Chapter 7

Lauren

When he opened the door and walked away, I wasn't sure what to do. I could tell by his expression when he turned around that I was the last person he expected to see standing there. It only took a second for me to get all tongue tied. He was standing in sweats, and his naked chest was calling out to me. I wanted to touch him so badly. Then that damn hair had just had his hands in it, I could tell. It was getting a bit long, which made him even sexier. He was being a jerk. I'd just driven for hours to hear him tell me to go away. Not one part of me should have wanted him, but every single part of me want to grab the back of his head and claim those arrogant lips of his.

Once his phone rang, I didn't have a moment to think. Everything moved so fast, but I definitely didn't miss his reaction when I asked if he had a child. He was leaving, and I had two choices. I could go back home and most likely never have a chance to explain myself again, or I could go with him. It wasn't like he was running to the store or anything. He was going to the hospital where I was sure every single person in his family would be. I didn't even have time to think about my answer. He took off for his car, and I hurried behind him. By the time I opened the passenger side door, he was in and had the car started. As soon as I closed the door, he took off.

I could feel the worry oozing from him, and I felt bad. There was no doubt that he loved his sister. He was right to rush to her side. The only person that would run to help me was my grandma. I'd never have made it without her.

“About Eric's number,” I said.

I didn't want to bring it up, but I didn't know what else to do. There was no way I wanted to meet the family of the guy that couldn't stand me and was the one I was competing with for a job. They already had so much going on from the sound of it. My plan was to get out what I had to say on the drive. Then I'd get a cab back to his apartment, get my car, and go.

“I don't give a shit,” he snapped. “I just sent it in case you needed it.”

“Really?” I snapped back.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Bullshit!”

“Whatever,” he replied.

“I wasn't going to call him,” I said defensively.

“Why'd you keep it?” he asked.

“I don't know,” I answered honestly. “At the time, I was afraid you'd gotten the job done. I was so damn worried. When he gave it to me, I shoved it in my pocket. It must have gotten stuck to my phone when I pulled it out to use it as a light.”

“So you could get dressed and bail without me fucking knowing,” he said roughly.

“It wasn't like that,” I mumbled.

“Then what was it?” he asked, as he turned to me.

“I don't know,” I answered, as I quickly looked away from him.

“So you did think about calling him,” he said.

“No, yes, no, fuck,” was all I could come up with.

“I already told you, I don't care,” he said before turning on the radio to cut the conversation off.

He pulled into the hospital lot and parked his car.

“Who's Jackson?” he asked.

“What?” I asked trying to give myself a second to come up with something.

“Who. Is. Jackson?” he asked again, making sure I heard each word clearly.

After a moment of me not responding, I heard a rumble in his chest.

“You know what, nevermind,” he snapped. “That is none of my business. You can fuck as many people as you want, I just won't be one of them.”

He hurried out of the car with a slam of the door. I thought about running but didn't get the chance.

“Get your ass out here,” he demanded.

I got out and met him in front of his car.

“I'm not going in there,” I said. “I'll get a cab back to my car.”

“Bullshit!” he snapped. “You're going with me. We're not finished talking yet. I'm sure you came here to say more than you have. Now get moving. I do have to warn you though, my family is not normal.”

“You couldn't have said that before I got in the car with you?” I asked.

He started walking, and I followed behind him.

“Lance,” I said.

He slowed a bit for me to catch up before walking quickly again.

“What?” he asked a bit calmer than before.

“Why do you need to beat your parents here?” I asked.

“They don't know that my sister is pregnant,” he said.

“You already have a niece,” I said. “Why would that matter?”

“My dad is going to flip his shit,” he said. “I told her to tell them. I told her it was a bad idea to keep it from them. She insisted on waiting, and now it's going to bite her in the ass hard.”

“What's the big deal?” I asked, as he stopped at the desk.

“You'll see,” he said before turning to the woman behind the desk and asking about his sister.

I stepped back to give him space. When he turned back around toward me, he had a nervous look on his face. It was strange seeing him like that. He was usually so damn confident. Seeing him unsure made him feel almost human to me.

“Come on,” he said. “We have to hurry. I think he's already here.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

“The nurse said a very upset man came through dragging his poor wife behind him,” he said with a laugh. “It had to be my dad and mom.”

We got there as fast as we could. He stopped outside a door and began to push it open. Then he stopped frozen, and I instantly heard why.

