The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (90 page)

I went back and poured myself a glass of wine, taking an aspirin and washing it down. I looked out my kitchen window and listened to Judd’s low voice rumbling in the other room.

It began to calm my nerves.

Well that, coupled with the wine, began to calm my nerves.

I took my wine and picked up the movie I’d rented from a machine at the grocery store earlier and put it in. I hoped Judd was in the mood for a love story.

The previews had just finished when Judd came out of Karrie’s room, shutting the door behind him. He walked over and sat down on the couch next to me. He took the wine glass out of my hand and set it on the end table next to the couch, then eased me down so I was lying with my head in his lap.

When he leaned back and settled in, he started to run his fingers through my hair, and I brought my hand up to discreetly brush away the tears that were forming in my eyes.

CHAPTER 28

JUDD

––––––––

S
am was still sleeping soundly on the couch when I heard Karrie stirring in her bedroom. I gently eased my arm out from under Sam’s head and rolled off the couch.

I looked down to make sure I hadn’t woken Sam, then went back to Karrie’s room and slowly opened the door.

Karrie was sitting up on the bed, looking dazed and sleepy, but when she saw me peeking through the doorway her face lit up.

“Dudd!” she yelled happily.

I put a finger to my lips and said, “Shhh. We don’t want to wake up your mommy.”

Karrie grinned.

“Do you want to help me make breakfast?” I asked, walking up to her with my arms outstretched.

Karrie nodded and put her arms up to meet mine.

I started to walk out and I made an exaggerated movement to look around the corner to make sure Sam was still asleep on the couch, which only caused Karrie to giggle more.

Damn, that had to be the best sound in the world.

I tip-toed into the kitchen. I turned to Karrie and asked, “Where do you keep the food?”

She pushed away from me and shimmied down, urging me to place her on the floor. When her padded feet hit the linoleum, she walked over to a cupboard and looked up at me, pointing to the door.

I opened the cupboard and looked around. I turned back around, a box of pancake mix in hand, and handed it to Karrie to hold while I looked for a pan. I found two, and then I looked in the fridge for the milk, eggs, and some bacon.

I put everything on the counter and turned to pick up Karrie and sit her on the counter as well. I took the pancake mix from her hands, warming at the way she smiled up at me.

I tweaked her nose and then reached above her for a bowl. When I poured all of the ingredients into the bowl, I placed the whisk in Karrie’s palm and put my large hand around her tiny one. We mixed it all together as the pan heated.

I was dropping a spoonful of mix into the pan when Sam’s voice filled the kitchen.

“Good morning. What’s all this?”

“‘An’akes,” Karrie said sweetly.

“Mmmm, pancakes?” Sam responded, leaning in to nuzzle Karrie’s neck, causing her to squeal in delight. She then leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I responded with a smile.

“Thanks for last night,” she whispered in my ear.

“Happy to help,” I responded, and I had been. I heard the stress in Sam’s voice when I’d talked to her on the phone last night.

I’d been high on our win and excited at the prospect of showing Sam off to the team and celebrating with her. But when I’d hung up the phone I was no longer concerned about hanging out at the bar with the guys. I wanted to get to Sam and help her through whatever had put that stress in her voice.

When I’d arrived and seen her tear-stained face and heard Karrie’s pathetic wailing, I felt an overwhelming need to fix things for the both of them.

It was satisfying to know that I’d made things easier on the two of them. I hoped that in the future, Sam would feel comfortable coming to me for help instead of trying to push me away and do everything on her own. Now I just needed to work up the nerve to tell her that.

“Do you need me to do anything?” Sam asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“You can set the table,” I replied.

Once I had a pile of pancakes and a plate of bacon, I moved them to the table and sat down, suddenly starving.

We started to plate our food and my phone beeped.

“Meeting at the field in 30. On my way to pick you up.”

It was from Tuck.

“Got it.”

“Everything okay?” Sam asked as she took a bite of bacon.

“Yeah. I have to meet the team in thirty minutes at the field, so my buddy is coming by to pick me up.”

“That’s right; you said you were dropped off last night. Where’s your bike?”

“It’s at the ball field. We were already on our way to the bar when I called, so I just asked to be dropped off rather than drive back to the field,” I explained.

