All In: Paying His Way (Gambling With Love) (4 page)

Maggie

After I finish feeding Camden at two a.m., I can’t stop myself from going to the fridge and heating up some of the leftover stomboli from earlier. The Italian food is too delicious and too tempting. Sort of like Jordan himself.

That man…there are no words. He bought me a freaking phone and days’ worth of food. Not only that, but he drove them all the way over here, almost an hour each way, on a workday.

Once I stuff my face, I pick up the new phone, a much too expensive smartphone that has internet and all the bells and whistles, to look at the pictures of Jordan and Camden I took earlier.

On the screen, it shows I have a new text message that says, “
Don’t forget to lock up behind me
.” It was sent at nine-thirty, likely when Jordan got home. He’s trying to take care of me from miles away, and it’s…sweet, yet unexpected.

I really did want a photo of Camden with his uncle, but I would use any excuse possible to take a picture of the tall, dark and handsome Jordan Young.

Instead of finding his photo, I see some of me and Camden. I was practically passed out at the time, and only Camden’s little feet are sticking out from the blanket draped over me to cover my breast. My cheeks burn with the embarrassment of Jordan seeing me sacked out from exhaustion, but I do appreciate him capturing the moment. The first picture of me and my son. I can’t wait to take more.

Even though it’s late, I still decide to reply to his text message.

“
Thanks for the reminder. Thanks for everything
.” It seems like an inadequate thing to say, but when nothing else comes to me, I send it anyway. I wasn’t expecting the almost instantaneous response. Two separate ones.

"You’re welcome
.”

“
Get used to it
.”

Since I’m awake and have nothing better to do, I send back, “
Shouldn’t you be asleep? There’s not an infant living in your house too, is there
?”

“
Not unless you count me :) I couldn’t sleep
.”

I respond with, “
I know the feeling
:(”

When he says, “
If I were there, I would let you sleep
”, I think my heart swells just a little inside my chest.

“
That would be crazy, since you have to go to work in the morning
” I type back.

“
I’m starting to think I might be going a little crazy
.” 

“
That’s just the insomnia talking,”
I assure him.

“
I wanna throttle my brother.”

“Me too, but it won’t do any good,”
I reply.

“
True, but I think I would feel better,”
he says then after that, “
Go to bed, Mags
.”

“
I am in bed.”

“Then go to sleep.”

“Yes, sir. Sweet dreams.”

“Night, hon ;)”

Hon? Winking emoticon? Even knowing he’s just being his typical, nice self, I can’t help but wish these small things meant more. I’m not an idiot, though. With a saggy belly and breasts post-partum, looking like a hot mess after weeks of sleepless nights, there’s no way a man like Jordan would look at me twice. He’s a nice guy, trying to do what he thinks is right while his brother is in the military, and nothing more.

…

The next morning, even though I wake up to Camden’s impatient screams like usual, there’s this new happiness bouncing around within me. I feel lighter than I have in a long time just thinking about Jordan. How sweet and caring he is. It’s been so long since someone has done something nice for me, and he’s done a lot of nice things. And he’s so incredibly sexy that I almost need to wear sunglasses to look at him. I swear just the sight of him is all it takes to make me blush.

I bet he has a girlfriend or is dating lots of beautiful women. He easily could. All it would take is a smile and a wink to make any woman melt for him.

After my shower, I pick up my phone and see a message on it. An invitation to some sort of game. From Jordan. I quickly accept, which opens the screen up to a Scrabble looking board, with random letters lined up along the bottom. I select the letters to form the word
years
, proud of myself for using a Y. The game says it’s Jordan’s turn, but it only takes a few minutes for the word,
ants
to appear using my A. Before I can formulate my next word, the chat window in the game opens with the message, “
I apologize in advance for whooping your butt because I’m awesome at this game.”

Smiling to myself, I type back a rapid response, even though my mind is still stuck on the notion of his hands literally spanking my bottom. “
I apologize in advance for embarrassing you when I win
.”

“
It’s on. Now you have to put your money where your mouth is.”

Sheesh. More naughty images form just thinking about the places to put my mouth. Shaking those ridiculous thoughts from my mind, I set up my next word.

“
How’s my nephew?”
Jordan asks after his turn.

“
Sound asleep.”

“
He must have his days and nights confused
,” he responds.

“
Yeah, he was born in the middle of the night. Hopefully he’ll figure it out soon
.”

“
When’s his birthday
?”

“
April 6
th
.”

“
My mom’s was April 9
th
.”

“
I’m so sorry about what happened to your parents,”
I tell him.
John and Diane Young were well-known by everyone in Danville growing up. So nice and always helping anyone that needed it, either with donations or volunteering their time at the school. Jason and I had just started dating and were sophomores in high school when they were hit and killed by a drunk driver. He was, of course, devastated. All of the boys were, but Jason was the youngest. His drug use went up after that, and it was rare to see him sober for the next year or so.

“
Thanks. Your turn.”
Jordan obviously wants to change the subject, and I don’t blame him.

Even with the cold distance that’s come between my mother and I, and with my dad always on the road since I was little, I can’t imagine losing one of them. Both at the same time is too much to even comprehend.

