ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: Bad Boys of Sports: A Complete Collection (Alpha Male, Football, Hockey Secret Baby Romance) (Contemporary Sports Romance) by Mallory Hart Read Free Book Online
Authors: Mallory Hart
myself–”
“No. You don’t have to explain,” Caroline interrupted. “I can only imagine what it must’ve been like as a single mother. I mean, I’m just assuming you’re single since you haven’t ever mentioned a father. You must be working so much to support her! It takes a lot to be a mother, and realizing what you must’ve been through…it hit me like a ton of bricks as soon as I saw you when I was walking down the aisle.” She was sobbing loudly now.
“I’m not ready to start a family! Not with Andrew; not with anybody.”
“Shh, hun, it’s okay,” Emma tried to comfort her. “It’s so great that you realized what was truly important to you before you tied the knot. It would’ve been much harder if you’d gone through with it, even with your doubts.”
“I just have one question Em,” Caroline said through her sniffles. “Is she–your daughter I mean–is she Blaze’s?”
Emma’s throat hitched. “Is it that obvious?”
Caroline pulled away to look at her friend; her jaw dropped open in shock.
“I’ve been such a coward Caroline,” Emma said through a shaky voice. “I didn’t know how to tell you, or Blaze. It just kind of ballooned into a deep dark secret that I never meant to keep. But time was speeding by so fast while working two jobs and raising Chloe, and the longer I kept the secret, the harder it became for me to confess.” She was in tears now too.
“Honey!” Caroline hugged Emma tight. “I had no idea that you and my brother even–oh no! Did he break your heart all those years ago?” She broke away from her again to look at her seriously.
“No, he didn’t. As it turns out, I’m the one who did all the heartbreaking. Your brother–he was the one who put the broken pieces back together again.” Emma’s smiled brilliantly at her best friend.
“You mean you guys are–is that why he wanted to sit in the audience today? So that he can sit with you and–Chloe?”
Emma nodded her head, smiling ear to ear.
Caroline hid her face in her hands. “Oh God, I thought he couldn’t stand to be near Andrew.”
Emma took her hand. “No, Blaze doesn’t dislike Andrew–at least I don’t think so. You told me last week that you loved him. I think the best thing for you to do now is to talk to him honestly, from your heart, about what you do or don’t want and go from there.”
As if on queue, there was a knock at the door. An ashen-faced Andrew poked his neck in the door with uncertainty.
“Caroline?”
“Andrew,” she whispered in response.
“Can we talk?”
Emma kissed Caroline on the cheek. “I need to check on Chloe. I can’t wait for you to meet your niece.” She slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.
THE END
Here is a FREE SPECIAL BONUS
THE END
Power Player: A Sports Romance
CHAPTER ONE
Andrew tried to stop her. When she was packing, shoving and cramming the things she’d once happily decorated their house with into cardboard boxes from work, not caring if any of it broke. She loaded up her car, frustrated and angry that she couldn’t fit the nightstand into the backseat on the first try. When she was making her eighth and final trip, tired from all the lifting and stretching and bending that is moving. He tried to stop her, but she was at the point where she would’ve taken all this stuff to a dumpster without shedding a tear, let alone for him .
“Janie Elizabeth Nelson!”
He tried shouting at her, tried using her full name in a scandalizing tone to get her attention (a habit he’d picked up from her). Janie ignored him. It wasn’t that she was doing it on purpose, hoping to rile him up further, but she just didn’t have anything to say. Oh sure, usually they’d fight anyway, yelling and defending–honestly, they’d fought enough in the past five years to last her a hundred–but that last argument had left her mute, and completely
“No. You don’t have to explain,” Caroline interrupted. “I can only imagine what it must’ve been like as a single mother. I mean, I’m just assuming you’re single since you haven’t ever mentioned a father. You must be working so much to support her! It takes a lot to be a mother, and realizing what you must’ve been through…it hit me like a ton of bricks as soon as I saw you when I was walking down the aisle.” She was sobbing loudly now.
“I’m not ready to start a family! Not with Andrew; not with anybody.”
“Shh, hun, it’s okay,” Emma tried to comfort her. “It’s so great that you realized what was truly important to you before you tied the knot. It would’ve been much harder if you’d gone through with it, even with your doubts.”
“I just have one question Em,” Caroline said through her sniffles. “Is she–your daughter I mean–is she Blaze’s?”
Emma’s throat hitched. “Is it that obvious?”
Caroline pulled away to look at her friend; her jaw dropped open in shock.
“I’ve been such a coward Caroline,” Emma said through a shaky voice. “I didn’t know how to tell you, or Blaze. It just kind of ballooned into a deep dark secret that I never meant to keep. But time was speeding by so fast while working two jobs and raising Chloe, and the longer I kept the secret, the harder it became for me to confess.” She was in tears now too.
“Honey!” Caroline hugged Emma tight. “I had no idea that you and my brother even–oh no! Did he break your heart all those years ago?” She broke away from her again to look at her seriously.
“No, he didn’t. As it turns out, I’m the one who did all the heartbreaking. Your brother–he was the one who put the broken pieces back together again.” Emma’s smiled brilliantly at her best friend.
“You mean you guys are–is that why he wanted to sit in the audience today? So that he can sit with you and–Chloe?”
Emma nodded her head, smiling ear to ear.
Caroline hid her face in her hands. “Oh God, I thought he couldn’t stand to be near Andrew.”
Emma took her hand. “No, Blaze doesn’t dislike Andrew–at least I don’t think so. You told me last week that you loved him. I think the best thing for you to do now is to talk to him honestly, from your heart, about what you do or don’t want and go from there.”
As if on queue, there was a knock at the door. An ashen-faced Andrew poked his neck in the door with uncertainty.
“Caroline?”
“Andrew,” she whispered in response.
“Can we talk?”
Emma kissed Caroline on the cheek. “I need to check on Chloe. I can’t wait for you to meet your niece.” She slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.
THE END
Here is a FREE SPECIAL BONUS
THE END
Power Player: A Sports Romance
CHAPTER ONE
Andrew tried to stop her. When she was packing, shoving and cramming the things she’d once happily decorated their house with into cardboard boxes from work, not caring if any of it broke. She loaded up her car, frustrated and angry that she couldn’t fit the nightstand into the backseat on the first try. When she was making her eighth and final trip, tired from all the lifting and stretching and bending that is moving. He tried to stop her, but she was at the point where she would’ve taken all this stuff to a dumpster without shedding a tear, let alone for him .
“Janie Elizabeth Nelson!”
He tried shouting at her, tried using her full name in a scandalizing tone to get her attention (a habit he’d picked up from her). Janie ignored him. It wasn’t that she was doing it on purpose, hoping to rile him up further, but she just didn’t have anything to say. Oh sure, usually they’d fight anyway, yelling and defending–honestly, they’d fought enough in the past five years to last her a hundred–but that last argument had left her mute, and completely
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