The Game of Love: (BWWM Romance) Read online

  Austin wasn’t convinced. “So, why’d you decide that you could come with me all of a sudden?”

  As the sadness washed over her face, he knew the answer before she even said it. He would miss her too, immensely, and although he wasn’t too fond of a long-distance arrangement, for her, he was willing to try anything.

  “I want to be the last face you see,” she told him. “To make sure that you don’t forget me.”

  He wanted to laugh. If ten years apart hadn’t erased her from his memory, what did she think would happen now? Especially, now that he’d tasted her?

  “Do you really think I could?”

  She smiled. “Of course not.”

  They engaged in light conversation for the rest of the ride, skirting around the issue of Kyle. Austin still wasn’t satisfied, but he made Sommer promise that she would call him immediately if Kyle gave her any trouble. She’d waved away his request at first, but then after realizing that he was serious, she’d promised.

  Austin held her by the hand as they walked towards his gate and he took a moment to revel in the fact that no one was trying to take his picture or get his autograph. The minute he landed in Texas, he knew that would change. He’d be thrust back into the public eye and celebrity lifestyle, and it would only make him miss the small town privacy even more. It was one of the good things about being a professional football player—he was hidden behind a helmet for much of the game, so there were still parts of the world he could escape to where his celebrity wouldn’t follow. He was grateful for those moments of reprieve and knew that he wouldn’t stay away from home for another ten years. It felt good to be around people who simply knew him as Emma’s once badger-toothed, autumn-eyed boy that a solid pair of braces and weight-lifting equipment had done a world of good.

  “I think this the furthest that I can go,” Sommer told him, looking around. Her grip on his hand tightened. “Austin, I have to say goodbye now.”

  At that moment, those were the seven most dreaded words that he’d ever heard in his life.

  There were tears on her cheeks. As she tried to wipe them away, more fell in their place. “Thank you, Austin, for this bit of happiness in one of the most difficult times of my life,” she told him, her voice laden with heartache.

  Austin felt his chest swell. There was no way that she’d seen them as just a fling and the evidence of that was tumbling down her cheeks. So, why was she being so stubborn? Even if every odd in the world was stacked against them, he was still willing to try. This wasn’t fate. Fate said that there would be a way for them to be together, regardless of their fears or circumstances.

  “This isn’t goodbye, Sommer,” he vowed. “And even though I’ll miss your laugh, your smile and even the way you roll your eyes,” she laughed and lowered her eyes, “I won’t say goodbye.”

  He cradled her face and pressed their lips together for what he hoped wouldn’t be the last time.

  Picking up his carry-on, he made his way through the gate. As he entered the tunnel, he turned and gave her a final wave, dropping his hand only when she disappeared from sight.

  Chapter Four

  Two months later

  There it was frozen on the screen. Sommer had managed to remain in denial even after the several mornings she’d woken up feeling as though bricks were falling onto her head. Even when she’d missed her second period, she’d calmly gone to an out of town drugstore, picked up a test, and did not pass out when the display showed a hard plus sign.

  There was no denying it now. A few minutes ago, before she left the office to grab some paperwork, Dr. Stella Anim had shown her the baby. Her baby. Well, it wasn’t much of a baby since she was only about nine weeks along. It was more of a bundle of little blips on the screen whose bumps would soon turn into a head, arms, legs, and a tummy. Yet there, growing inside of her, was the life that had begun a little over two months ago.

  Then there was the issue of the father. Nine weeks ago, she’d been writhing underneath Austin’s meticulous lovemaking at the historic bed-and-breakfast. There was also no point between him throwing her onto the bed and filling her ever so slowly, that she remembered inserting her diaphragm. So that, coupled with the fact that she hadn’t been with anyone else since then, made it clear who the father was. The issue, of course, hadn’t been the “who.” It was the “what” she would do now that she had this piece of information. She and Austin hadn’t spoken since that day at the terminal. Though he had called several times, she wouldn’t answer because her feelings were too strong for a long distance fling. If she and Austin were going to be apart, she didn’t need random conversations full of emotion to confuse her.

