Infamous: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Novel (21 page)

T
he week leading
up to Lee’s wedding flew by in the blink of an eye. I’d been performing better at practice since April and I had met up but I still couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

I knew where it was coming from. I called her after practice on Monday to ask how her talk with Lauren went, but she had only responded with,
‘I don’t want to talk about it right now.’

Which was fine, but she didn’t want to talk about it the next day either. Or the next day. Or seemingly ever.

In a moment of desperation, I even tried calling Lauren. She had dismissed me with a curt,
‘I don’t have time to discuss this right now.’

Something about their mutual reluctance—and the similarities between their refusal—to talk about it struck me as odd, but there was way too much going on between my best man duties and practice for me to dwell on it.

Another reason why I let April off the hook was because she confirmed that she was coming to the wedding and I knew I’d have time to grill her about it over the weekend. I guessed that the talk hadn’t gone well and thought she might want my shoulder to cry on when we finally talked about it.

So when I was supervising Fred and Jimmy as they ushered guests into the chapel and I spotted April approaching with
Lauren
of all people in tow...

Well, ‘
shocked
’ would have been a massive fucking understatement.

What also would have been an understatement was to say April looked beautiful. The golden dress she wore clung to all the right places and she had worn her hair twisted up, exposing the column of her neck. I cleared my throat as she got closer, ignoring the way my dick twitched in my slacks.

The wedding was about to start. Now was not the right time to pop wood.

“Ladies,” I greeted, flicking my gaze between her and Lauren. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

Lauren answered. “Well since you’re best man and will undoubtedly be standing up there with Mr. Pratcher, I figured
I
would be April’s plus one.”

I shot April a confused frown to which she simply shrugged. Thankfully, Fred chose that moment to come back to the podium and offered to guide them to their seats.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lauren said with a grin, linking her arm with Fred’s. “Do you have representation, darling?”

“A working wedding, Lauren? Really?” I asked dryly. I shook my head when Fred offered his other arm to April and said, “I’ll bring her in. Give us a minute.”

Once we were as alone as we could be in the semi-crowded chapel, April immediately reached forward to wrap her arms around my neck and hug me. I chuckled as I returned it and asked, “What’s gotten into you?”

“A girl can’t hug her boyfriend after a week apart?” she muttered against my chest.

That warm feeling in my chest that I always got when I was around April seemed to strengthen, but it also made me even more nervous about my speech. I gently gripped the back of her neck, not wanting to ruin her hair, and tilted her back so I could press my lips softly to hers.

“I missed you, too.”

April grinned and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off when Lee appeared at my side and said, “It’s time.”

Damn it.

“Let me show April to her seat.”

April stepped away and shook her head as she said, “I’ll just look for Lauren. She shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“You sure?” I asked, but she was already walking away.

“Yeah, I’m good. We’ll talk after.”

I watched her enter the chapel and leave my field of vision before turning to Lee. He rose an eyebrow and laughed at whatever expression was on my face.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

“You look more nervous than I do, man,” he said with a chuckle before patting me on the back and leading me to the doors where we would walk in on cue. “Just relax.”

I absentmindedly reached up to pat the pocket of my tux jacket, double-checking to make sure my speech was still tucked safely inside.

“Trust me,” I said as the opening ceremony music began to play, the groomsmen cue to start walking. “I would if I could.”

* * *

T
he ceremony
itself wasn’t any longer than any other wedding I’d been to but it seemed to drag on and on. By the time the guests and us in the wedding party were seated for the reception dinner, I was complete fucking wreck.

“You okay?” Lee asked, leaning over to whisper.

“Yeah. Just not used to the whole speech-giving thing.”

He laughed and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Which is a fucking surprise considering how much you like to run your mouth.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, even though I had begun laughing with him.

Marline captured his attention and he turned away, leaving me with a chance to scan through the tables and look for my girl. It didn’t take me long to find her and when I did, I saw that her eyes were locked on me even though Lauren’s mouth was rapidly moving beside her.

When she smiled, my nerves grew. It wasn’t that I was unsure of anything in my speech—hell, I’d kept it pretty vague—but April was smart as hell. She’d catch on and as soon as it was over, she would confront me about it.