“Pregnant! How could you not tell us, Sammie?” A very deep male voice yelled out from inside the room. “I don't get it. You know how I feel. This is not a joke to me. I almost lost you and your mom when she gave birth to you.”

“I'm sorry, Dad,” a female answered.

“Where's your man?” the angry man demanded to know. “I'm going to kick his ass.”

“Dad,” she snapped. “It wasn't James' fault. He wanted to tell you. He said it was a bad idea to keep it from you. I was the one that insisted we wait.”

“Oh really?” he snapped back. “You didn't learn before that you shouldn't keep things from your old man. I can't believe this shit.”

“Settle down, Hotshot,” a much calmer female voice said. “Knock it off. If you didn't watch her every second the last time she was pregnant, she wouldn't have kept it from you. You need to settle your ass down before you need your own damn bed in here.”

I leaned in closer to Lance.

“You were right,” I whispered with a laugh. “They're crazy.”

“That man does not hold back,” he whispered back.

Lance opened the door a few more inches and the woman in the bed came into view. She was beautiful, but she looked nothing like her brother.

“Lancie knew,” she said, as she pointed toward the door.

“Shit!” Lance grumbled, as he pulled back quickly to close the door. “What the fuck are you laughing at?”

“Lancie,” I whispered with a laugh.

“Hold it right there, Son,” the man snapped loud enough that I jumped and grabbed Lance's arm.

Lance took a deep breath and pushed the door open the rest of the way.

“You knew,” the man said with his back to us.

When he turned around, and I saw his face, I gasped loud and my hand instantly moved up to cover my mouth.

“Did you know?” he asked with his eyes narrowed at Lance.

“How could you not,” Lance snapped. “Seriously! Are you two blind? She's been acting all weird, and James has been waiting on her hand and foot.”

“I just thought she was crawling all over his ass to irritate me,” his dad said.

He turned back to the bed and took a step toward Sammie. I had to give her credit, he looked like he was going to rip her head off, and she didn't look the least bit worried.

“This is crazy,” he said. “How far along are you?”

She looked at him but didn't answer.

“Sammie,” he growled.

That must have been where Lance got it. The man scared the shit out of me.

“Four and a half months,” she said.

“What!” he yelled.

“Lance,” the pretty, small woman next to him said sternly.

“Do not Lance me, Woman,” he said a little less stern than before.

“Calm your shit down before they throw us out of here,” she said.

“I just can't believe my little girl kept this from me,” he said in a defeated tone.

The man went from irate to calm with a few words from his wife. I couldn't believe my eyes or ears. After a moment, the woman looked over at me.

“I'm Lance's mom Lucy,” she said. “This big, cranky man is his dad Lance.”

“Oh, I know who he is,” I said nervously.

I couldn't believe I was standing in front of Lance Smith. He was one of the best pitchers ever. Then it hit me. Lance's mom hadn't named him after a player, she'd named him after his father. I looked over at Lance feeling like such an idiot. I could see the smile playing at the corners of his lips and wanted so badly to knock his sexy ass out. That or kiss him, one or the other.

“He's your dad,” I mumbled.

“Sure is,” Lance said with a laugh. There was no hiding that smile anymore.

“You let me sound like a jackass making fun of your name,” I said.

“What's wrong with his name?” his dad asked sternly.

Shit!

“Nothing,” I said nervously.

“You think that's bad,” Lance said. “She called you an old, retired ballplayer.”

“I did not,” I said, so damn afraid of what his dad was going to say.

Lance narrowed his eyes at me, and I felt that shit all the way down to my toes.

“Maybe I did,” I said. “I just.”

I stopped talking when I heard the door open just behind me.

“Run,” Lance whispered from next to me.

“No you don't,” his dad growled. “You keep your ass right there. You get your ass in here, James Reid.”

James Reid, I thought. He couldn't be serious.

In walked James Reid with a little girl. She immediately jumped from his arms to Lance's.

“Lancie,” the little girl yelled out in excitement.

I leaned a little closer to him.

“James Reid is your brother-in-law, Lancie,” I said.

“Yes, he is, and do not ever say that again,” he grumbled.

“You don't think you could have mentioned any of that in the bar that night?” I asked.

He smiled wide, obviously thinking it was hilarious that I'd looked like a complete fool.