  “I’m sorry, Stella. I forgot my jacket,” a woman’s voice at the door said. When she spotted Sommer laying on the table, she quickly apologized and backed out of the room. Then, a few seconds later, she came back in.

  “Is that you, Sommer?”

  Sommer looked up into the matching amber eyes of Arielle Riley-Wells, Austin’s older sister.

  “Arielle. Hi,” she greeted with a nervous hug. She then grabbed a few tissues off of the desk, wiped the remaining ultrasound goo from her stomach, and pushed up into a sitting position.

  “Sommer, are you pregnant?” Arielle asked, her eyes darting to the screen.

  “Something like that,” Sommer answered. “But you can’t tell anybody, Arielle. Not yet.”

  Arielle smiled and gave her a tight squeeze. “Of course not, honey. But I hadn’t heard that you were dating anyone. Actually, correction, Ma hasn’t told me that you were dating anyone.”

  Sommer smiled. As her mother and Emma Riley’s friendship had grown over the years, the pair had eventually shifted their focus to playing matchmaker for their children. Emma was currently in the lead with her success pairing up of her biomedical engineer daughter with her husband Justin Wells, a successful attorney.

  “It’s a guy that I’ve been seeing for a little while,” Sommer lied.

  Arielle eased down into a nearby chair. “Is he from here?”

  “New York. I met him on a day trip to Raleigh. He was in North Carolina on business.”

  Arielle wiggled her eyebrows. “Is he gorgeous?”

  Sommer thought of Austin’s face. “Very.”

  “What does Ms. Caroline think of him?”

  Sommer hesitated. “She hasn’t met him yet. She doesn’t know.”

  For some reason, that information didn’t surprise Arielle. The more she got to know Sommer, the more she realized how private and secretive she could be.

  “Are you planning to tell her?”

  “I will,” Sommer reassured. There was no way that she could hide her pregnancy living under the same roof with her mother. “It’s just that, because she hasn’t been doing well, I’ve been trying to keep the focus on her.”

  Arielle nodded, understanding.

  Dr. Anim reentered the room with a folder in her hands. “Arielle, what are you doing back here so soon?” she asked. “Are you in any pain?”

  Arielle looked at Sommer and then pointed to her stomach. “One of these little guys is breech. The boy. Stubborn already, just like his uncle.”

  Sommer’s thoughts ran to Austin once more.

  “But no, Stella,” Arielle answered. “I thought I’d left my jacket in here and bumped into Sommer. We were just catching up.”

  She pushed herself up to stand and Stella came around to help her. “Not too long now, thank goodness,” she said, sighing heavily once she was on her feet. “I’ll go ahead and leave you two. I’m sure my husband’s wondering where I ran off to, unless he’s found the cafeteria. In that case, I could be back here in labor and he would have to make sure he finished his burger before he came over.”

  She gave Stella a hug. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. You’d think I’d know the difference between Braxton Hicks and true labor by my fourth child.”

  When she finally left, Stella reclaimed her seat.

  “Here’s you
r paperwork, Sommer. You can leave the forms with Toya and she’ll set up your next appointment.” Her eyebrows then came together. “How are you doing, by the way?”

  Sommer knew that she was referring to her mother’s situation. “I’m fine,” she reassured. “Me and Mom will be thankful for this bit of happy news. Is the baby okay?”

  Stella smiled. “For the millionth time, the baby is fine. Will the father be coming the next time we meet?”

  “I’ll see if he can get away.” Her heart fluttered. “I’m really more concerned about him being there when we find out the baby’s gender. Which, by the way, will be?”

  “Around twenty weeks. Now go before you ask me to do the ultrasound again to make sure there’s a baby in there.”

  Not a bad idea, Sommer thought.

  With a warm hug, she left the office and dropped her paperwork off at the desk. Then, she ran across the medical center to the wing where her mother was being treated, hoping that her absence hadn’t aroused any suspicion. Caroline was already waiting for her by the time she arrived, exhaustion lines worn into her forehead.

