One Perfect Night: A Sports Romance by Bec Amber Read Free Book Online

journey, heading into LA traffic and something that he couldn’t determine might be a confrontation or a rekindling of what they had.
    When Logan pulled into a small parking lot of a garden apartment complex, he tried not to wince. While it was nice enough, it wasn’t his place with its thousands of square feet and landscaped lawn. It was what it was—utilitarian.
    He walked up the steps to her apartment, feeling a little guilty that he locked his car. It was a nice enough average neighborhood; nothing to see here.
    Julie answered on the first knock, and he drank her in for a moment. “You are so beautiful,” he said, and she flushed, looking away.
    “Logan,” she began, and he could tell there was something very grave on her mind. She stepped back and he entered, taking a seat on her couch. It’d seen better days, but it conformed to his body and he wiggled a little, settling in. He hoped Julie would sit next to him and had to quash a little disappointment when she settled into an overstuffed chair.
    “Julie.”
    She sighed and looked away, then met Logan’s eyes again. She’d been crying, it seemed, and he wanted to pull her close, to soothe whatever was wrong.
    “Remember that night,” she said, and he saw a bit of a smile in her face before she closed down.
    “Couldn’t forget it,” he told her seriously, and he meant it, though he suspected she didn’t believe him.
    “We messed up,” she said softly, and it took him a few moments to connect the dots. He followed her eyes to a little nest of tissue and.
    Oh fuck!  
    Oh god!
    “You’re…” He couldn’t say the word, couldn’t form the letter P, even.
    She nodded unhappily. “Yeah. Safe didn’t mean protected, did it? Big, big mistake and now…” She shrugged and fell silent.
    Logan closed his eyes, his heart racing, the panic tearing through him. He was going to be a father—a father! He couldn’t believe it, the swell of emotions overtaking everything else.
    “‘Scuse me,” she said, rushing deeper into the apartment, leaving Logan with that little stick, and his thoughts.
    A baby. A wife maybe even. God, the changes. A boy that looked like him. A little girl with her mother’s blonde curls.
    What if...What if she wanted to… No, not his baby. Not his.
    “You okay?” she asked, wrenching him out of his thoughts.
    Logan bit his lip, knowing that he had to ask the question, but hating it. “Are you sure?”
    Her eyes flashed angrily. “Positive. Unless it is an immaculate conception, there’s been nobody else.” She stiffened and then sat down across from him. “Sorry to lay this on you, Logan, but you are the father. I haven’t had sex with anyone in over a year. Beside you.”
    He felt like an ass for even asking about it, but he had to.
    ‘What do you want to do?” he finally asked, knowing he was probably screwing all of this up.
    “What do I want to do?” she asked slowly, and he nodded. “I’m keeping my baby.”
    “Okay.” That was good, right? “What do you think is...reasonable?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Child support.”
    She reared back. “No. No, Logan, I’m not telling you this for a handout. I’m telling you because you deserve to know.” She looked at him, her breathing rapid. “I don’t want handouts.”
    “It wasn’t a handout,” he said finally. “I just want to help.” Somehow he was screwing this up, and nothing was coming out the way he meant or intended.
    She shook her head, lips pressed together in a thin, severe line. “I can’t accept that. Not right now, not yet. Maybe later but…” She allowed that thought to end.
    He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I want to help. Can I at least pay for some things for you?”
    “Maybe later.”
    “I want to be involved.”
    She sighed and nodded. “I won’t stand in your way there, but I want to—I need to—take care of this on my own. Let me work through it all and we’ll talk. I promise.” She gave him a little smile.