"Let's go over what's likely to happen in court today."Doug, my attorney, stops the idle chitchat and gets down to business. I feel like I've been taking deep breaths all morning, mostly because I feel like I can't breathe at all. The pressure on my chest is unbearable. Daniel squeezes my hand and puts his arm around me, rubbing his other hand up and down my arm. He made good on his promise to call in a personal day today. This, after he basically held me all night long. I tried to get a good night's sleep, but instead I was restless and cried out several times. Daniel kept holding me, murmuring encouraging words into my ear in a soothing voice. I feel bad that I kept him from resting well, but more than that, I'm grateful he was there to get me through a tough night.He was still there this morning when my alarm went off. He was already up, had coffee made, and had even gotten a suit from his apartment so he could help me get the baby ready to go this morning. When he'd said he was
I turn cold. Doug immediately stands. "Mrs. Cope," he says. "I'm Doug Linus, Ms. Watson's attorney.""Oh good," she says. "I'm glad you're here. That makes this so much easier. May I sit?" She gestures to the bench perpendicular to us. There's just enough space for her to sit next to Daniel. I look at Doug. He shrugs, putting the decision squarely on my shoulders. Do I want to talk to Erik's mother, or do I want to wait to get into the courtroom?Frankly, I'm afraid of what will happen in that courtroom. So I nod. She smoothes her skirt as she sits and crosses her feet at the ankles."First things first," she says without wasting any time. "How is my grandson?"I look at Daniel for reassurance. I'm not sure why she wants to talk to me, but at least she's asking about his well-being. Erik didn't even do that."He's, well, he's wonderful." I smile as I think about the toothy grin my sweet baby boy gave me this morning. "He's eleven months old, and he's just the most wonderful, loving ba
After talking to the court clerk and Erik's attorney, Doug returned to congratulate us on our win. We all recognized Rosemary had scored the equalizer and go-ahead goals to save this case in the last seconds, but it didn't make the feeling of victory any less sweet. From what we can all tell, Rosemary is a nice lady, who has an interesting son. She seems to care about her grandson, even though she hasn't met him yet. "Is it weird that I'm excited about his visit with Rosemary?" Quincy asks as I drive to the day care. I'm still holding her hand. I haven't let go since we got to the courthouse this morning, except to change positions. I can pretend it's because I'm being supportive of her and don't want her to think she's alone in all this, but the truth is, when she told me last night she might lose custody of the baby, I was scared shitless and needed to hold onto her as much as she needed to hold onto me."I don't think so." I turn on my blinker and wait for the light to turn green
5 weeks later…"What is Tiffany the tramp doing here?" I shush Geni and smack her with a towel. "She's with Rowen Flanigan.""The rookie?" she asks, taking a sip of her wine. "Since when do the players bring groupies to team parties? I thought they only had special parties with those girls."I roll my eyes and slice more cheese for the cracker platter. I'm thrilled so many players showed up for Chance's first birthday party, but they eat a lot. Daniel hasn't even started grilling yet."Be nice," I reprimand her. "They're dating now. From what Daniel says, Rowen really likes her."Geni chokes on her wine. "Does he know what she does for a hobby? He seems a little too, I don't know… virtuous for her.""The heart wants what it wants. I'm not judging."After greeting a few teammates and their significant others, Tiffany and Rowen make their way through the crowd and over to us. It's obvious Tiffany is uncomfortable. Her eyes keep darting around the room like she's waiting to be jumped. It
His eyes widen. "Oh god, no! I am nowhere near ready for that." I relax. "Good. Neither am I.""Quincy, I'm not even ready to talk about moving in together." "Sorry. I didn't mean to freak out. You started making a speech, and I wanted to make sure we were on the same page before you dropped down on one knee in front of everyone and got turned down."He smacks me on the ass. "Do me a favor. If I ever do propose, and it happens to be in public, say yes no matter what. You can break it off with me as soon as we're alone, but it'll save me the public humiliation."I chuckle. "Deal."He runs his hand down one of my cheeks to cup my jaw. "I really do love you, though, Quincy. You juked me."I smirk. "You're gonna have to teach me all your soccer lingo if I'm gonna stick around a while. I have no idea what you just said."He smiles. "I saw you coming, but before I could even get my guard up, you ran right over me and left me dazed.""That doesn't sound very good," I joke."Oh, but it is,"
VOLUME 2: GROUPIE"Hey Rookie! How have your first couple of weeks been?"I look over as Daniel Zavaro sits down on the bar stool next to mine. All I've ever wanted since I could walk is play soccer for a living and now I am. A lot of people would say it was inevitable. Or that I didn't have to work as hard as the others. They may think they know my dad. But they don't really know him. Or me. And they have no idea the effort I've put in to distance myself from his reputation so I could make one for myself. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm really proud of what I've accomplished. "Really good so far. Thanks for asking." Daniel has been captain of the Texas Mutiny, the team I now play for, for a few years. Not only is he a kick ass forward, he's really respected in the league for being a stand up guy. Family man. Local legend. All around fantastic leader. I was really excited when I found out I was going to be working with him. The biggest scandal he's been involved in his entire career is
I completely forget about the couple I was just watching, because I think this woman may actually fascinate me more. She is, by far, one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life. And that says a lot considering my dad's choice in career and the hoardes of fans that come along with it.Her long, glossy dark hair sits halfway down her back. Her eyes are bright blue with black rims. Her lips are plump and pink and perfectly heart shaped. I'm stunned by how gorgeous she is.I quickly try to recover my wits so she won't think I'm a total loser. Sitting here all alone, Chucks on my feet and my trademark beanie pulled low over my head, I don't exactly scream successful. "I'm not staring at them, I'm observing them," I explain.She crinkles her brow at me. "There's a difference?""Yep." Seems like I have her interested now. I guess we'll see where a little light conversation takes us. "A creeper watches people because he has some devious little plan as to how to incorporate them
"Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm." I try to concentrate despite the humming right next to my ear. This happens every time Santos LaGuajardo and I hook up. He's not a terrible lover. But when he's getting close but isn't quite to the goal yet, he hums. I should be used to it by now, but it's distracting every time.Instead, I focus on the slick thrust of his cock and the sound of flesh on flesh. Those are the things that turn me on.His lips find mine and his tongue plunges in my mouth, mimicking the motion of the rest of his body. "Are you getting close?" he whispers against my mouth."Yeah," I whisper back. "Tilt your hips just a little bit…oh yeah. Right there." I kiss him again and he goes back to humming, this time while his tongue is in my mouth.Just then the door opens and Mack Shivel walks in, closing the door behind him."Fuck!" Santos curses and stops his movement, glaring at Mack as he takes a seat in the chair next to the window. Consequently, my chase for the Big O ends as well. "Every f