  “You’re done, already?” Sommer asked.

  “I’m done, baby. Only two more rounds to go. Where did you run off to?”

  Sommer searched her mind for another lie. “I ran into Arielle Riley.”

  “Emma told me that Arielle should be having those babies any day now. She’s so excited, you’d never guess that she has two grandkids already.” Caroline nudged Sommer in the side. “Be nice to have a grandbaby.”

  Sommer shot her mother a teasing look, and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as they walked to the car.

  That night, Sommer was violently tossed back into reality. She kneaded the space between her mother’s shoulder blades while the older woman retched over the toilet, and it left her feeling nearly physically impaired watching her mother wither away into a frail and weak vestige of herself.

  She’d been spared the first time around. She’d been so young that the last thing her mother had wanted was for her to get a glimpse of the agony the illness had truly caused. Back then, Caroline had also been able to rely upon Sommer’s father, however the man’s attempts to pick up the slack and take care of the household had lost all value the minute he’d walked out the door with another woman. Now, it was just the two of them, and Sommer knew that as she grew rounder, it would be even more difficult to be what her mother needed.

  Sighing, Caroline flushed the toilet and retreated to the floor.

  “I raised a good daughter,” she said, leaning her back against the bathtub.

  “That’s what good mothers do,” Sommer affirmed, retrieving a wash cloth from the linen closet in the hallway.

  “As a good daughter then, you’ll understand.”

  “Understand what?” Sommer held the cloth underneath the faucet, dampened it, and handed it to her mother. Caroline dabbed the cool cloth over her forehead.

  “That I’m moving in with Reese and Marcie.”

  Surprised, Sommer turned off the faucet. “What are you talking about, Mom?”

  “You’re pregnant, Sommer.”

  Sommer nearly passed out where she stood. “How did you know?”

  “Mothers know.”

  “So, you’re leaving because I’m pregnant?”

  “I’m leaving because you and the baby will need the space.”

  Sommer gestured around the house. “Mom, this is more than enough space for me, you, and a baby.”

  As her strength slowly returned, Caroline pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the tub and touched the cloth to her cheeks. “Then, move in with the father.”

  Sommer didn’t respond.

  “I know you know who he is.”

  “I do.”

  “Is it Austin?”

  Shock rattled Sommer’s body once more and her eyes widened at her mother.

  “Don’t look at me all surprised like that,” Caroline warned. “You spent every waking moment with that boy when he was here and you two were still looking at each other all googly eyed like you did when you were in high school.”

  As surprised as she was, Sommer found herself laughing. “You witch of a woman. The things that you know.”

  Caroline smiled. “Does Austin know?”

  Sommer’s eyes went to something in the room other than her mother’s face. “No.”

  “When are you going to tell him?”

  When she didn’t answer, it was Caroline’s turned to be surprised. “You don’t think I’m going to stand around and let you not tell that boy about his child, do you?”

  “No,” Sommer answered. That, her mother would definitely not do. “But if it’s okay, I’d like to tell him on my own time.”

  “Which is?”

  “The end of the first trimester.”

  Caroline opened her mouth to protest, but then realization sunk in. “You think you’re going to lose that baby?”

  “I might.”

  “Any reason you think that might happen?”

  Sommer shrugged. “Because it happens. I wouldn’t want to get Austin all upset over a baby that might not even grow to term.”

  Caroline tossed the damp cloth back over to her daughter and pushed herself up into a standing position. Standing in front of her was a twenty-eight year old woman who wasn’t sure if she was going to tell the father of her child, a man she obviously loved more than life itself, about their baby. And while she’d understood Sommer’s reservations about miscarrying, it concerned her that her child was still living her life too reservedly.

