Fuck. “Coach will kill us if he hears a baby got left on our doorstep and we can’t figure out who’s the father.”
I swallow. No way. No way this kid is mine. Relax.
Taking a deep breath, I realize I just need to help the guys troubleshoot until we get to the bottom of this, and then I can take a gargantuan nap.
By this time tomorrow, we’ll be back to normal and laughing at how ridiculous this was. It’ll be fine.
9
RIDER
I text my study group because this is obviously going to take longer than I thought. Maybe we can meet up this evening.
Olly breaks out a notebook. “By process of elimination, Trevor is out, and so is Tank because Bree would cut off his testicles if he had a baby with another lady.”
Everyone laughs, and Bree grabs her boyfriend’s face in a fierce hold before she peppers him with kisses. “That’s right, boo. You’d be dead, but you know better, don’t you?”
“I certainly do, my little honeybee.”
We all make puking sounds, and I turn away from the love fest. “Fine. That leaves Ben, Noxious, Johnson, and Olly.”
Olly squawks, but I level him with a look. He might be a big nerd, but I know he got major ass last year, so there’s no way he’s wiggling out of this. Knox looks like he wants to puke.
Ben’s eyes narrow. “What about you?”
I shrug. “She’s not mine.”
“How do you know?”
My eyes dart to Gabby, and once again, she avoids my gaze. I turn back to Ben, who’s officially on my shit list.
“Because I do.” God, why am I sweating? “I never…” I lower my voice. “I never fuck without a condom, okay?”
“Neither do I.”
The peanut gallery chimes in.
“Me neither.”
“Ditto.”
“Never ever.”
I run my hands through my hair, wishing I could be back in my bed and blissfully unaware of this situation. “Fine. Assuming one of our Titan-sized swimmers got through the latex”—please, God, let it not be mine—“how do we test for paternity without walking up to the hospital and declaring ourselves major fuckups and sparking a scandal that will probably give Sully a heart attack? This is a small town. Yesterday, everyone was talking about our win. You want that to shift away from the game? Because if this gets out, everyone will be gossiping about how one of us knocked up some girl and we’re too fucking stupid to realize it.”
No one responds.
If anyone gets how small towns work, it’s me, and I’ll be damned before I let my reputation get smeared to hell. Charming has been good to me. It’ll kill me if that changes.
“This is crazy, Kingston.” Ben tosses up his hands. “A baby gets dropped off on our doorstep, and we’re actually wondering if she belongs to one of us? What we should do is call children’s services or social services or whatever.”
A gasp has us all turning to Gabby, who’s turned her body as though she’s shielding the baby from us. “You’d really call Family and Protective Services, Ben? After…” Her voice drops to a whisper. “After what happened to me, you’d call DFPS?”
The look on her face sends a pang of regret through me so strong, I have to fold my arms to prevent myself from crossing the room and sweeping her into a hug. I hate that I haven’t been there for her all this time. That I was so wrapped up in my own shit, I didn’t stop to think about what she must be going through with barely any family to rely on.
We all look from Gabby to her brother and back again.
“This is not the same thing, Gabriela.”
“The hell it’s not the same thing, Benjamín.”
After a long silence where they stare each other down, Tank coughs. “Sorry, Gabby, I hate to ask this, but can you tell us what happened? The guys need to make an informed decision.”
She looks to Bree, whose eyes soften. “Sorry, girl. I think he’s right. If you know something that could shed light on this for everyone, it might be helpful.”
Gabby’s jaw clenches, and I hate that she has to relive this. “Our dad died when we were really little, but our mom died in a car crash when I was eight, and Ben was seven. He got adopted right away by our uncle, who did not want another daughter. So I went into social services until a family member finally got around to picking me up. Almost four years later.”
Fuck. She told me some of this during our long talks that fall we hung out, but hearing it now, it makes more sense.
Back then, she made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal that she’d gone into foster care, but judging by the pain glittering in her eyes right now, I realize maybe she was just trying to be strong.
What the fuck, Rider? Of course being a foster kid sucked.
Ben starts to pace. “That’s not fair, Gabby. Tío Julio couldn’t afford another child. It wasn’t that he didn’t want you.”
She laughs, but blinks rapidly, obviously trying not to cry. “Sure. Tell yourself what you need to sleep at night, Ben.”
Her brother pales but says nothing.
Bree scoots over to Gabby and wraps her and the baby in a hug. “That sucks, honey. I’m so sorry. That must’ve been horrible.”
When Bree lets her go, Gabby shakes her head. “Ben, if this is your daughter, you can’t let her go into social services. Never mind my experience—I’ve heard so many horror stories from other foster kids. Don’t do it. You have no control over who could get her. She might get a nice, normal family or some sick fucks who are just fostering kids for the paycheck or worse. Trust me when I say you don’t want the latter.”
All the hair on my neck sticks straight up at the warning in her voice.
After an awkward silence, Gabby puts a trembling hand to her chest. “Ben, if she’s yours, I’ll help you, okay? I will. I know you have football and… everything else. But I’ll help. I’ll literally do anything you want to keep her from going into foster care.”
Damn. This girl is breaking my heart.
A few of the guys wipe their eyes, and I can’t deny that I’m choked up too.
Ben shakes his head, but his tone is soft. “And if she’s not mine? If she’s not ours?” He motions to the rest of us. “What then? You can’t keep some random kid.”
She nods slowly and takes a shuddering breath. “I agree we should call the authorities if she doesn’t belong to one of you.”
Tank and I make eye contact, and he nods.
I pray this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass, but Gabby has a good point. “Do we all agree we don’t want Poppy to go into foster care if she is one of ours?” I’d hate to send her away even if she isn’t ours, but it’s not like the football house could take on that kind of responsibility.
Everyone nods. Even Ben, eventually.
Bree rubs Gabby’s back. “How can we figure this out without going to the hospital for a paternity test?”
“Doesn’t the pharmacy carry those?”
Olly scratches his head. “Even if it does, I don’t think we should go to any stores in Charming. Someone will notice us buying five. It’ll be on social media before we pay for them.”