Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 2) (7 page)

“That’s nice. Which sport do you like best?”

“Well, I like all of them…” Mia said. “Perhaps football.”

My heart started dancing in my chest. “Really? Why football?”

“Because mom and I sometimes watch it,” she said honestly. My look shifted towards Kayla who was red in the face.

“Okay, Mia, sweetie. It’s time for bed. Don’t you think?” she said.

“No, please let her stay a bit,” I pleaded with my puppy eyes.

I spoke to Mia for quite some time. In fact, it seemed as if it passed in only a minute. I learned that she had a lot of friends and one of her best friend was a girl called Monica. She apparently hated the English teacher, because she gave them books that were too long and boring to read. And she liked to read other books.

After half an hour, Kayla popped into the room and called Mia. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s well past your bedtime. You have school tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Mia replied. She was such a nice, obedient little girl. Anyone would want her as a daughter. She turned to me and uttered, “Goodbye, Sean.” And… And… She hugged me.

I let out a soft groan. My eyes were all teary. I was ready to burst into tears. Me? Sean? What was wrong with me? This wasn’t who I was. This was some other Sean that talked like me and was dressed like me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kayla, tearing up as well. We said our goodbyes and I was out of the girls’ apartment. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt and went down the stairs.

O
ne of the
things that drove me up the wall the most were late meetings. I hated them. Mostly because it wasn’t my fault and yet I was the one who had to leave my eight-year-old at home without her mom. I supposed those things happened to all business moms around the world. Sometimes things were out of our control.

Anyway, my management skills rose to the surface when they had told me that the meeting would last until the small hours of the morning, I knew immediately who to call. Danielle Rowen. She was a nice girl, but I felt that her first priority wasn’t babysitting. But Mia seemed to like her and they got along very well. They watched TV shows or read books together. The power of quick, easy money, right? No. She wasn’t a material girl, just the opposite in fact. Danielle was always kind to me. One thing I had learned about her was that she liked to do things her own way. And no one could change her mind.

I was in an abandoned corridor now, searching for Danielle’s number in my contacts’ list. Eventually, I managed to find her and clicked the number. A ring. Two. Three. She picked up eventually.

“Hello, Ms. Kayla. How are you?” Her pleasant voice came to my ears.

“Honestly, in chaos. I’m super, super busy and a late urgent meeting popped up from nowhere and I have to leave Mia at home,” I said, nervously playing with my fingernails.

“Oh, tonight?” Danielle asked.

“Yeah, tonight. Please, Dani. Can you come to my house and take care of Mia for a bit? It won’t be long, I promise.” I was desperate. Truly desperate. Like end-of-the-world desperate.

“I’m sorry, Kayla, but I can’t. You know, my mom… She hasn’t been feeling well lately and I promised to visit her. I can’t cancel that,” Danielle said. There went my nanny. And with her all of my hopes of getting a promotion
went down the drain. What was I supposed to do now, damn it? Teleport? Split myself in two halves?

“You’re right,” I replied. “Send my regards to your mom. See ya.”

My head was pounding. I was freaking out about not having a sitter for Mia. I paced restlessly in the corridor. And then a name and a face popped up before my eyes.

“No way, Kayla. If you want to get your kid killed, he’s the right person for that,” I mumbled to myself. I didn’t have much time on my hands. I needed a solution to this and fast.

Angry at myself I found his number and called. He picked up on the first ring. Now that’s a start. And a positive one. Was Sean Coleman changing? That would be a new world wonder, wouldn’t it now?

“Hey, Kayla. How are you?” His masculine voice was always doing wonders to me. I was weak at the sound of his voice, okay? There was nothing wrong with that.

“I’m in a hurry. I need to ask you something, all right?”

“Yeah, shoot,” he replied. I sensed that he was holding back when he was talking to me. I could subconsciously hear his ‘babe’ at the end of every sentence.

“Can you watch Mia for a couple of hours until I get home, please? It’s only going to be a few hours, nothing more.”

Sean didn’t wait a second to reply. “Sure, I’d love to. Thanks for that. I’m super happy. Thanks.”

“Wow! I didn’t think that it would go that easy. I thought I would have to use a bit of my persuasion skills,” I said and chuckled.

“No, never for Mia. I’m always here… for the both of you,” he said.

Silence. Palpable silence and tension between us.

“Do I need some specific instructions? I don’t want to fuck all of this up, you know.” Sean chuckled and I felt my insides churn and twist.

