Overtime(18)

Leaning forward, he held her hopeful gaze as he said, “Please say I didn’t lead you on, because I never meant to.”

“No, you haven’t, but I thought maybe you wanted the same thing.”

He shook his head. “Natasha, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to start something with you when my heart wouldn’t be in it.”

“It could be,” she suggested, not looking the least bit derailed. But he shook his head.

“It won’t.”

“Because of her?” she asked, her eyes never leaving his, and he nodded.

“Yeah, she’s important to me. She matters.”

“I’m sure we can fix that. She was obviously not enough to keep. You did leave her and f*cked me.”

“She was more than enough. More than I deserved,” he countered, their eyes burning into each other’s.

Looking away finally, she let out a breath. “You could at least give me a chance.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to you,” he said, reaching out to take her hand with his. “You deserve someone who will want you from the beginning. That’s not me. I wanted you for sex, and I’m sorry if that made us a bit messy. I understand if you don’t want to come hang out with me anymore.”

Removing her hand from his, she folded her hands in her lap and shook her head. “It was a stupid idea anyway,” she said, still not looking at him, but he could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “We are good in bed, not out of it.”

When he didn’t answer, because he wasn’t sure how, she glanced over at him. “Thanks for being honest though.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” he promised just as his phone went off. It was a text from Karson.

Karson: Meet your goddaughter, Mena Jane King.

And then there was a picture of the sweetest little bundle of pink Jordie had ever seen. Gasping, he covered his mouth as he took in his new goddaughter, his heart pounding in his chest.

Love. Love at first sight.

“What?” Natasha asked, a little annoyed.

“My goddaughter was just born,” he said as he typed back a quick congratulations. Karson wrote back that he’d call in a bit, and Jordie was excited to hear from him. He was sure to get an earful; Karson’s biggest fear about having the baby was the birth. Jordie was glad it seemed to have gone well. Figured if something were wrong, Karson would have said something. Opening a text to Lacey, he typed.

Jordie: Congratulations, Mama. She’s just as gorgeous as her mama. Can’t wait to see you guys. 38 more days hopefully!

She wrote back almost immediately, the little text bubble taunting him with her unspoken words.

Lacey: Thanks, we wish you were here! She is perfect! She has all of us wrapped around her sweet little finger.

Jordie: Mena Jane? Love it, but what happened to naming her after me? Lol.

Lacey: Mena for Kacey Marie, since there are already too many K’s in my opinion. And then Jane for you, Jordie. ?

Jordie grinned as his eyes started to itch. Stupid allergies.

Jordie: Awesome. I can’t wait to get home.

Lacey: We can’t wait to have you home. Check out this picture. It’s my favorite so far.

He waited as the picture came in, and when it did, it was as if he took a puck shot by Shea Adler himself square in the chest. Kacey sat in all her beautiful glory with Mena Jane in her arms. She had grown her hair out, lost a little weight in her face, but her eyes… God, they were filled with all the love in the world. He knew those eyes well; they used to stare back at him just like that. Seeing her holding Mena Jane did something to his chest, and soon, he was fighting back the tears.

How could he have been so stupid? This girl was it for him, his winning goal, his heart, and he let her go. Choking back the tears, he typed back.

Jordie: It’s my new favorite picture.

Lacey: So you miss her?

Jordie: There isn’t enough character space to tell you how much.

Lacey: Come home, Jordie. Healthy.

Jordie: That’s the plan.

And then Kacey Marie King would be his.





“He just told me he loves me.”

Kacey leaned against the bathroom counter, her brows pulled together as she held her phone to her ear while looking at her reflection as Lacey sputtered on the other line.

“Say what?” Lacey exclaimed.

“Exactly!” Kacey agreed, still unable to fathom how Liam could love her. “Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that is batshit insane! We’ve only been technically dating for a month, I think? We haven’t even slept together! You can’t love someone when you haven’t seen them naked. What if I had an elephant vagina or something?”

Lacey paused. “Um, what? I’m sorry, but what is an elephant vagina?”

“You know, like big lips that kind of look and hang like elephant ears.”

“Wow. That’s a new one.”

“Focus!” Kacey exclaimed.

“Anyway, you know that everyone is different and falls at different times,” Lacey suggested like the practical person she was, but Kacey was internally freaking the hell out. She thought when she finally heard someone say those words to her, it would be the person she really wanted. She’d never expected Liam to fall for her. She liked the idea of it, but when he said those three words, it didn’t feel right. It felt fake. Unreal and, ugh, it was killing her. She should be shitting rainbows and sunshine! Riding on a unicorn of love, but instead, she felt like she wanted to punch something. Or cry, and she really hated crying.