Sam nodded and played with the food on her plate a bit before saying, “I’m sorry about the way I was on the phone last night.”

“Hey.” I reached out and ran my hand up her arm, caressing her. “I get it. You were having a rough night. I just want you to know that when you are having a bad day you can come to me for help.”

“Dudd,” Karrie said, reaching her hand toward me, trying to get my attention.

“Someone’s jealous,” Sam said with a smile.

I ran my hand along Karrie’s arm, the same way I’d done with Sam, and was rewarded with a smile and a giggle.

Once we were all done we cleared the table, but Sam stopped me before I could.

“I’ve got it,” she said, ushering me toward the living room.

I grabbed Karrie from her high chair and took her with me, letting her down in front of her toy box and sitting on the floor next to her.

“What do you want to play with?” I asked Karrie, laughing when she almost toppled into the bin. I grabbed her legs and helped her out. She turned and handed me a barn toy that she’d managed to secure from the bottom of the bin.

I opened the door and pressed the cow. Karrie clapped when a mooing sound erupted from the toy.

She leaned in and pressed the sheep, then clapped when it baa’d.

Karrie turned and backed up until she landed in my lap. She sat back and brought the barn closer to her, pressing the buttons for each animal and clapping every time they made a sound.

There was a knock at the door and assuming it was Tuck, I tried to get up to answer it. I was placing Karrie on the couch when Sam beat me to the door.

I heard Tuck’s voice when she opened it, saying, “Hey is Judd here?”

I shouted, “Coming!”

I bent down to Karrie and smiled. “I’ll see you later, baby girl.” I kissed her swiftly on the cheek, then rose and walked to the door.

Sam was standing in the open door, her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her expression, but I saw Tuck’s.

He was frozen...shocked.

“Everything okay, man?” I asked with concern as I neared him.

When I got to the door, I looked at Sam and saw the identical expression on her face.

“What’s going on?” I asked, puzzled.

Sam shook her head and looked at me, pain and confusion apparent on her face.

“He’s Karrie’s father,” she answered, turning my world upside down.

CHAPTER 29

SAMANTHA

––––––––

“W
hat are you doing here, Tucker?” I asked tightly. I hadn’t seen him since the day I’d told him I was pregnant. I’d worked very hard to ensure that I didn’t see him.

“I’m here to pick up Judd for practice,” he answered. The expression on his face would have been hysterical if his words didn’t make me want to cry.

“He’s the buddy you were talking about?” I asked, turning to Judd for the first time since I’d answered the door.

Judd looked dumbfounded. He looked from me to Tucker and back again.

“Wait...” Judd began. “What?”

“This is the girl you’ve been seeing?” Tucker asked Judd, a bewildered look on his face. “You never said she had a kid.”

“It never came up,” Judd said dryly. He turned back to me. “Tuck is the one-night stand at the frat house?”

Judd looked back at Tucker, his movements stiff.

“You never said that
you
had a kid,” Judd countered.

“I don’t,” Tucker responded plainly.

I wanted to punch him in the throat.

Judd was studying Tucker curiously, his mouth open, but no words were coming out. I’d really hoped we’d never get to this point where Judd and Tucker met.

I was shocked and disheartened to find out that not only did they know each other, but that they were friends.

I couldn’t believe that Judd was friends with someone like Tucker.

“She has your hair,” Judd said calmly, still studying Tucker. “And your eyes.”

Tucker shook his head, as if doing so would erase the fact that he’d fathered a child. The movement seemed to snap Judd out of his reverie.

“What do you mean, you don’t?” Judd asked, his voice starting to rise. “You just admitted that you had sex with Sam and she had a kid, didn’t you? I mean, you sure as shit haven’t denied it.”

“I told Samantha when she told me about the pregnancy that I wanted nothing to do with the child. I’m not even on the birth certificate,” Tucker explained wearily.

“So you’ve never met Karrie? Never seen her? And you don’t want to?” Judd asked incredulously.

“That’s right,” Tucker responded.

“I don’t understand,” Judd said.

“What I don’t understand is how you can be friends with him,” I broke in, turning to face Judd.

