Chapter Ten
I was out for the season. The doctors didn’t think surgery yet, but there was a lot of rest and ice in my future. I hung around the house and took care of myself until I couldn’t stand it any longer. A few friends reached out, and I left town to visit them in their home cities. We went out, and I tried to find peace in myself as I struggled missing everything that I’d lived for. It was tough to stomach the team on television fighting for the championship and I felt the intense guilt at not being there for them.
My injury slowed me down with the women, but I wasn’t in the mood for that anyway. I still missed Jennifer, and there was something inside of me that told me to reach out to her right now. I had never known her number and didn’t want to ask Coach, with all of his stress. I found myself visiting Pennsylvania, Maryland and finally Boston as I remembered that she’d moved back there. All it took was a little research to know that she was working for the pro hockey team. My friend Chad scored us some tickets to see a game, and I took my seat in the front seats with my arm in a sling as I looked around the arena.
Hockey was different than football, but I had a hell of a lot of respect for the guys. They were dealing with speed and ice as well as some of the same factors that I faced on a daily basis. I watched them practice for the crowd and appreciated their skill. Seeing their closeness in their conversations and the way that they worked together made me miss my team immensely. Nothing was like being on a team unless it was Jennifer. She was the one thing that I’d wanted as much as football, and I turned my head to look at the home bench with heavy eyes. Some of the players were gathered around the two well-dressed men that I assumed were the coaches, and it took me a moment to find a light redhead sitting on the bench and talking closely with a player. I straightened up to see more of her and my heart pounded when I saw her beautiful smile cross her face. Something was different about her, and I growled when I saw the player slip an arm around her shoulders and pull her in for a light hug. Her hair was longer, pulled up into a smooth ponytail and her face seemed to be glowing. Her eyes were tired but bright. She stood and took a deep breath as she slipped her hands over her rounded stomach.
Fuck me. Jennifer was pregnant and fairly far along by the looks of things. My mind was racing, flashing back to our night together and the way it had felt to come inside of her tight pussy. I stood and made my way to the glass behind the bench. I vaguely heard my friend call my name. Jennifer looked out to the ice and laughed as I stared through the back of her head for several moments. She was so fucking beautiful, and I wanted to claim her as mine right here and now.
She finally turned and said something to the coach before her eyes searched the crowd with a frown. She met my eyes and her face paled as she pressed her lips together and said something to the man beside her. She stared at me, and I saw raw emotion pass through her eyes as she pointed to the top and left the bench.
I rushed up the stairs to look for her, and my hands shook when I watched her come towards me dressed in the burgundy color of her new team. Her eyes were distressed, and I cupped her face in my hands, kissing her as she tried to say something. “What the fuck is up with you just disappearing like that? You never told me, never said goodbye. I got nothing from you.”
“Justin,” she said, and I pulled away to see her crying. “Are you okay? What are you doing here?”
“I’m out for the season. I’m traveling and trying to stay away from the television as much as possible,” I replied as she nodded and covered my hands with hers. “I heard that you were here. I looked for you online, and here you are, beautiful as hell.” My eyes dropped down to her stomach as her eyes widened. “You’re so beautiful like this. Who is the lucky guy?”
Jennifer swallowed and looked down, trying to smile. “I…didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“Why not?” I asked as I looked into her eyes.
“You’re going through enough right now. I didn’t want to add more to your plate,” Jennifer said as people rushed to their seats around us to see the first face-off of the game. “This is your baby, Justin.”
“What the fuck,” I breathed as I took her hand and pulled her to a less congested end of the stadium.
“I have to be available for the team,” she told me as I got to an end and pulled her through a door where we could see the rink from a dark corner.
“Always the good worker,” I muttered. She looked at the screen and then me with big eyes. “Talk to me. Why is it mine?”
Her face darkened as she stared at me but I didn’t look away. “I was only with Keith and we were always very careful. Don’t you remember our night?”
“Remember it? I can’t stop thinking about it, Jen. Are you sure about this?” The name of her former lover made my jealousy flare up, and I clenched my fists.
“I don’t sleep around. I never have, Justin. That’s your world,” she said, more tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Not anymore. Not since this fucking injury and realizing that I only want you. I tried to fuck you out of my system, but it didn’t work. Now, there’s a baby, and I can’t walk away now.” I held onto her face and kissed her hard as she molded her growing breasts against me and met my tongue with her own. She tasted like heaven. “I love you, Jennifer.”
The game played around us, and I heard everything that was happening as I slid my hands over her body to feel the changes in her curves. “You do?”
“Yes. More than I’ve ever loved anybody,” I replied, and Jennifer smiled against my lips as she kissed me again.
“I love you, Justin. I have from the beginning though I tried so hard to stop. So hard.” Jennifer was crying as she clung to me and I heard something called out over the loudspeaker as she turned her head and looked towards the ice. A player was down, and she gasped before she pecked my lips. “We’re having a girl. I have to go down there. Watch for a while and I’ll find you after the game.”
Jennifer was gone, and I stepped out of the dark as the news played through my mind. A girl. A beautiful little girl. I couldn’t wait to meet her, and I went back to my seat with a grin as Chad took a long look at me. “Finally here to watch a game?”
I looked over the ice and saw Jennifer walking back to the bench as a couple of guys assisted a player from the ice. “What happened?” I asked as I focused on her face. I could still see that she’d been crying, but she looked beautiful with a contented smile on her face now. The compassion that she felt for others showed in the way that she waited for the player and spoke to the coach, making me realize that I almost lost something great.
“He took a stick to the neck and then went down to the ice from another hit. It looked pretty painful. Do you know that girl?” Chad asked with that tone that I was used to.
“She’s mine,” I said as I felt his eyes on me for a long moment. “She’s it for me.”
“Are you into being a dad all of a sudden?” I narrowed my eyes at his question and pushed any doubt that this baby was mine out of my head. Jennifer didn’t sleep around, and she was different from the girls that I was used to meeting. “She’s pregnant.”
“It’s my baby,” I said and looked at his stunned face. “I was with her back in Philly. We broke up before I knew she was pregnant, but now that’s not going to happen.”
“Holy shit. You’re serious.”
“I am as serious about Jen as I have been about anything else. Get used to it.” I assured him as I leaned back to watch the game and keep an eye on her. Jennifer looked at me several times if she was out front and her smile filled me with hope, despite my injury and uncertain future.