Page 13 of Only for Tonight (Only For #1)

eleven

Jaxon

“S hall we sit?” Spencer asks me as I watch Ariella walk back to the table. I’ve met Zoey a couple of times, but not enough times that I can walk up to her table and say hello just to speak to Ariella again.

“Um, yeah, sure,” I say, turning back to Spencer who talks to the hostess now.

She escorts us to the table, and I wish I could say I’m focused on this meeting, because I’m one thousand percent not.

I take the chair that faces Ariella and Zoey instead of having Spencer sit in it.

I want to tell myself it’s because I like to face out, but the rude reality is probably because I don’t want him looking at her.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” Spencer starts and I nod my head, while the waiter comes over to tell us about the specials.

I see Zoey looking over at my table a couple of times and then Ariella says something to her so she stops.

My stomach gets tight wondering if she’s telling her about our night together. “So tell me about yourself, Jaxon.”

The minute he asks me that question, I immediately know I’m not going to have him as my agent. Someone who is supposed to be interested in working with me, he should have done his homework a bit before meeting with me. “Why don’t you tell me what you know about me?” I turn the tables on him.

“I know you were drafted to Minnesota and then got traded to LA.” I nod my head.

All he would have to do to find out that information was read the bio on my social media.

“I know you have a couple of contracts that are coming up to be renewed”—I nod at him—“and I think we can look for better offers?—”

“I’ve been with the same sponsors for the last ten years,” I cut him off. “Some took a chance on me when I was a rookie and have gone above and beyond to make sure I was happy with the product.”

He smiles a crooked smile. “That’s all fine, but now you aren’t a rookie.

It’s time to pay you what you are worth.

” He sounds like a used car salesman, and if I didn’t like him before, it’s growing even more as he speaks.

“I have a client who I can’t name, obviously, that…

” I swear it’s like my hearing stops. I can see his lips moving, but it’s like he has no voice.

I try not to look over at the table while I’m having a meeting with Spencer, who I already decided when I walked in I was not going to work with. I want to tell myself it’s because he seems slimy, instead of the fact he dated Ariella and I just don’t fucking like him.

“I think we can get you a couple more sponsorships,” he says at the end of the meal, where I’ve said maybe five words. I wonder if he’s noticed since he was so busy talking about himself.

“That sounds good,” I tell him, grabbing my phone before pushing away from the table. “Why don’t you and I touch base next week?”

“That sounds amazing.” He puts his linen napkin on the table, getting up.

We stop at the hostess stand and shake hands as I watch him walk out the door.

I’m happy he didn’t go back and talk to Ariella, which is fucking stupid since I have no claim to her.

Fuck, she showed up at my house and my ex-girlfriend came down the stairs wearing my fucking shirt.

My teeth grit when I remember how it went down.

I’m going to walk out but instead head over to the table where Ariella is sitting down.

“Hey,” I greet, and she looks up at me, licking her lips. Her tongue makes my mouth water. Fuck, everything about her sets me off. She’s wearing an outfit that really shows off nothing and to me it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s because I know what she has under it is better.

“Hey,” she says softly as she scoops some ice cream in her spoon. I can see her trying to remain calm but also probably wondering what the hell I’m doing at the side of her table. “You remember my cousin Zoey.”

“Vaguely,” I answer her honestly and then reach out my hand to shake hers. “It’s nice to see you again.”

She smiles at me and extends her hand to shake mine. “It’s good to see you again also.” She lets go of my hand. “It’s okay, there are a million of us.” She waves her spoon in the air. “I’ve been to a couple of your games.”

“Really?” I say, not sure why I’m as shocked as I am since her family comes from hockey. It’s only normal that they would come to a couple of games.

“Yeah, usually when my Uncle Matthew visits, he likes to round up whoever is in town.”

I nod. “Oh yeah, that makes sense. Have you lived here long? I thought most of the family was either in Dallas or New York.”

“I moved out here for a job,” she answers, “eloped with my boss a week later and, well, the rest is history.”

Ariella laughs. “Like it’s no big deal how she slid in there that she eloped after a week.”

“Well, it looks like it’s working out for her,” I note, then turn back to Ariella. “I’m heading out,” I tell Ariella, who just nods at me.

“We’re going to finish up here and then I have to drive her home”—she points to Zoey—“and I’ll give you a ring.”