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. Okay. So… There is soup and vegan hamburgers in the fridge. Eat that up and please don’t let her use a knife, because I can smell an accident from here. No pasta, original hamburgers, soda or poisonous stuff like that near her or worse in her stomach. Then, while you watch TV skip to the double digit ones. They always put on some cartoons and I mean normal cartoons that don’t involve dying, blood, death and stuff like that. So action and horror movies aren’t on the menu tonight, sir. Put her to sleep at nine on the dot. If she wants a bedtime story, tell her one. You can come up with one of your own or google some shit.” I was utterly breathless. I didn’t know myself that there were so many things someone should take care of when babysitting.

“Alright. That’s it?”

“I almost forgot. Before going to bed, make sure she combs her hair and brushes her teeth, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it! Done?”

“Mhm,” I said and nodded as if he was here and was going to see me. “Please take care of her.”

“I will. Don’t worry. If I like it, I may switch careers, you know,” he joked. The both of us laughed and I hung up.

Phew! Hopefully everything was going to go as planned. With a firm step I went to the meeting room. This empire needed its empress, right? I smiled at myself as all the employees made a line for me to pass and I entered.

* * *

T
he apartment hadn’t fallen apart
. That was a great sign.

The meeting ended well past midnight just like I was informed it would. I was dead tired as I entered my apartment.

There weren’t any naked women running around. There weren’t any naked men chasing after them. There were no bottles of alcohol. There was no cocaine or marijuana or anything like that. Nothing. Everything was in its rightful place. I smiled.

I couldn’t help it but think about the time when I had entered our apartment and found Sean drunk. That had been our biggest fight. But things had changed, I saw. The old pages were ripped and we were writing new ones.

Taking off my heels, I spotted Sean on the couch. He was in the fetal position. The couch was obviously too small for his large body. I giggled quietly. He looked really cute like that.

Anyway, I tiptoed towards my daughter’s room. I slowly opened the door and saw her soundly asleep. She was hugging the new teddy bear Sean had brought her. I went over and kissed her on the forehead. She didn’t even notice me. Who knew what the both of them had been doing to get so tired?

I took a blanket and went to the living room placing it over Sean. The moment the blanket touched his body, his eyes opened. They were alert at first, but after they saw me
,
they softened.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey.” I said too. “I just wanted to thank you really. You can’t imagine how much you helped me.”

“Nah, no biggie. Anytime really. We had an amazing time together,” he said as he stood up.

“Sorry I woke you up. Stay. It’s really late. The couch is all yours,” I said.

We were standing opposite of each other. I remembered how I used to have to go on my toes to kiss him. Why did I think of that now?

“No, it’s okay, Kayla. I’ll go now. And thanks for everything.” His hands brushed mine and I could feel a strong current of electricity.

“But…” I began.

“No, I insist. I’ll go home, don’t worry.” His features were pleasant and covered with sleep.

“Alright. As you wish,” I said, waving at him.

He took his coat and waved back. The smile on his lips had extended to his eyes.

I went back to my room, changed and got into bed. My mind kept fixating on one thing. Sean had been so good to Mia. Just like a proper father. I was getting a tingly feeling again whenever I was near him. I supposed that I had never stopped loving Sean. But perhaps that was a mistake. I didn’t know. I felt like a clueless teenager. Could we be a real family? The three of us? If he proved to be Mia’s father, that was. Only God knew.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep to come.

H
aving
nothing more interesting to do, I opened my laptop and Googled my name. I should have known better.

After all these years there was one thing puzzling me. How could people search any celebrity’s name with gay next to it over and over again? Did we all have to be gay to be famous? The next articles were about my looks, my achievements, being labeled as a playboy. I also found one piece that reported on the club opening. It proved to me again that Brent had been right. And when wasn’t he? All the celebrities were dying to have him. But he came only to the best. Not to brag or anything.

I was having a laugh at some reporters who apparently wanted to nominate me for President. This was the first I had heard about that. Haha! Unbelievable!

Then my cell rang. Still in a good mood thanks to Kayla, Mia and now Google, I answered the line only to hear Brent’s voice. Again.

“’Sup, man?” I asked.

“Hey, buddy. Got a new gig for you today. You up for that?”

“Sure, why not. What’s it about?” I replied. The way Brent still managed to get me promotions and stuff like that was still beyond me.

“A junior league team this time. It’s about a practice session they’re having,” he said.

“Oh, yeah? Cool. What should I do?”

“The usual stuff. Give them support and run with them. Train a bit. They’re gonna love it. And the public will, too. Stretch your legs, put on your helmet, smile and wiggle your butt a bit. And you’re done. Simple, right?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re crazy man. All right. I’ll do it. I’d love to help them.”