“Mommy?” Karrie’s little voice came from the living room.

“Go,” I said sternly to Tucker. “I don’t want her to see you.”

Tucker nodded and turned to go, grabbing on to Judd’s arm as he did. Judd shook Tucker’s arm off, looking at him angrily.

“We have to get to practice, Judd. The coach is expecting the entire team.”

I looked at Judd and said, “You need to go too.”

Judd looked at me, the anger still on his face, but I thought I saw hurt flash in his eyes.

“We need to talk about this,” he said.

“I know,” I assured him. “But I need to be alone for a while to think.”

Judd sighed deeply looking from Tucker to me one last time before saying, “I’ll be back later.”

He stalked off down the stairs and got in Tucker’s car. I shut the door quickly, leaning my head against it as the tears began to pour down my face.

“Mommy,” Karrie said again, coming up and wrapping her arms around my legs.

I crouched down on my knees and hugged her to me, crying softly. I tried to control my sobs so as not to scare her, and I held her close and ran my hand over her hair.

“I love you, Karrie. Never forget that. I will do my best to be everything that you need and to always make sure you know that you are loved and wanted.”

Karrie patted my back softly with her little hand, trying to console me as only a two-year-old can.

I wiped my tears before pulling back and did my best to smile at my beautiful baby as I ran my hands over her curls and cupped her chin. I leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth.

Karrie smiled at me and asked, “Dowa?”

I laughed and said, “Yes, you can watch Dora.”

I put on the DVD and walked into the kitchen. I grabbed my cell phone and shot a quick text out to James and Molly simply stating,
“I need you.”

I busied myself with the breakfast dishes while I waited. Regret filled me thinking about how perfect things had been when I woke up this morning. When I’d walked into the kitchen and saw Judd and Karrie making breakfast, my heart had melted.

“Sam,” Molly shouted from the front of the house.

“Kitchen,” I responded.

I heard Molly say hello to Karrie and I turned to wait for her to come in the kitchen.

Her curly hair was everywhere, and her face looked frantic. It was obvious by her pink sweat pants and teal tank top that she’d thrown on whatever was available. Her flip-flops slapped against the tile as she rushed in.

“Are you okay?” she asked, walking right up to me and looking me up and down as if expecting to see an injury.

“Hey, nugget. Where’s your mommy?” James asked as she entered the house.

Molly grimaced. “James is here?” she asked in a voice so low I barely heard her words.

James rounded the corner clad in black jeans with chains, combat boots, and a cute bustier style top. Her hair was streaked with hot pink.

“Everything okay, Sam?” James asked, flicking her eyes over Molly. “Must be serious to put out a distress call to me
and
Little Orphan Annie.”

“Shove it, Kat Von Dee,” Molly shot back.

“Language...” James put a finger to her ruby red lips and gestured toward the living room in mock horror.

“Guys,” I said, trying to put a halt to their banter. “Judd is friends with Tucker... He was at my house this morning.”

“Tucker—Tucker?” Molly asked, her eyes wide.

“Did Karrie see him?” James asked.

We all sat down at the table and I looked at the two best friends I’d ever had.

“No, she didn’t. We were all shocked. None of us had any clue that the others knew each other. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so terrible.”

“How do they know each other?” James asked.

“Baseball.”

“Oh... Did you know Tucker played?” Molly asked.

“No. We didn’t exactly talk about our extracurricular activities. It was basically just the one night of sex and then the pregnancy talk a few weeks later. That’s the extent of our time together. I didn’t know Tucker’s last name, and I only had eyes for Judd the few times I’ve been to a game. I can’t believe I never noticed him.”

“Are they friends?” Molly asked.

“Yeah,” I said, looking down at my hands as I talked. “Judd’s been talking about this friend of his since we met, but he never mentioned him by name, and I’ve never met any of his friends.”

“But didn’t Judd know that Tucker had a kid? If they’re such good friends, you’d think that would come up,” Molly argued.

“No, Judd said the same thing. I guess Tucker’s never mentioned Karrie to anyone.” I choked back a sob. I couldn’t fathom caring so little for someone I’d helped make. I said as much to the girls. “How can someone be so cold?”