Free Dirty Baller: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn Page A

if I cried. That, of course, usually made me cry harder. So he’d hit me again.” I sigh. “I guess I’ve internalized more of that than I ever wanted to.”
    “Which is why you don’t want to have kids,” Hayley says. It’s half a statement and half a question.
    “I don’t ever want to end up like him.” I jiggle my leg faster. Hayley reaches out to squeeze my thigh. I stop. “I guess I already am. You know, punching people. Getting drunk and getting behind the wheel.” I look at Hayley, wondering what she’s making of all of this.
    “But you’re changing. I can see it.”
    I clap my hands together. “Enough about me. You got your questions in. Now it’s my turn.”
    “Shoot,” Hayley says, seemingly happy for the subject change.
    “Why don’t you quit your job and write your science fiction?”
    She laughs. “You’re funny.”
    “No, I’m being serious. What’s there to lose? We only get one shot at this life. This could be your big thing. You’ll never, ever know unless you try, right?”
    Hayley exhales slowly. “I’m afraid.”
    “Afraid of what?”
    “Of disappointing my dad. Alison – she’s the older sister I told you about – was always in the spotlight. I almost never was. But what I was good at was making my father happy. I followed in his footsteps.”
    “And he’s proud of you,” I say. It’s a statement. Not a question.
    “I think he is. He doesn’t share his emotions very often.” Hayley glances at me. “Sort of like you.” She pauses. “I guess I’m doing that thing that people say not to do.”
    “What thing?”
    “The thing where you fall for someone who has the same flaws as one of your parents.”
    I lean closer to her and put my hand on her face. “You’re falling for me?”
    Hayley closes her eyes and relaxes into my hand. “I guess I am.”
    I kiss her mouth softly. She breathes out a sigh as light as the wind around us. The summer breeze absorbs her breath instantly. “I think the feeling is mutual.”
    Hayley smiles. “You’re falling for me ?”
    I kiss her again. “How could I not fall for you, Hayley Childs?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    HAYLEY
    Ryan carries me into the bedroom from the outdoor patio. My clothes practically fall off of my body at his touch. He strokes my skin, gently finding his way south. He takes me into his mouth with a swirl of gentle kisses and tongue strokes.
    I push against him, eager for the climax.
    He lifts his head. “Relax, Hayley. I’m getting there. I want to take my time with you tonight.”
    The crisp linen duvet warms underneath my body. He does take his time teasing me. He massages the bottoms of my feet while he goes down on me. The combination of those two things nearly does me in completely.
    He stands up and slips on a condom, slipping himself into me with a gentleness I didn’t know he could possess.
    He leans his hands on either side of my head, staring into my eyes. We’re not fucking. We’re making love.
    Ryan leans down and whispers in my ear after we both climax together. “You know something?”
    “What?” I whisper back.
    “I think I might be in love with you.”
    Then he kisses me again and we fall together in a tangle of linen and skin.
    ***
    The next week is a blur. We head back into the city and our sleepless, sex-filled nights together melt into bleary-eyed days. We order room service and avoid being seen in public together.
    I don’t care what Sandra says. I still think it’ll be bad news for my job prospects if I’m actively seen fucking Ryan. I probably won’t always work for Sandra.
    And I know how this goes.
    The man comes off scot-free.
    The woman pays for the indiscretion.
    Every. Single. Time.
    I’m sitting in the bleachers at yet another practice as Ryan runs across the pitch at a new tempo.
    He looks different from when I met him just two weeks ago.
    He looks happy.
    But someone else isn’t.
    Ivan isn’t happy about Ryan’s happiness. He’s not happy. Not at