  Sommer had always been afraid of making decisions, even the ones that were obviously good for her, because of the consequences that might ensue. Half the time, however, the consequences were what Sommer had made up in her head. It was that fear that kept her daughter at the bakery where she obviously wasn’t her happiest, but unfortunately, Sommer had inherited her bullheadedness, so telling her that would change nothing.

  “You don’t think he’d be happy?” Caroline asked.

  “He’s a bachelor, Mom. I’m sure the last thing he wants is a baby.”

  Although Caroline didn’t agree, she didn’t comment. Instead, she planted a kiss on her daughter’s forehead, touched her shoulder, and then made her way back to her bedroom. She’d give Sommer until the end of her first trimester as promised, but if she still didn’t tell Austin by then, she would take matters into her own hands.

  *****

  As much as Austin loved hanging out with Trent and Cason, this party was proving itself to be too much for him to handle.

  It was Trent and Alexandrina’s daughter Chloe’s first birthday, and they’d celebrated by throwing a pool party at Trent’s house in his sprawling backyard. However, the spirited family atmosphere only left Austin feeling even more depressed. Two months had passed and he still thought about Sommer daily without any end in sight. He had tried calling her many times. He didn’t understand why his calls went unanswered. But he heartbreakingly assumed, as she’d said the last time he saw her, that their summer together was just a fling in her eyes.

  “You’re scaring my daughter,” Trent told him as he walked over with a beer in his hand. “I swear, every time she looks over here and sees how depressed you look, she bursts into tears.”

  Austin popped the top on his beer and took a swig. When the light citrus taste hit his palate, he glanced at the label. “I didn’t know you were into fancy beers, Trent.”

  Trent lifted the bottle to his lips. “This beer isn’t that fancy, Austin. You just need to expand your horizons.”

  Austin laughed. “I do. At times. It’s just that I had this beer for the first time this past summer.”

  “With Sommer?”

  “Yeah.”

  Trent took another swig. “Your summer with Sommer. Is that why you’re over here looking so depressed?”

  Austin motioned to the guests. “Can you blame me? You have Cason over there hugged up on Amelia, and then there’s your lit
tle family. Even Tank brought a woman. Do you know what the odds are of a woman saying yes to that face?”

  Tank heard the jab, looked up, and pointed accusatorily at Austin, who tipped his beer in response.

  “Austin, you have your pick of the women in Texas,” Trent reminded. “You just don’t want them.”

  Austin rubbed away some of the condensation on the bottle. “Not yet. Maybe soon. I’m still licking my wounds.”

  Trent looked over to his wife and daughter. “It’ll take some time. I get where you’re coming from because I can’t imagine what my life would be like without Drina and Chloe, but it’s like this song Drina sings to Chloe at night. Que sera, sera.”

  “What will be, will be,” Austin translated. “I know it.”

  “So then you know that there’ll be other Sommers. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet a Spring or an Autumn.”

  Austin laughed and downed more of his beer.

  Suddenly, the lively chatter ceased and even the sound of children’s laughter died as the kids tuned-in that something was bothering the adults. When Austin looked up, Jessica was standing at the bi-fold patio doors with an arm wrapped around Alexandrina.

  “Dree, what is this?” Trent asked his wife. “Why’s she here?”

  “She’s my family, Trenton,” Alexandrina argued. “She wanted to be here for Chloe’s first birthday. I couldn’t just say no.”

  Trent shot an apologetic look towards Austin. “This is still my house. I can ask her to leave.”

  “It’s fine,” Austin reassured. “Doesn’t bother me.”

  Naturally, he scanned Jessica from head to toe and unfortunately, she still looked as good as the last time he saw her. She was wearing an olive green dress, strappy heels, and her long hair was piled on top of her head in an elegant bun. As his eyes traveled to her middle, he realized that her pregnancy must have been a rumor because her hips were just as slim as he’d remembered them. They were almost too slim, at least compared to Sommer’s curvy, feminine figure.

  When their eyes collided, she smiled and waved as though they’d been old friends. Then, she gave her cousin a kiss on the cheek, brushed a wave towards Trent, and made her way over to where he was sitting.