Page 55 of Friends with Benefits

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tripp

There wasone qualifying game left in the season. One last chance to prove to myself, to Coach Taylor, to my advisors, and to the world at large that this was what I was meant to do. When I wasn’t at Ember’s apartment, I was training. I ran three miles a day, lifted weights until all my muscles shook, and pitched until my arm went numb. I was ready.

It should have been the only thing on my mind, but it wasn’t. I was at the last practice before our last game, and all I could think about was Ember. The baby.Ourbaby. We were going to be parents.

It wasn’t exactly how I’d planned for things to go down, but I wasn’t upset. Far from it. Now that I’d had a little while to wrap my head around the idea, I liked the thought of Ember having my baby. I fucking loved it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, I was pretty sure it was going to be damn hard. But it would be a piece of the two of us, and I couldn’t imagine a better mom for my child.

“Yo! Are you paying attention? I said a fastball, not a curveball!” Alex shouted from home plate where he was practicing with me. He jogged to where I was standing at the pitcher’s mound and tossed the ball. “You’ve been off all afternoon. You doin’ okay, man? The pressure getting to you?”

It would have on any other day, but for the first time in my life, I had bigger things to worry about than baseball. “I’m alright.”

“You don’t seem alright. You better get it off your chest before Coach comes over here and tears you a new one. It’s that chick, isn’t it? Man, how many times do I have to tell you, women are fun to play with, but during the season, you should put a moratorium on pussy.”

“You’re so fucking stupid. That’s not it, either.”

“The hell it isn’t. You’ve got puppy dog eyes. I know what that means.”

I didn’t think he did.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you? Shit. I told you she was trouble.”

My gaze jerked to his. In love with her? I tossed the ball from hand to hand as my mind raced. Was I in love with Ember?

I was.

It felt like I couldn’t breathe. The ball fell from my glove to the mound and rolled a couple of yards away, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Alex cursed when I didn’t immediately go get it.

What I felt for her seemed too big to be so simple. It was holding her when she was upset. It was teasing her when she was frustrated. It was reading the girls a bedtime story and giving them a kiss on the forehead goodnight. It was putting together furniture and laughing when she couldn’t do it by herself. It was seeing her in the stands at my game cheering me on. It was watching her be a mother to her sisters, even when she had to give up most things girls her age wanted.

It was life with her.

That’s what I wanted.

I wanted to spend my life with her. To grow with her and face all of our challenges together. I wanted to see the girls grow up, to give them away at their weddings. The life we’d made together, I wanted that with her, too.

It was messy, inconvenient, scary, and complicated.

I loved her.

“Dude, are you okay? Are you having a nervous breakdown or something? Shit, I mean, do you need a hug?”

A smile broke out over my face. What the hell? I pulled him in for a hug and clapped him hard on the back. He hesitated for a second, then did the same. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Never been better. You’re right. I do love her. We’re having a baby.”

I hadn’t said the words out loud until now. I was afraid what it would mean if I did. But I wasn’t terrified like I was worried I’d be. I wasn’t going to desert Ember like her father had.

“For real?”

I nodded. “For real.”

“That’s crazy. Congratudolences?” At my exasperated look, he said, “What?! Don’t look at me like that. You’re having a baby! My whole life, I’ve triednotto have babies. Don’t give me any crap. I’m happy for you, my guy, but I wouldn’t wanna be you.”

“Does this mean you don’t want to be Uncle Alex?”

His expression melted. I knew that would get him. He might act all hard, but he was a family guy at heart. All you had to do was see him talk about his mother, Angelina, one time, and you’d know he was a big ‘ole softy.