Roxy’s whole body shakes in my arms. Her father’s a dick. What’s he going to say to her when he finds out Ezra is engaged to someone else? He’s gonna lose his shit.
What’s worse? Me or the cheater?
I stare Coach straight in the eye. “That’s right. I’m the father. So what? I’ll take care of Roxy and whoever comes along.”
Roxy stills. Sniffles. Looks up at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am, but someone needs to stick up for her.
Leaning down, I kiss her on the forehead. “I got you, Rox. Everything will be okay.”
I can only hope that my words ring true, because I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.
15
BILLY
Roxy looks sosmall huddled in a blanket on her bed. We’re camped out in her room with some burgers I picked up on the way to her apartment. I would’ve brought her back to my place, but I’m not sure what kind of state it’s in. I think I cleaned up all of the puke, but I’m not entirely sure.
Her roommates aren’t around, so it’s just us.
I finish eating my burger and toss the wrapper in the small wastebasket. It’s very IKEA in here. All white linens and pink pillows. Rox has cheer photos everywhere in little collages that have been framed. I never realized how girlie she is, but it makes sense.
Leaning closer to one of the photos, I smile at the beautiful girl beaming back at me. “Is this high school?” I point at the pic, and she nods. She hasn’t said much since we left her father’s office. She has to be humiliated. All of the staff and half the team heard Coach bitch her out.
I sit next to her and wrap my arm around her. “Babe, you gotta eat something. Think of the bean.”
“The bean?”
“Yeah, she’s the size of a bean.”
Her eyebrows crinkle. “You think it’s a girl?”
I ponder that a moment. “I do. And she’ll be as beautiful as her mother and every bit the heartbreaker.” Roxy rolls her eyes, and I chuckle. “You’re eating for two now, so you shouldn’t skip meals.”
“That’s a myth. A pregnant woman doesn’t actually need twice the calories.”
There’s my feisty girl. “But ya gotta feed her something, right? When was the last time you ate?”
She shrugs. “I had a smoothie this morning.”
“And now it’s almost four, so you need to eat. If a burger doesn’t sound good, tell me what you want, and I’ll run out and grab it for you.”
Her eyes well with tears. “I can’t handle you being so nice to me right now.”
I laugh and kiss the top of her head. “And why’s that?”
She looks down and whispers, “My family should be comforting me. They should be the ones who make sure I eat. They should be looking after me. But they’re not. My dad doesn’t care.”
Damn. That hits me square in the fucking feels.
I squeeze her tight. “Your dad’s just got his head up his ass right now. It might take a few days for him to extract it.” Or weeks. “Give him some time. He’ll come around. He loves you. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t give a shit what you’re up to.”
Rox grabs my hand and pulls it to her chest before she turns to me. “You have to tell Coach you’re not the father. My dad will ruin you if you don’t.”
A part of me wholeheartedly agrees. It was the very reason I planned to tell her we shouldn’t date after all.
But then I saw her dad bitching her out, and I couldn’t stomach seeing her so brokenhearted and inconsolable. In aflash, all of my solid reasons for not dating her flew out the window.
I shrug with a nonchalance I don’t feel. “What can Coach do? Bench me? The season doesn’t start for months. Maybe he’ll get over it by then. He can’t exactly cut me from the team. I didn’t violate any athletic or academic rules. Plus, my father is an attorney, and he’d sue his ass.” Not because he cares about me, but he would flip the fuck out with embarrassment if I got kicked off the team.
