We couldn’t hide it. Hell, Shelly lived in this sorority house. It was rare that they were ever around one another, but they did bump into each other now and again, and when Mol was heavily pregnant, it was going to be kind of hard to ignore a huge belly. And that bitch would go straight and tell my folks. I had no doubt about that.

I knew one thing, and that was that those sadistic f**kers wouldn’t get within a mile of my child; they would never get a chance to sink in their claws. A fleeting thought suddenly made me stiffen.

Mol looked up and narrowed her eyes. “What? What is it?”

Breathing deep, I asked, “What if I turn out like my folks? What if I’m ingrained to be a horrible father? You can’t fight genes, Mol. What if I’m like my daddy? What if I let our child down?”

Pressing a kiss to my lips, Molly pulled back, reassuring me. “You’ll be perfect.”

“But you don’t know that, do you?” I argued, my stomach churning, a sickening fear taking root.

Taking my hand and laying it flat to her stomach, she said softly, “I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul.”

“Who said that?” I asked, the sincere sentiment from Molly’s lips meaning everything to me. She had complete and utter faith in me and anything I did.

“Gandhi,” she announced and breaking a grin, play punched my shoulder. “And you call yourself a philosopher!”

“Em, no, smartass. I take philosophy as a minor. I’m a business major… and a damn good one too.”

“Whatever, not everyone can be as spectacular as me!” she quipped and then burst into fits of giggles.

“Maybe not, and you’ll be a hell of a spectacular momma too.”

“You really believe that?” she asked nervously.

“With all my heart.”

25

“Is it done?” I asked Diana, the manager of the Tide club shop, as I entered.

Face lighting up, she beamed. “Sure is, honey. It’s so damn cute I almost died!”

Leaning on the counter, I waited as she disappeared out back, then came back holding it up proudly for me to see.

“Jesus Christ,” I whispered, and pride burst into my chest.

“Hey, no blaspheming!” Diana joked. “But yeah, I get why you said it. Adorable, ain’t it?”

“It’s perfect,” I replied, pretty damn speechless.

Wrapping it in tissue paper and putting it into a white gift box, she looked at me and asked, “So who’s this for, darlin’?”

“A relative,” I answered, not even missing a beat. No one could know yet.

Smiling wide, she giggled. “Well, you’ll be their favorite person in the whole damn world giving them a gift as good as this!”

“Yeah, hope so.”

Taking the gift box and hiding it in the back of my truck, I pulled out onto the road to pick up my girl. It’d taken a few weeks to get the appointment, but I’d secured the best ob-gyn in all of Tuscaloosa, and we were heading there now for our first appointment.

We’d been advised to come in early due to Molly’s momma’s condition. Hearing that conversation on our initial meeting with the GP nearly had me going insane. As if the worry of my parents finding out about our little angel wasn’t enough, finding out that Molly’s momma died of something called severe preeclampsia almost had me collapsing to the floor. We’d been advised to choose an ob-gyn as soon as possible due to this, and Dr. Adams had requested an appointment immediately.

Fucking preeclampsia—just one more worry to add to the already sky-high pile.

I knocked on Mol’s front door and she answered with a nervous smile and immediately moved in for a hug.

“You okay, baby?” I asked, rubbing her back.

Looking up, she answered, “Just nervous, I guess.”

Holding out my hand, I tipped my head toward the truck. “Let’s go.”

“You must be Molly. I’m Dr. Adams.” He introduced himself, standing to greet us.

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Adams.” Molly shook his hand and turned to me, laying a hand on my arm. “This is my boyfriend, Romeo.”

The doctor sent me a huge smile and shook my hand, saying, “Nice to meet you, Bullet. I’m a big fan—season ticket holder.”

“And I recognize your face, Miss Shakespeare. The good luck charm that’s going to help Bullet here lead us to the championship again.”

I watched Mol blush, still hating the attention, and I pulled her into my chest. “She sure is. Thank you, sir.”

And then he asked the one question I really didn’t want him to. “Any news on the draft? Seattle Seahawks are dying this season. Their quarterback was forced to retire early through injury, and you’re a sure win for first draft.”

I flashed a panicked glance to Mol. The day I’d learned Seattle was looking like an option, Molly found out we were pregnant, and I hadn’t dared bring it up with her since. I wasn’t sure what my future held for us now. We hadn’t even talked about our next step beyond making sure she and our baby were healthy.

Shifting uncomfortably, I answered, “I know as much as you, sir, but from what I’ve been hearing from my coaches, Seattle is a big possibility for me.”

We sat down, and I got the meaning of Molly’s long hand squeeze. We would be talking about Seattle later—great.