“Yeah, you might need some experience with kids, you know,” Brent replied, smiling.

“About that,” I began. “Can I invite Kayla and Mia to the event? They’re going to be thrilled. I know that. Please.”

Apparently someone else wasn’t thrilled. There was silence on the other end. I could imagine the gears turning in Brent’s head. “Hmm… Buddy, do you have to? I mean, there might be rumors…”

“It’s important to me. You know that. I’ll invite them. It won’t hurt,” I said almost pleading. When did I become so soft? These two women were changing me one day at a time.

Brent sighed. “Okay. I give up. But under one condition. There’re no hints that Mia is your daughter or that you date Kayla or whatever, okay?”

“Got it!” I smiled from ear to ear, content. I hung up and immediately dialed Kayla’s number. I knew it by heart.

As I had predicted, they were excited to come. I thanked her and so did she and we hung up. My heart was fluttering in my chest.

* * *

T
he junior league
team was overjoyed. We were alone in a huge arena with only a few spectators on the stands. But the important people were here. They were what mattered. Kayla and Mia. I waved to them. The press apparently thought that I was waving at them, so they took pictures of that like crazy. What an insane profession, right?

I turned to the captain of the team. He was the tallest of the group and looked at me with awe in his eyes.

“We appreciate it so much that you took the time to come here today and support us, Mr. Coleman,” he said.

I put my hand on his shoulder. His whole body was trembling. Such a nice kid! “No problem, kids. And remember. It’s always Sean to you.”

I told them about some tactics and motivated them for the actual game. “Believe in yourself. That’s the key,” I said and high-fived with everyone.

I caught a glimpse of Kayla whose eyes shone. She was proud of me. It showed on her face. I demonstrated to her that I was good around kids and that earned me some points with her. Whoa, wait a bit! What points? Was I fighting for Kayla’s love or for Mia’s love? Everything was a hurricane in my mind. I didn’t know what to think or what to say anymore. Kayla and Mia’s smile. Yeah. That was something I could focus on.

The boys ran some more and I had to give it to them, they did pretty good for juniors. Yea, they needed a lot still for the professional league. But hey, we had all been there before. The beginnings were excruciatingly important in this business.

The practice ended with a touchdown as the piercing whistle shook my eardrums. The reporters didn’t stop for a single second—their cameras flashing and making that annoying ticking sound. How did they sort through more than a thousand photos of the same event? I admit, I couldn’t do it.

The boys hugged me, which would make Brent very happy. I was sure of that. I said goodbye to every single one of the boys in the team and gave them some final words of advice. I was really getting deep into this shit. In that moment I thought of myself as an experienced coach. And who knew? Perhaps I would be one many, many, many years down the road. It would be a waste of talent and potential for me to become a coach now.

I was still deep in thought when the boys went into the locker room and the cheerleaders came on the field. And that meant only one thing. I was well aware of it. I knew it. Trouble. In all capital letters. TROUBLE.

They were all dressed in pink and once they saw me, they threw their equipment or whatever on the ground and ran towards me. I was taken aback. I wasn’t supposed to deal with this.

“Sean! Sean Coleman! My baby! My hubby! Bae!” They screamed as they ran, making so much noise that I thought my ears would bleed from the sound. It was awful. But I couldn’t let my face speak my emotions. Fans were fans and they were all equal before my eyes. Blah, blah, blah.

I didn’t have to say anything. Apparently my appearance was enough. One blondie commented on my looks, another on my muscles and still another about my rod. Seriously? What the heck? I knew I had to get out of here.

“I’m sorry, ladies,” I said and started to shove them so that I could escape. But I couldn’t. There were so many of them. Like a colony of ants.

They were giving me their numbers written on small pieces of paper. They put them in my hands, in my shirt, in my pockets. I was going out of my mind. I didn’t expect this frenzy. What the fuck was happening?

My eyes scanned for the crowd and saw Kayla and Mia leaving. Kayla’s face was red and furious. I could understand where she was coming from. This looked so wrong from the stands. Any one would think the same.

“Ladies, can you please make way?” I said, but in vain.

And then I remembered. There were cameras everywhere. I couldn’t run after Kayla. They would film everything and a scandal would follow. The camera would catch me attempting to reconcile with Kayla. And boom! Kayla would once again be in the spotlight of the media. I would blow our cover. And plus I had promised Brent that I wouldn’t hint at being close with the two beautiful girls. What was I going to do? I was completely paralyzed. I realized that I ruined everything.

Checkmate, brother!