I can’t help but to be totally in awe of Eric, as the crowd around me roars for him. The fans in the stadium are going nuts, and, right now?

It’s all for him.

I watch him down there, standing up at the plate, ready to bat, and my heart feels like it could explode.

He’s mine.

Well, not officially of course, because no way would I let him actually put a name to us yet, but that man standing up at the plate, in all of his ridiculous hotness?

That man loves me.

And as he turns up towards the stands, and presses a kiss to his lips before pointing up at me?

I feel a little bit like a lovesick schoolgirl.

“One of these days,” Laci says to me, gently nudging my shoulder. “I want to hear all about how you two met. Maybe after your man is done batting.” She winks, before turning her attention to the game.

I watch him swing, nailing the ball, getting a double.

“He’s not really my man,” I tell her, before glancing down to Jackson who is jumping up and down and cheering Eric’s name in front of me, wearing a tiny little jersey with the name Wayne on the back right over the number 9.

“No? Huh. I swear he told me that you guys were together.”

“It’s a really long story.” I shake my head. “Like really long.”

“How long exactly? Because I pretty much have nothing planned for the next month.” She winks at me before rubbing her hand across her large stomach. “Jake is pretty protective right now, so, I don’t get out much.”

“It’s kind of sweet how doting he is on you,” I tell her with a smile, even though if I’m being fully honest? I’m sure that Eric would be the same way if I was...I shake my head, forcing the thought out of my mind.

Way to get ahead of yourself, Avery.

“It is, but it gets old fast. He means well...he’s just kind of an alpha. I guess they all are.” She shrugs before motioning towards our dugout. “Kinda goes with the job description I guess. Jake pretty much decides what he wants, and then steamrolls me until I go along with it.”

“Sounds familiar.” I sigh, before turning my attention to Eric, who is making a pretty hefty lead for himself on second base.

“Shit, Eric. Too far.” I mutter, leaning forward in my seat. “He always does that. Always has.” I sigh, my heart racing as I watch the game unfold.

Luckily, Emilio, the center fielder comes up to bat next, and hits a hefty triple, sending Eric in to score.

“Always? So, you’ve been following his career?” She raises an eyebrow at me, and I shake my head.

“No, at least, not in recent years. As to not bore you with the details...”

“Please do. Please. My life is pretty dull right now, so what’s boring to you will probably be incredibly exciting to me.”

I laugh softly, falling a little more in love with Laci. How could you not? The woman literally exudes sweetness.

I’m glad that out of everything here, at least I have made a really good friend.

I glance down to make sure that Jacks isn’t paying me any attention before starting.

“I’m not sure how much of Eric’s history you’re aware of.” I start, and she just shakes her head.

“Ok. So, none of it. I’m not going to share his past, it’s not my place. But, essentially, he came to live with my family and I when I was a junior and he was a senior in high school.”

“Ooo. Ok. So... you guys have history.” She winks, making me giggle.

“We have a whole damn encyclopedia of history. Several versions, actually.” I lick my lips before shaking my head.

“He moved in with my family. My dad is the head baseball coach back home, and Eric needed a little direction in order to get himself in the position for a scholarship. So, my dad took him in.”

I pause as the crowd cheers again, even though I completely miss what happened. I glance down to see Emilio trucking it home and wait for the fans to die down slightly before continuing.

“We tiptoed around our attraction to each other for a long time. Finally, we gave in and began being together. At first, we just tried hooking up to get rid of all of the tension.”

She bursts out laughing. “I see that worked.”

“Right.” I smile. “It totally backfired. Suddenly, we were a couple, dodging my dad so that he wouldn’t find out, spending every waking moment that we could...together.”

“Mmhmm. I see that this story has some heat.” She fans herself, making me giggle again.

“Yeah. There was a lot of that. Anyhow, fast forward to him getting a scholarship. He went away to school, and I still had a year left of high school.” I swallow hard. “He cheated on me.”

“Oh, shit.” She winces. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dug.”

“It’s ok. He cheated on me, more than once. And I was so young, and so in love, that it took me a really long time to believe it.”

“And?” She looks up at me, biting her lip.

“And then, well.  I just had to see it for myself. And so, I did.” I swallow hard before flicking my eyes up to hers.  “I literally saw it.”

“Oh my god, Avery. I’m so sorry...”

Me too.

“We broke up after that. He tried once to track me down and apologize, but, I wasn’t trying to hear him. That was the last time that I saw him. Until the day that I met you.”

“Until he came into the bar that you were working at.”

“Yep. He ended up getting me fired, and then, my apartment was broken into, and I really didn’t have any other place to go so...”

“You ended up here.”

“He gave me a job.”

“Oh, honey. He was always planning on giving you more than that.”

“That he was. And he has.”

Laci sighs, before shaking her head.

