One Baby Daddy (Dating by Numbers #3)(110)

Why did I think this was going to be a good idea? Why did I think I could pressure her into choosing? Should I have done more? Should I have told her I loved her sooner? Should I not have given her any time or space when she moved out here? And Logan, fuck, I never should have let him live with her. That’s the perfect combination to fall in love with someone. Friends to lovers, it’s written in all the books.

Shit.

I rub the palm of my hand into my eye as the door to the locker room slams open and a frenzied Chris comes barreling into the locker room, spotting me immediately.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks.

“What does it look like?” I answer, not in the mood for whatever Chris has to say. “I told Darryl I’m not doing any media today.”

“Have you checked your phone?”

“No.” I stand and reach to undo my towel when Chris levels with me, his eyes full of worry. “What’s going on?”

“Everyone has been trying to get in touch with you. Adalyn was in a car accident.”

The blood drains from my body, leaving me feeling lightheaded and pale as a ghost. Chris’s words hit me hard.

Adalyn was in a car accident.

“Wh-what?” I choke out, my throat growing tighter and tighter.

“Logan called Shannon, said Adalyn was in a bad car accident and is in intensive care right now at California Hospital. They’ve all tried to call and text you.”

Ice freezes over my veins, frozen as a fucking iceberg, unable to move, unable to fully comprehend what he’s telling me. “Is . . .” I swallow hard, my voice coming out in a squeak. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know, man. They have no idea what’s happening. No one will tell them anything.”

Stunned, I stand there, unable to move, unable to speak. Adalyn was in an accident.

What about the baby?

Fuck . . . the baby.

“Dude, are you going to get dressed? I can drive you over there but you can’t go in a towel.”

Sitting on the bench of my locker, I put my hands in my hair, pulling on the strands, still in shock. The world slowing around me, my last words to Adalyn trying to reach my brain. What were they? They weren’t I love you. Instead of loving her, I gave her a goddamn ultimatum.

Choose me.

Choose me.

It was all I wanted to yell and scream at her.

It’s not like I said something like I need you. Come back to me. Be with me. You are the reason why I want to be the best dad I can be, because you inspire me to be a better man.

I didn’t say anything like that.

“Hayden, man. Are you going to be okay?”

I shake my head, the room spinning on me. I grip the bench behind me, my nails digging into the wood, wanting to rip the entire thing off the wall and throw it across the room. I’m so fucking angry, I’m fucking scared, I’m fucking torn in two.

“She has to make it,” I choke out, tears hitting me fast and hard. Breaking down, I bend forward, head in my hands. “She has to fucking make it.”

From my side, Chris pats my back and hands me my clothes. “Come on, man. Get dressed and we can get to the hospital.”

Empty and split in half, I walk through the motions of getting dressed and grabbing my things before Chris guides me to his car. I barely register him driving when my phone buzzes in my hand. Adding to the top of the plethora of texts on my phone, Racer’s name pops up, right next to his multiple missed calls.

Does he know something?

I read his text.

Racer: CALL ME!

Fumbling with my phone, I hit the call button and he answers immediately.

“Fuck, man. Fuck. Do you know?” His voice is strained, barely audible.

My throat so goddamn tight, I answer, “On the way to the hospital now. Do you know how she is?”

“I know nothing. I was hoping you did. Fuck, Hayden. I was on the phone with her when it happened. It was . . .” His voice breaks and all I can hear is his sobbing. On the other end, Georgiana, his girlfriend comforts him, her whispers soft.

He was on the phone? With Adalyn?

“Why was she talking and driving? You should have known not to talk to her while she’s driving.”

“It was an Uber, man. The guy was texting and driving.”

Fury. My nerves morph into pure rage, the strength inside me building and building to the point that my hand starts to shake.

“What the fuck!”

“She was heading to the game.”

And just like that, my face blanches, the color in my skin drains and a cool chill takes over my body. She was coming to me. She was going to be with me.

And now . . . now she’s in a hospital fighting for her life. For their lives.

“Fuck, Racer.” Once again, the heartache of Adalyn in the hospital overwhelms me. I cry into the phone, neither of us saying anything but the occasional she’s got to be okay. She’s got to be okay.

Chris doesn’t even bother with parking. He lets me out at the entrance, and I sprint up to the intensive care unit where I find Shannon and Logan in the waiting room, sitting closely together, their faces red and blotchy, the weariness in their eyes unsettling.

I pause, looking at their sullen faces, their hunched-over bodies, and the worst consumes me. On shaky legs, I propel myself forward and stand in front of them. When Logan looks up at the shadow above him, he stands, and we face off but instead of male pride getting in the way, there is a mutual understanding for each other.