Camden starts to fuss, so I tell Jordan I need to feed him but will pick up the game later. While my little man eats, I stoop to stalker level. Signing into Facebook one-handed on the phone for the first time in almost a year, I find Jordan and send him a friend request. Before I can regret my decision and take it back, he accepts. I practically squeal like a little girl when I have access to his page. All of his pictures, some on the beach wearing nothing but boardshorts, and then some with his brothers. All of them, including Jason.

Of course my heart hurts at the sight of him. I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember, but it was never enough. He doesn’t feel the same way. Now, I’ve learned my lesson. I can’t make him care about me or Camden, so it’s not worth the time and effort to try to change his mind.

…

Jordan

I sit in my truck after work, phone in my hand. The phone I’ve been sneaking and playing
Words with Friends
on all day back and forth with Maggie, after sending her a game request this morning.

So why am I staring at my phone? Because I want to see her, but I don’t have any excuse to show up at her apartment again tonight. Why do I want to do that? I have no fucking idea. Because she’s lonely and lives in a shitty neighborhood? Because I’m lonely? Probably a combination of all of the above.

I’m sure there are still leftovers from last night, so there’s no reason to take her dinner. She has the phone. What else is there for me to use as an excuse for showing up?

I could buy something for Camden. It didn't look like she has much for him.

Having a mission, I crank the ignition and head to
Target
. I’ve never shopped in the baby section, so it takes a second to find it in the center of the huge store. Once I’m there, the choices are overwhelming. I don’t know what the hell is “age appropriate” for him, so I ask a woman in a red shirt. 

“Excuse me, ma’am, can you suggest something I should buy a four-week-old baby?” I ask her. She smiles while tapping a finger to the side of her mouth.

“Ooh, let me think. Four weeks. Boy or girl?”

“Boy.”

“Okay, what does he already have so we can narrow it down?”

“Not much,” I say with a frustrated sigh. “A bed and seat thing is all I saw.”

“No swing?” she asks.

“Swing? I don’t think so.” Why does he need a swing? I doubt Maggie takes him outside much; and he’s so small, he would fall right out of it. But I keep my mouth shut and follow the woman who is trying to help me. She leads me to a row of displayed baby equipment.

Ohhh. One of
those
swings. That makes more sense. Good thing I didn’t say anything or she would’ve thought I was an idiot.

“These are like magic for crying babies. Strap them in, and you’ll have hours of guaranteed peace and quiet.”

“That sounds perfect,” I tell her with a smile.

“Great! I would suggest the one that plugs into the wall, so you don’t have to keep buying batteries.”

“Yeah, let me get one of those.”

“Only one decision left. Teddy bears or zoo animals?” she asks, pointing to the two models.

“Um, zoo,” I decide since the colors are brighter. I guess babies can see colors.

Once I have the big box, I check out at the register and decide to go home to put it together, making sure it works before taking it over to Maggie tomorrow night.

After I have all the parts where the instructions say they go, I plug it in, and, what do you know? It works. Not only does it swing forward and back, but it also swings side to side, too. There’s a little mobile that makes the little animals circle around the top; and overall, it’s actually pretty damn cool. I’m admiring my handiwork when my oldest younger brother, Josh, walks through the front door without knocking, since all my brothers have a key.

“What the fuck is that?” he asks without a greeting.

Shit
.

Rubbing a hand along the back of my burning neck I try to think up an explanation and come up empty.

“It’s a swing.”

“Yeah. I got that much. A fucking
baby
swing. But what the hell is it doing in
your
house?” he asks, walking circles around it like the device itself holds the answers.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and send Maggie a quick text, asking her if it’s okay to tell Josh and Jake if they swear to keep their mouths shut. Her instant response is,
If you trust them
. Thank goodness.

“Earth to Jordan. You knock someone up or what?”

“Nope, I didn’t. But your little brother did. The swing’s for your nephew.”

“Addison’s pregnant? Why the fuck did Jake tell
you
but not me?” he yells indignantly with his hands on his hips.

“Not that little brother. The other one.”

His angered expression turns to one of wide-eyed shock. “
Jason
knocked someone up? When? He’s been gone for months.”

“Camden’s a month old.”

“A month old…he’s already been born? Like Jason's a daddy and shit? Why the fuck did he tell you and not me?”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“So then how did you find out?” Josh asks, scratching a hand through his dark, cropped hair in thought, just like our dad used to do.

“I happened to see Maggie Frasier in a grocery store when I was in Greensboro Sunday. Her baby’s only a few weeks old. It didn’t take a genius to do the math, so I asked her if it was his.”

“And you just believed some lying whore he's fucked a few times since high school? She’s full of-”

That’s all he gets out of his big mouth before I shove him backwards into the living room wall so hard a picture crashes to the floor.

“Holy shit! What the hell is wrong with you?” he blinks up at me in surprise since I’m a few inches taller.

“Watch your mouth. You don’t know shit about her,” I tell him, inches away from his face.  

“Oh, and you do after seeing her for a few seconds in a grocery store? That slut opens her legs for anyone and everyone!”

“Shut the fuck up about her! She’s telling the truth. She’s raising Jason’s bastard on her own, barely getting by.”

“This has gold digger written all over it. Everyone knows about the big ass payout to mom and dad's estate,” he says, right before I sock him in the jaw with my fist. All of my brothers are dumbasses, and I’m betting that I’ll probably have to hit this one again.