“Oh my God. That bitch! She had a doctor give her falsified pregnancy paperwork?” My eyes widened as the shock and anger sunk into my bones.
“Yep,” was all he managed in response.
“No wonder you believed her,” I said, shaking my head
“What do you mean?” His body tensed and his jaw tightened.
“Well, I never really understood why you believed that she was pregnant in the first place. Without checking or making sure, I mean,” I tried to explain.
Jack cracked his neck as tension visibly poured from his body and rolled onto mine. “You thought I just stupidly accepted her at her word? Married her without any proof? Why didn’t you just ask me?”
His bitter tone shocked me, causing my defenses to rise. “I don’t know. Maybe because I was too caught up in my own heartbreak to ask you when I had the chance. And it’s not like we were really talking at the time.”
He reached a hand out to touch me, laying it on my leg. That one single movement shattered my defenses and I wanted to take back everything I’d just accused him of. “I’m sorry, Jack. It’s just…”
“Don’t. I’m sorry.” His hand raised in a defeated gesture in the space between us. “You weren’t there. You didn’t know what was going on. I’m sure it looked shady as hell from the outside.”
A shudder ripped through me. I never again wanted to be on the “outside” of anything when it came to Jack Carter. “But I shouldn’t have just assumed.”
“You didn’t know.”
“So, she had doctor visits and stuff?” My mind still raced to wrap around the elaborate plotting and lies. How could one girl be so malicious?
“Appointments, paperwork, vitamins, baby books, charts, schedules—she had it all.” He exhaled, and I grabbed his hand in mine, our fingers intertwining as I leaned back into him.
“Can I ask you something else?” My voice sounded muffled against his chest.
He kissed the top of my head. “Anything.”
“Did you ever think the baby wasn’t yours? I mean, I get that you thought she was pregnant, but did you ever think it was someone else’s?”
“She was a very convincing liar. She agreed with no reservations to do a DNA test after the baby was born. I honestly thought that if she were lying, she would have been nervous, or at least fighting me on the whole thing, but she encouraged it.”
And then he took me back to when his world first started crashing down around him. When he was living in Alabama and playing on the Triple A team for the Diamondbacks. The night after he pitched his perfect game when Chrystle came on to him at the bar where he was celebrating with his teammates and he finally stopped resisting her. He gave in to her advances that night, and my life as I knew it would never be the same. I shuddered as I remembered the way my world started to spin around me and my heart felt like it was shattering inside of my chest when Jack called that afternoon to deliver the news. Not only had he cheated on me, but also the girl he had slept with was pregnant.
I ignored the knock at the apartment door, assuming that one of my roommates would answer, and continued folding my clothes. When I heard the sound of Chrystle’s voice filtering through the entryway and into my room, my whole body tightened. So we’d had a drunken one-night stand, and I threw her out when I came to my senses. What was she doing here?
She tapped on my bedroom door before walking in and closing it behind her.
“What are you doing? Get out of my room,” I snapped, refusing to give her the time of day.
“I need to talk to you.” Her voice shook as she spoke.
I exhaled through my nose, my impatience clear. “What is it?”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
“So? How is that my problem?” I asked before the realization punched me square in the gut.
“Because it’s yours,” she said before sitting on my bed.
I sucked in a breath, my mind refusing to believe her. “Bullshit,” I shot back.
“Bullshit nothing, Jack! I haven’t been with anyone else since you. Ask anyone if they’ve seen me around. Or if they’ve hooked up with me. I haven’t.”
“I will ask. I’ll fucking ask right now.” I stormed out of my bedroom and into the living room, where three of my teammates were eating lunch and watching TV. When I asked them if Chrystle had been with any of them, they all shook their heads and threw their hands up in the air in denial. I asked if they’d seen her with anyone lately, and once again, they all answered no. And then they proceeded to inform me that come to think of it, they hadn’t seen her around at all the past few weeks.