Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(57)

“You already know what?”

His gaze turned sad. “That you hated me for saving you. I knew you would, but I also hoped you’d forgive me, too. I didn’t want to lose you.” He blinked back the tears, and I could feel my own eyes burning.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” My focus drifted to Hayden holding Emma Grace in her arms. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met her. Do you forgive me for being a jackass?”

Evan chuckled and hugged me tight. “There’s nothing to forgive. Now come and meet Emma Grace. She’s going to want her uncle D to hold her.”





Chapter 25





Hayden


Michael: You can always move back home and work with me? :D

Rolling my eyes, I texted him back a NO. All week, he and my parents had tried getting me to move back home. As much as I wanted to be with the people I loved, I didn’t want to leave my life here; I didn’t want to leave Derek. He’d done everything he could to keep my mind off of work. But it still plagued me. It was strange not going to work. For the past week, I’d done nothing but watch Derek practice with the guys, read, and read some more. It was the longest break I’d ever had. If Derek hadn’t had a game this weekend, I would’ve loved to take a vacation to the beach. Sitting in the stands with the sun beaming down on me, I sure felt like I was at the beach, minus the ocean to cool me off.

My phone rang. I thought it would be Michael trying to bribe me back home, but it wasn’t; it was Jeremiah. I didn’t want to answer the phone, afraid of what I’d hear, but I had no choice.

“Hey, Jeremiah,” I answered.

“Hayden, how are you?”

That was a loaded question. “Okay, I guess. You?”

He sighed heavily, and the sound weighed on my chest; I didn’t like it. “Not too good, actually. I called to tell you that another one of the dogs didn’t make it. He died this morning from complications.”

My throat tightened. “Fuck.” Dropping the phone, I covered my face with my hands and cried.

“Hayden, you there?” I could hear Jeremiah’s voice through the phone, but I couldn’t speak yet. “Hayden?”

Wiping the tears away, I cleared my throat and picked up the phone. “I’m here. I just wasn’t expecting to hear that kind of news.”

“I know, but I thought I should tell you before you found out from someone else. I’m so sorry, Hayden. I tried to do everything I could.”

“And I appreciate it. Other than that, is everything else okay?”

“Yeah, for the most part. I’m still trying to figure out what happened so we can get you back. Right now I’m not having any luck.”

“I’ll be fine, Jeremiah. If all else fails, I’ll get a job somewhere else.” If that was even possible. No one was going to hire me if they were led to believe I’d contaminated healthy dogs.

“You could, but it’d be nice to have you back. Maybe you could meet me for lunch one day next week,” he suggested.

“Thanks, but I’ll probably be with Derek. I’ve been going to practice with him every day.” I didn’t want to throw it in his face that I was with Derek, but if I ever got back to the office, the lunch dates would have to stop.

The line went silent for a second and I thought I’d lost him until he spoke up. “I see. So I guess things are going well between you two?”

“Yes,” I replied softly. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but if I do come back, we can’t be going out to lunch together like we used to. I don’t want Derek thinking there’s something between us when there isn’t.”

“I understand, Hayden. I just wish things could be different.” We said our goodbyes and I felt worse. Derek waved at me from the field and I waved back, glad he couldn’t really see my face from so far away. If he could, he’d ask what was wrong, and I wasn’t ready to tell him yet. Turning off my phone, I hid it in my bag and pulled out my favorite novel. If anything was going to cheer me up, it’d be Mr. Darcy. Since it was hot outside, I doused myself with the icy water in my spray bottle and got to reading.

“Okay, what gives?” Kate called out.

I was so engrossed in my book that I didn’t notice her climbing the stadium steps toward me. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” I told her.

She sat down beside me and eyed me skeptically. “I’ve seen you here for four days now. Don’t you have a job? I know you’re not on vacation, because if you were, you wouldn’t be spending it here.”

I pointed at Derek, who was on the field about to make a tackle. “It’s his doing. He wants me here. A vacation would be nice, though.” It was fun watching Derek play and interact with the other guys. There were times when I saw him with Jax, laughing and conversing. He really wanted the others to accept Jax, but he hadn’t succeeded yet. I’d learned a lot about football this past week.

“What about your job?”

Sighing, I turned to face her. “I guess it won’t stay a secret much longer.”

She perked up. “Are you pregnant?”

I gasped. “Oh my God, no! That’s not it at all.” We both laughed, but then I grew serious. “Something happened at my clinic and I was blamed for it. The owner thought it best that I not return for a while.”