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“I never wanted you to wake up without me next to you again. Not after the last time.”
“Last time it worked out well.”
Smiling, I thought about that night and how we ended up making love. That was the night I knew deep down that I couldn’t let her go without seeing where we went.
“Are you okay?”
She pulled from my hug and looked up into my eyes. “Areyouokay? Seems you and I just keep taking blow after blow.”
“Yeah, but I don’t believe Mel is pregnant.” I grabbed her hand and led her to the chaise, sitting down and pulling her between my legs. “I just hate that she spoke to you the way she did.”
“She doesn’t bother me. I’m more worried about how she made you feel. Wielding a baby as a tool to get you back.”
“Well aren’t we sweet?” I smiled and kissed her cheek.
The moon was on the other side of the building, making the balcony darker than it had been earlier. But I still knew that Ash was blushing. I knew her tanned skin turned a bright pink when she smiled like that.
“I have some questions,” I started.
“Go.”
“How old are you again?” I already knew but just in case, “because if Melanie is your mother…”
“Twenty-two. She had me when she was seventeen.”
“That would make her thirty-nine. She told me she was thirty-three.”
Ash laughed and rolled her eyes. “She can pass as that. All she has ever cared about is herself and her vanity.”
“She was right though, I assumed your mom was some bitch that came to you for drug money.”
“You have the bitch part right. But believe it or not, Melanie Keller slash Simpson always had goals of her own. Having a child just wasn’t one of them. She wanted to be a doctor, but never a wife or mother. Even successful doctors can be completely shitty parents.”
“You said she didn’t know who your dad was?”
“She doesn't. That much I believe. I think she was sleeping around with whoever threw money at her. When she came up pregnant that ended for a while. My grandma once told me that the poor life they led had never been enough for her. She wanted to be something big and wanted to be respected, and they couldn’t afford to send her to college. That is why keeping my scholarship is so important. They may not have been able to afford my college, but I promised them when I got the offer, and before they died, that I would play and let it help me with my education.”
“She has money. She’s at a very prestigious practice. A practice the team sent me to when I hurt my knee last year. She didn’t offer to help pay for your college?”
“Oh please. I didn’t even ask. Grandma asked her once but I heard her yelling that I almost kept her from being someone special, and she wasn’t going to help me either.”
I felt sick, ashamed that I fell so hard for a woman so cold. In a way, I had been a victim of her act. She pretended to be everything I wanted and lied to me about things along the way. She was perfect, too perfect, and I should have seen through that. I should have been smarter.
“I guess I need to thank Colin for scaring her away then.”
“Running was her only option that night, I guess.”
“Were you at that game because she asked you to be?”
“No,” she snorted. “I had no idea she was there. I really hadn’t seen her in a year. Hell, I’m just connecting that night to all of this. Coach said he wasn’t using his season tickets that night and told Erin and me we could use them. Erin didn’t show up, but I went and then spoke to Coach after the game.”
Pulling her hand to my mouth, I kissed her knuckles. “So I need to thank Colin for scaring her awayandbringing you into my life.”
“He has no idea who my mother is,” she confirmed. “Not that I know of. Ya know, just to clear that up.”
She laid down with her back to my chest and I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I thought we were done for the night. Too much at once seemed to be overwhelming and hard to process. Any other questions I had could wait.
“What happens if she’s pregnant?” Ash asked with a strain in her voice.