And I’d tell her the truth.

The nerve-wracking part was the uncertainty of how she was going to react.

The high-pitched ring of a spoon hitting a glass hit my ears and I nearly groaned. Marline’s maid of honor was rising from her chair to give the first speech, meaning I would be up next.

Thankfully, I realized that she was also reading from cards. At least I wouldn’t look like a total jackass who didn’t bother to memorize the speech. I subtly pulled the notebook paper out of my pocket and scanned through the words for the hundredth time while Lacy or Tracy or whatever the fuck her name was continued hers.

When she finally finished, applause sounded through the room and she clapped along with them, giving Marline a warm hug before the two sat down.

Lee looked at me with a smug smile while I waited to be handed a microphone and I finally stood up, focusing my eyes on the page and refusing to look up at the crowd.

Here goes nothing.

“I haven’t known Lee for as long as a lot of the people in this room, but the man is like a brother to me. When he asked me to be his best man it wasn’t really a surprise, but I did question his sanity.”

A number of laughs around the room—mostly male, probably my teammates—gave me all I needed to press on.

“I may be known for running my mouth,” I said pointedly, glancing at Lee and rolling my eyes. “But I’m definitely not known for knowing a damn thing about love. When he first told me he was getting married, I was floored. I had no idea why he’d do something I thought would essentially ruin his life. So I agreed to be best man under the condition that he told me
why
. He said,
‘Because I love her.’
The answer was simple enough, but I still didn’t get it. And I
really
didn’t know how I was going to write a speech about these two when I didn’t even understand the concept of love or marriage.”

I paused and swallowed hard, glancing up and looking directly at April.

“But I think I finally figured it out.”

I turned my attention back to the married couple as I continued.

“Ever since Lee told me about your engagement, I’ve been watching you. Not in like, a stalker kind of way or anything. Just out of curiosity. I was trying to understand what was between you so I could actually fucking write this thing,” I said with a laugh, holding up the papers and pausing long enough to let everyone else stop laughing as well. “And what I saw was pretty much that Lee is
whipped
.”

More laughter and a loud round of applause, this time with cheers from the ladies as Marline grinned. The fact that both her and Lee seemed to be enjoying the speech I was so convinced was shitty spurred me on.

“I don’t know how or when it happened or how I didn’t notice it before I actually started
looking
for it... but about a week ago, it all shifted into place. I never saw it because the truth is that you
don’t
know. Love isn’t something you consciously think about; it just happens naturally, when it’s meant to. You can try to fight it or ignore it or try to walk away, but you can’t get rid of it. It’ll be lodged in your gut until the day that you die. And when you finally fucking realize that... That’s also when you realize that you’re whipped. Marriage is the next logical step.”

When a scattered mixture of laughs and applause sounded, I used the brief moment to grab my champagne and knock back a sip to wet my mouth.

“Now, I could stand up here and tell you a shitload of embarrassing stories about Lee—because I sure as fuck have plenty of them—but honestly? I’m afraid of the karma. Because when
I
get married, Lee’s going to be in this position and I hope he remembers that I spared him. Instead, I just want to say to Marline,” I paused, raising the glass and tipping it in her direction. “You couldn’t have picked a better man. Lee is one of the best of us. And despite what you may have heard… he never once shit his pants during a post-game party.
Totally
wasn’t him.”

I shouted over the howls of laughter to wrap it up. “And Lee! Don’t screw it up, man. Cause you sure as fuck aren’t sleeping on my couch.” I paused and raised my glass. “So here’s to the newlyweds! I wish you a lifetime of happiness.”

Nearly everyone stood up to raise their glasses and toast the happy couple. I let out a long rush of breath after I finally handed off the microphone, grateful that it was over. Lee was still laughing when he stood up and he gave me a brotherly hug.

After I sat down, I looked back to April’s table. The first thing I noticed was Lauren’s smug smile. The second thing I noticed was April’s small, but confused, smile. Like she couldn’t quite wrap her head around everything I’d said.

Or maybe she was having a hard time believing that it was all for her.

I raised my glass toward her and waited for her to do the same, silently praying that this meal would end soon so I could finish the rest of my speech in private.