“Give you a ring?” Zoey questions. “Is that English?”

Ariella closes her eyes. “I think it’s British, I was watching The Crown yesterday.”

I chuckle at her and see her cheeks turning pink when the memory of her on the desk in the hotel comes back to my mind. “Okay, well, ring me up,” I joke, then look at Zoey. “Nice seeing you again. Next time you are at the game, let me know.”

“Will do.” She smiles at me. “The pleasure was all mine,” Zoey says before I turn and walk away from Ariella, not wanting to walk away from her at all. I take two steps out of the restaurant and dial her number; it rings three times before she picks it up.

“Hello?” she asks, her voice filled with confusion.

“Just wondering if you put in the right number,” I say, walking to my SUV. I’m not chancing that she put her number in my phone by accident and I have to go another two days without communication.

“I think I know my own phone number, Jaxon,” she jokes with me. “I’ll call you as soon as I drop off Zoey and it gives me the ETA to your place.”

“Do you want me to wait and go with you?” I ask her, sitting in my SUV, looking in the rearview mirror to see if she is going to come out of the restaurant anytime soon.

“I think I’ll be okay.” She laughs. “But I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Where are you staying?” I ask her.

“Why?” she quickly counters.

“I’m just wondering.”

Her voice goes low. “I came to see you unannounced; I’m not going to stand you up.”

“Fine,” I give in to her, starting the SUV, “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

“Sure.” She disconnects as I pull out of the restaurant parking lot.

Calling my father right away, he answers after the first ring. “You’re on speakerphone,” he warns me right away. “I’m with Nico and Becca.”

“Oh, good,” I say, thinking I’m going to hit two birds with one stone.

“How was the meeting?” my father asks.

“Good,” I reply. “I’m not going with him, but I can see how good he is.” I lie through my teeth.

“What? Why?” Becca asks right away.

“I don’t know, Aunt Becca,” I say right away. “I’m sure he’s good at what he does, but I don’t think we mesh well together.” Plus, he fucked Ariella and now every single time I see him I am going to want to throat punch him.

“Okay, valid,” she responds, “but you know Erika is done at the end of the month and you’ll be agentless.”

“Maybe my father can do it,” I quip, trying not to laugh. “He can be my dada ger.” Nico and my father both burst out laughing. “Is there anyone else you would recommend?”

“No,” she replies, “we are bringing Spencer in to take over the hockey side.” She sighs. “I still have a couple of clients I keep and, well.” She trails off before she says, “I’ll keep you on my roster.”

“Baby, you are supposed to be stepping back, for the last twenty years,” Nico reminds her.

“I have him, Ralph, and this dinosaur,” she states, pointing probably to my father. “It’s fine, as long as he doesn’t go and start fighting, or go off the deep end by getting arrested with a kilo of cocaine in his trunk. I think I will be fine.”

“Is there anyone else out there you think I would be good with?”

“Spencer is the best.”

“Is he really?” I say, making her laugh. “Maybe it’s just me, then.”

“It’s definitely you,” Nico jokes with me, “everyone else loves him.”

“Yeah,” I retort, stopping at the red light, “who?”

“That’s strictly confidential,” he says.

“Okay, well, I’ll let you guys go,” I tell the three of them.

“I’ll see if I can send you a list of names and we’ll get you someone,” Becca adds.

“We are bringing in this new agent, but I don’t really know her.

I’ve heard good things about her though.

She’s going to be working with a couple of agents to get her feet wet.

Why don’t we see how she is? Then if everything goes well, we can set up a meeting with her. ”

“That sounds like a plan, thanks, Auntie Becca.” I disconnect as I arrive home.

Pulling my phone out, I text her.

Me: I just got home, so you can come over at any time.

I press send and see the three bubbles come up and wait in the SUV until she answers.

Ariella: Just dropped Zoey off. Should be there in twenty-seven minutes, depending on traffic.

Me: Sounds good. Are you hungry?

Ariella: I’m not eating until tomorrow morning.

I laugh as I get out of the SUV and head inside.

Turning off the alarm, I walk to the kitchen where I take off the tan suede jacket and toss it on one of the stools before going to the fridge and nervously opening it, only to close it and then go into the living room.

I sit on the couch, turning on the television and my leg starts to shake, so I get up and decide to open the windows and hear the ocean.