“What did you do to my little girl?” Lance's dad snapped toward James.

“I told her to tell you,” James said in his own defense.

Even James, another amazing pitcher, was afraid of the big man.

“You're blaming me?” Sammie asked in an innocent tone that had me smiling.

“Don't you dare,” Lance said from beside me. “You just threw my ass under the bus a moment ago.”

James turned to me.

“You're Lauren, aren't you?” he asked, trying not to make it obvious that he wanted the pressure off of himself.

“Yes,” I said nervously. “You're James Reid. I can't believe this.”

“That I'm part of this crazy family, I couldn't agree with you more,” he said with a smile. “You don't look mean or at all like a pain in the ass.”

“What?” I asked a bit shocked at his words.

“Don't listen to him,” Lance quickly cut in. “He's just afraid that my dad is about to beat his ass.”

“I'm Sammie,” Lance's sister said. “You're the competition.”

I looked over at Lance when he started laughing and couldn't help but smile. Hearing him laugh calmed me. It was the best sound ever. The cocky, demanding guy had the sweetest laugh.

“This is the woman that's had you all twisted up?” his dad asked. “She's just a little thing.”

“Leave her alone,” his mom quickly cut in before Lance had a chance to respond.

The doctor walked in, and Lance didn't waste any time using it as his opportunity to get out of the room.

“We'll be in the waiting room,” he said. “I'll take Jilly with us.”

He turned around and was gone. I followed after him and listened the whole time. He was having the cutest conversation with his little niece. I could see the tight bond they had. It brought me back to that moment in his apartment when he hurried to set me straight on him not having kids. With him being so close to her, I was surprised at how quickly and just how strongly he'd reacted. His response made me realize just what he'd think about Jackson. His mention of only being twenty-one told me all I needed to know.

As soon as we were in the waiting room away from everyone else, I stormed over to him.

“Seriously?” I snapped roughly.

“What?” he asked innocently.

Must run in the family, I thought.

“You're dad is Lance Smith. The pitcher for the Pirates,” I said.

“My mom doesn't seem so crazy now, does she?” he asked with a smile planted on his face.

He was proud of himself. That made me even more pissed than I had already been. Without another word I sat down and watched him interact with his niece. It was absolutely adorable. How was he the same man I'd met before, I wondered? He was so sweet to her. She had him wrapped around her little finger. He was up at the vending machine buying her everything she was asking for. I couldn't take my eyes away from them. How could he be so good with her but so quick to let me know there was no way he had kids?

It seemed like only a few minutes later when his parents, sister, and brother-in-law walked into the waiting room.

“They letting you leave?” he asked his sister.

“Sure are,” she said. “It ended up being nothing.”

“Don't you tell him that, Sammie,” their dad quickly jumped in. “The doctor said you need to get some rest. We need to get you home. I'll be right there for anything you need.”

“That is why I didn't want to tell you,” she said.

“You kids are going to be the death of me,” he said. “I will be there every moment. If you don't like it, quit getting pregnant.”

Sammie rolled her eyes and shook her head at her father. She thought he was a pain in the ass, but she didn't realize just how lucky she was.

“We're going to James and Sammie's,” their dad added. “We'll get food on our way over.”

“It was nice to meet you all,” I said. “I'm going to have Lance drop me off on the way. I'm glad everything is okay.”

“Oh no you don't,” their dad said. “I need to see what all the hype is about. You come over to the house with Lance. You don't need to be driving right back home. You live in Ohio, right?”

I looked over at Lance, who turned to face the other way, before responding.

“Thank you, but I don't want to interfere with your family time.”

“That's nonsense,” he replied. “You come over with Lance.”

I looked over at Lance, and he just shook his head before leaning over and hugging his sister.

“You're okay?” he asked.

“I'm fine,” she answered.

“I love you, Sammie,” he said.

“I love you too, Lancie,” she said.

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me.

“Do not laugh,” he said sternly. “It only encourages her.”

James took Jillian from Lance.

“We'll see you in a few,” James said.

“We'll be there,” Lance said.

Lance turned around and walked away, so I hurried behind him. Just before we got to the car, I couldn't hold back any longer.

“You know I live in Ohio,” I said.

He opened his door and looked over the top of his car at me.

“I didn't bother asking you how you knew exactly which apartment I live in, did I?”

Then he got in, shut the door, and started the car.