“Ok. So, there’s a lot there...”

“You can say that again.”

She’s quiet for a moment, before glancing over to me. “Are you going to give him another chance?”

“I’m trying.” I nod slowly, watching as Brock strikes out, and the rest of the guys take the field.

“I’m really trying. It’s like, he has his mind set on us getting back together, and, he’s basically...”

“Trying to steamroll you until you give in.” She finishes, before reaching down and squeezing my hand.

“Exactly.”

She releases my hand, before leaning into me with her shoulder.

“For what it’s worth, he’s a really good guy. I know he has the whole playboy reputation and all, but...he’s not like Brock or some of the other guys. There’s some good there. A lot of it, actually. And I can tell, that man loves you. Like, crazy madly is in love with you. I hope that you can make the right decision. For you and for your little guy.”

“Me too.” I blow out my breath and turn my focus back to the game.

I do hope that. But it’s so damn hard to try to think clearly about any of it.

When I’m with Eric, he smothers me with attention and love. And then, there’s that damn body of his...it’s like he can sense the moment that a second thought pops into my head, because suddenly he’s right there, causing my body to go weak from his touch and my mind to think of nothing else except how badly I want him...

But when I’m alone?

I can do nothing except think about how all of this is so, so wrong...and how not only am I setting myself up to get hurt?

I’m also sacrificing my child’s heart.

And if that gets broken?

I could never forgive myself.

**

“THIS WAY.” LACI TUGS me towards an exit, as a microphone is shoved in my face.

“Avery, right? I see that you’re wearing Eric Wayne’s jersey. Are you and he together? Is this Eric’s love child? Can I get a comment?”

“No comment.” Laci snarls up at him, before pulling me along.

“Ignore them, and just keep saying no comment.” She shouts into my ear, as she tugs me along. I cling onto Jackson, tucking his face into my neck.

“Avery, I want just a moment of your time.” The reporter shouts, following closely after us. “Can we put this on the record? You and Eric Wayne are together? Does this mean that he’s off the market?”

“No comment.” I continue, as Jackson glances up at him.

“You mean my daddy?”

Well, fuck.

After that, we’re swarmed even more.

“The kid just called Waynsie daddy! You were right, Donna. It is his love child.”

“She musta trapped him. Follow her!”

“Trapped him?” I glance up at Laci who just shakes her head. “Ignore them. Just, c’mon.”

We try to push our way through the crowd, but it’s absolutely no use.

Suddenly, we’re completely cornered.

Camera’s flash all around us, as a microphone is shoved into my face.

“Tell me, Avery! How does it feel to be with Eric? Did you get pregnant on purpose? Is he your ticket to the good life? How does it feel?”

Another microphone pushes in front of that one, as I look around in panic.

“I, ah...”

“Was that your plan? A rags to riches story? Housekeeper to Hollywood socialite? What have you got that’s going to keep a man like Eric around? Waynsie loves the women!”

The words are bouncing off me, but I’m so damn overwhelmed right now, that I can’t even focus. Lights flash all around us, as the reporters move in even closer. I’m absolutely freaking out, and Jackson must sense it because suddenly, he bursts into tears.

“No comment!” Laci screams, before letting go of me as her arms start to wave wildly. “Back up! Back the fuck up, please!”

One person steps back enough to give us a path. We barrel forward, barely making our way through before finally breaking free.

“Just keep moving,” Laci says, pulling me forward through the mass of people.

Finally, we reach a door and Laci quickly swipes a key card, opening up the door just enough for us to squeeze through before slamming it shut.

“Jesus,” I mutter, glancing back and seeing cameras still snapping through the glass window. “Is it always like this?”

“Pretty much.” She mutters. “Especially now that the guys aren’t out and about partying as much. Now, the cameras hound the wives. It’s annoying, but you’ll get used to it.”

“I doubt it.”

“You will.” She raises an eyebrow at me before punching the button for the elevator. “If you’re going to be with Eric, this is part of the package.”

“Is part of the package the media telling me that I could never keep him happy?”

“Sometimes. They’re all just looking for a good story. Even if it’s not a true story, they’ll take anything. Recently, one of them tried to tell me that Jake had gotten someone else pregnant.” She rolls her eyes.

“Now, I know that these guys can do bad things, but come on. I know my husband. He would never do that.”

I frown, as we step onto the elevator.

“See, that’s the problem. I totally know that Eric would do that.”

She sighs, before punching in a code on the elevator.

“You know that the old Eric would do that. But maybe the new one wouldn’t.”

“Unfortunately, still the same guy.”

Jackson sniffles against me so I squeeze him tighter.

“People do change.” Laci murmurs, before reaching out and scratching Jacksons back.

“Sometimes, they do.” I agree, before sighing. “And sometimes they just fool you into thinking that they do.  It’s just hard to tell the difference.”