Page 31

Chapter 30

DANI

A knock on my door startled me. It was…wait, what time was it?

5:30 AM.

Who in the hell was here this early? I trudged my way to the door where Jordy was yelling through the crack. “Babe! Open the door! I spilled the coffee and it’s burning the ever loving—”

Without hesitation, I flung the door open and made to move out of his way as he sprinted to the sink, placing coffees on the counter along with donuts as he passed.

“Well good morning to you too,” I said, taking a coffee and a bite of a glazed donut.

“I was a little preoccupied with my third degree burn on my wrist,” he said with a laugh.

I giggled while I perched myself on my wooden stool. “You know it’s a little early for a booty call?”

Jordy grabbed the dish towel, drying off his hands. “You’re funny.” He tossed the towel onto the counter and sauntered his way to me, gripping my legs and turning me to face him. “I just wanted to come see you before I had to go to the shelter.”

“The shelter? For what?”

He smiled, grabbing another stool and pulling it between his legs to sit on. “That’s why I’m here. Yesterday I was called into Lathan’s office.” My eyes widened and my heart started to pick up as I flipped through all of the possible outcomes of the conversation. “I was scared,” Jordy continued, “but the good news is he doesn’t care about our relationship. As long as we do our jobs it’s fine. The second thing was, I was asked to partner with the local homeless shelter, so I'm going to help out today.”

I reached over, cupping his cheek. “That’s really nice. I’m glad you are going to do good with your high and mighty powers.”

He leaned over to grab the other coffee, pulling it to him to take a sip. “And one more thing. He fired Elena.”

I was stunned. I was speechless. I felt…victorious. The bitch was gone.

“Aw, how terrible,” I replied sarcastically.

He glanced at me with a little shit look. “Yeah. So terrible,” he laughed. “He said that essentially she was cheating and using our plays to give to other teams.”

“No way! I knew she was a scumbag,” I remarked, sipping my coffee. “I only wished she wouldn’t have gotten to you and that we could have tried this sooner in our relationship.”

He smiled, glancing down at the rim of his cup. “I think about that a lot, too. We could have saved each other a lot of trouble if we would have just given this a try earlier. But,” he paused as he looked at his watch and stood. “I gotta go.”

Jordy kissed my forehead and started for the door.

“Bye! Have fun!” I hollered as he went.

“Bye! I love you!” He winked. The door clicked and it hit me.

Jordy truly loved me.

***

Pick up, pick up, pick up.

“Hello?” Tee said gruffly. I had woken him up.

“Tee, this is an emergency. I need you to wake up.”

“Ugh, fine. This better be good.”

I jumped up and down silently before returning the phone to my ear. “Jordy told me he loved me. Well, he had already told me that, but today , he said—”

Tee’s voice heightened. “Give me just one minute, Dani.”

On the other end of the phone, muffled voices were followed by the pattering of feet, and the snick of a door.

“Are you still there?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. I am.”

“Oh my God! I am freaking out! I knew he loved you. I called that shit from the start. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”

I sighed, knowing that Tee had most definitely said that from the beginning of our relationship.

“So, what did you say—did you say anything back?” he chattered.

“Well, if I remember correctly, I think I did. But I’m realizing right now that I love love him, like I want to marry him kind of love.”

“In that case, get off your ass, get dressed, and go tell him! Wait—he told you this morning or last night?

I hummed, walking to the bathroom to start getting dressed and put Tee on speaker phone. “He told me when we went out after a game a few weeks ago. I told him I loved him back, but I think the drinks took over me. Today, though, it feels…real. He even came by this morning with coffee and donuts before he left to go to the homeless shelter this morning.”

“What a sweet angel baby. I knew I liked Jordy.” Tee let out a wistful sigh.

I started to brush my teeth as he continued to talk about all of the amazing things and—fuck. I didn’t feel good.

It hit like an atomic bomb. There was no escaping it. I hauled ass to the toilet, puking my guts up while Tee hollered at me from the counter.

“Hold on, Tee!” I called out.

I wiped my mouth, flushing the toilet and returning to the sink. “Sorry. I must have had some bad donuts or something.”

“Gross. So, anyway. What are we doing today?”

“We could go—”

An alarm started flashing on my phone.

Birth Control.

I reached into the drawer and pulled out my pack—my empty pack.

Holy. Shit.

“I gotta…um, I gotta call you back.”

“No. Do not hang up on me. What’s going on?”

I stared at the empty pill pack as I mustered up the courage to reply. “I think…I might be pregnant.”

Tee gasped on the other end of the phone. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”

Like clockwork, Tee showed up in twenty minutes with bags in hand.

“Okay, here,” he said, shoving a bag in my hand. “Go pee.” I stared at the pink box inside, suddenly queasy again. “Go. Go right now, miss lady. Go.”

I went silently into the bathroom, not at all attached to my body. Somehow I managed to pee on the stick and place it on the counter. While it processed, I sat on the edge of my tub, waiting for the results. A light tap on my door frame pulled my attention back to reality.

“I’m scared,” I admitted.

“Oh, honey.” Tee kneeled in front of me, his hands gripped my face. “No matter what, you are going to be okay. You are strong. You are resilient. You are wonderful. I will support you in any and every decision you make moving forward.”

Tears blurred my vision.

“And, after this, no matter the result, you need to go talk to Jordy to tell him how you feel—really deeply how you feel.” I nodded as he wiped away my tears. “Okay, I think it’s time, my girl.”

My knees were weak as I stood. I reached the counter, grabbing the test as I read the results.

Positive.