Quarterback's Secret Baby(16)

I almost didn't go to school the next day. Even without whatever it was that had happened with Kaden the previous night, I didn't want to go. My sister was at school, my brother and Alisha at work and Rosa was with Alisha's parents. I didn't want my mom to be alone, but she had our phone numbers and she practically kicked me out herself.

"I'm fine, Tash! Get going. I'm not going to drop dead today, you know."

"Mom-" I turned around in the doorway, on the verge of tears, "please don't say that - please don't say you're-"

"Go!" She yelled, waving me off. "You're going to be late!"

So I left. Kaden messaged me while I was on the bus and just the sight of his name on the screen made my belly do a giddy little flip.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." I texted back before adding a smiley so it didn't look so abrupt.

"Good. Have lunch with me."

I was tempted to tell him to ask nicely but that might have given him the impression I didn't want to eat lunch with him. Which I did. I very much did. Two things had been on my mind since the previous evening. My mother, of course. And Kaden Barlow. I didn't dare to even think about what would have happened if Ray hadn't come home when he did. If Kaden and I had actually driven back up to the hills in his ridiculous SUV. Was that all it took? I'd never even kissed a boy before what we joking came to call the Night Of The Cornbread. Kissing boys had been something I was secretly quite worried about. Doing it right. What if our teeth bumped into each other? What if I drooled?

I hadn't even had time to think about it. I still wasn't sure what had happened, why I'd suddenly pounced on him like a cat in heat. It was probably because I was already feeling so emotional about my mother. But it wasn't like me to lose control like that and no matter how gorgeous Kaden was (and trust me, he was gorgeous) it bothered me that I could act so out of character. That wasn't what I did. I was the one who kept herself - and everything else - together.

We met in the school cafeteria for lunch. I could feel eyes on me as I sat with him at one of the long, plastic tables - people were looking. And why not? Kaden Barlow was a football player. Not just a football player but the quarterback, most likely to make it pro and the most popular guy at Reinhardt High. What was he doing with me? I wasn't unpopular, but I wasn't a member of the social elite, either. Everyone was curious about what was going on and I knew the halls would be buzzing with the news all afternoon.

"Hey," Kaden said, smiling when he looked up and saw me.

"Hey." I sat down and neither of us said anything for a few awkward moments. It was Kaden who broke the silence.

"How are you feeling?"

I wasn't sure what he meant - how was I feeling about making out with him last night or how was I feeling about my mom? He was wearing a grey t-shirt with our school logo on the chest and just being close to him made me think about how big and strong his hands had felt the previous night, when they were on my body.

"I'm OK," I told him. "I'm, uh, I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand last night. I'm not usually like that but I was just really emotional about my mom and-"

"Yeah," Kaden said, cutting me off. "I get it, Tasha. I understand if you want to take things slowly."

Take things slowly? What did that mean? The way he was talking it was like we were already in a relationship. Were we? I didn't have any experience with those - is that how it happened? You make out with someone and then you're together? Did I even want to be in a relationship with Kaden Barlow?

Yes. I did. That was what was bothering me so much, making me so awkward. The instinct to hide my true feelings - and the vulnerability that came with them - welled up inside me.

"You're leaving after we graduate, right?" I asked. "I mean, for college? Have you decided where you're going to go yet?"

Kaden probably knew what I was getting at. "Yeah," he said, running one of those big hands through his messy, golden hair. "Probably State. Full scholarship and I'll only be a few hours away from here - hell, it's one of the best programs in the whole country. Where are you going?"

I looked down and took a deep breath. I'd already had the same conversation with a few of my friends and I braced myself for the reaction. "Actually I'm not going," I said quietly. "Not right away anyway. My mom's health is really bad and my brother can't support the family on his own. Maybe in a couple of years, it's not really a big thing."

To my surprise, Kaden didn't instantly start trying to convince me to go to college, anyway. Instead he just nodded his head. "Yeah, your mom. Family's more important than school, right? And you've got time."