very rich baby daddy.
“So how’re you doing? How’d your day go?”
“Um … fine. But, Niall, we don’t have to do the small talk thing. I’ve got—”
“It’s not small talk to check in on you. The site I was reading last night said this was around the time morning sickness begins.”
“You read up on pregnancy?” My fingers tightened around the keys, letting the ridges dig into my skin.
“Of course. I’ve got a list of things I want to ask the doctor for your first appointment and … well, things I’d like to get you when you’re comfortable breaching the topic.”
“Buy me?”
“Yeah, nothing big. Or at least nothing I’d consider big. Just compression socks and a pregnancy pillow, stuff to make your body more comfortable while you’re growing our child.” Niall kept going about ginger candies that help with nausea and shoes with better arch support. On and on he went, showing that whatever research he’d done in one night, he’d really absorbed it, maybe even taken notes.
And that care and consideration made my heart feel like it was sucked into a riptide, unable to tell which way was up. It was disorienting and scary.
So I did the one thing I could think of. I ran.