Stepping out onto the patio, I stare off into the distance and see the sun setting.

Putting my hands on the railing, I just watch it, trying to calm the nervous energy down.

I hear the sound of a car door slam and I look over toward my front door.

Not even waiting to hear the doorbell, my feet are already moving to the entry.

I see her silhouette in the door, similar to how it was two days ago, but this time I know it’s her.

I unlock the door and pull it open. “Hi,” I greet her, trying to remain calm, cool, and collected and probably failing miserably. “Come in.”

“Thank you.” She takes a step in and then stops, and I smell the soft hint of her floral perfume. My mouth waters to taste her, but I know it is probably not a good idea.

“Come in,” I repeat to her as I walk toward the living room. “I know you aren’t hungry, but do you want something to drink?” She shakes her head and looks toward the staircase as we walk past it to go to the living room.

“Are we alone?” she asks nervously, looking over her shoulder toward the stairs.

“Yes,” I confirm as soon as she asks the question.

“Okay, good,” she replies as she nervously wrings her hands together.

“Do you want to sit outside”—I move my hand and point it toward the balcony—“or would you like to talk in here?”

“Anywhere is fine.” She avoids looking at me.

“Let’s sit right here.” I point to the couch, and she nods, walking around to sit on it. I wait for her to sit down before I take a spot almost across from her. “So how long are you in town?” I don’t even know what to say.

“I’m not sure; I came mainly to talk to you.” Her voice cracks and she laughs to cover it up.

“Okay.” I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees as I fold my hands together in front of me, and they hang between my open legs.

“Are you with someone?” she asks me, and I can see the uncertainty all over her face.

“I am not,” I assure her. “I know what it looked like.” I shake my head. “I wasn’t then either.”

“Right,” she draws out and she goes to the edge of the couch. “She came down wearing your T-shirt and probably nothing else.”

“I can say that you are the last person I slept with, and you were for a while before that.”

I watch her process what I just said, and she just stares at me.

“What I’m going to say is going to be a bit shocking to you.

It was shocking to me, and it’s still shocking, actually.

” I just look at her. “I really don’t know how to say it, so I’m just going to say it.

” I watch her say the words and it sounds like she’s a Transformer when she says them. “I’m pregnant.”

I blink my eyes a couple of times before my mouth moves. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m pregnant,” she repeats. “I know it’s a lot to take in right now.”

“How?” I sit up, and when that isn’t good enough, I stand up and cock my hip and fold my arms over my chest.

“I mean, we sort of had sex.” Her hand comes up and she points to me and then her. “Together.”

“I know that, Ariella,” I grit through my teeth, “but we used protection each and every single time.”

“Well, Jaxon”—she stands up—“one of them obviously didn’t work because I’m pregnant with your child.” She points to her stomach.

“Are you sure?” I ask her and she nods her head as her eyebrows go up. “Sometimes you can get a false positive.”

“I’ve taken nine pregnancy tests and they’ve all been positive, plus a blood test with my OB/GYN in New York, so I’m really fucking sure,” she informs me.

“Anyway, I wanted to tell you in person, which is why I came here,” she says softly.

“So now you know. I also wanted to let you know that I don’t expect anything from you.

You can be as involved as you want to be, but I’m having this baby. ”

“As involved as I want to be?”

“We can tell people you are the father.” She shrugs.

“Or we don’t and it’s just our secret. Well, ours and my cousin Zoey’s because you showed up at the restaurant and it was a shock seeing you there.

So I sort of told her we had that one night, even though we weren’t supposed to tell anyone.

” She holds up her hands. “I’m sorry I broke that promise, but it was technically your fault. ”

“What the fuck is happening?” I ask her, blinking as I look at her.

“I know. I told you it was shocking,” she says. “I’m pregnant,” she repeats as if I would have mistakenly heard that part. “And I’m saying you can be as involved with this baby as you feel comfortable being,” she repeats again, this time softly, her hand going to her stomach.

“I’m going to be involved,” I state tightly.

“I’m just saying you don’t have to be,” she counters, and my feet close the distance to her. There is no decision to be made of if I’m not going to be in my child’s life. The answer would have always been what I’m going to tell her now.

“I’m in this, Ariella,” I tell her, bending my head and putting my forehead on hers. “I’m all fucking in this.”