W
hen dinner was over
, we all gathered around the open space on the floor to watch the first dance while the crew emptied out some of the tables to extend the space.

I was too busy scanning the crowds of people in search of Jared to pay much attention to the couple or what was happening behind me so when a strong arm suddenly wrapped around my waist, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Sorry, kitten. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Jared’s low tone whispered into my ear.

I spun around and stared up at him. “We need to talk.”

“Now? You don’t want to dance first?”

“We can dance after. Do you know somewhere quiet in this place?”

Jared nodded solemnly and offered his elbow. I smiled and gently gripped it, but it faded a little when he didn’t smile back.

We walked through a few different halls before he opened a random door and gestured for me to step inside. I glanced around and noticed a few empty tumblers scattered throughout the room and a half-full bottle of scotch abandoned on the table.

“I take it this is where you guys got ready?”

“Yeah. I figured it’d be empty and I’m not familiar with the rest of the building,” he explained as he folded his arms across his chest. “So what’s up?”

“
What’s up?
Are you seriously asking me that?” I scoffed and wildly gestured at him. “What was up with your speech?”

“Can you be more specific? It was a little long.”

I usually found some amusement in his stubbornness, but this time, it just annoyed me. There was something written between the lines of his speech, that much was clear when he had locked eyes on me halfway through. I needed him to tell me what it was.

“Please don’t joke around. Not right now. Just... tell me the truth.”

He hesitated for a moment, his lips parting like he was intending to speak, but the words failed him. He held up a finger and dug into his suit, producing the paper his speech was written on.

“There’s an alternate ending,” he mumbled, looking up at me as he asked, “Want to hear it?”

I nodded mutely, watching his throat bob as he swallowed hard.

“That’s also when you realize that you’re whipped. It’s not something you choose and it definitely isn’t something that you can prevent, but the most surprising part is when you figure out that you don’t
want
to prevent it. You don’t want it to change. You want to hang onto that feeling as tight as you fucking can because you know that if it ever disappears... it’ll end you. So I get it now. I finally understand marriage because...”

Jared trailed off, letting the paper drift down so he could look me directly in the eye as he said, “Because I’m in love with a woman that I never want to let go of.”

My eyes filled with tears—damn hormones—and I tried to speak, but was too stunned to force any words out. Jared look pained by the admission and my lack of response, but he still moved closer to hold me against him and rub my back for comfort.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same. Well—it’s not
okay
—but I’ll deal with it.”

“But I do.”

There was a seemingly long silence, followed by a quiet, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I love you, too.”

The change in his demeanor was instantaneous. He let out a short burst of laughter before he tightly hugged me, going so far as to lift me off my feet and spin me around. I laughed along with him until the spinning began to make my stomach clench.

“Stop,
stop
,” I begged, my voice still breathless from the laughter. “Kiss me.”

A part of me regretted the request when I felt his hand weave into my hair and ruin my updo, but it wasn’t enough to bring down my good mood. I ran my fingers over his freshly-shaven jaw, missing the stubble that was usually there but kind of liking the new sensation against my skin.

Jared pulled away and opened his eyes, looking at me for a long moment with a tender expression. When it faded into a look of concern, I frowned.

“You going to tell me why Lauren is here? What happened?”

“I told her everything.”

One brow rose high in disbelief. “
Everything?
”

“Not graphic details, but yes. Everything important.”

“Sex is important.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everything that’s important for
her
to know.”

“Fair enough. So what did she say?”

“She’s letting me stay!” I shouted happily, reaching up to hug him again as I gushed, “I wanted to tell you on Monday but Lauren insisted that we wait unless she changed her mind.”

“Wait, wait, wait. She’s not mad?”

I laughed humorlessly. “Oh she was
pissed
. Believe me—I’ve had the week from hell between getting stuck with the worst tasks and getting reamed at least once a day.”

Jared shook his head, not fully understanding. “Then why didn’t she fire you?”

I shrugged. “She said that even though she’s mad, this is kind of a good thing. Since we ended up being a serious couple, she won’t have to worry about firing new interns. Assuming you aren’t planning to cheat on me.”

Jared growled and hauled me against his chest. “Never gonna happen.”

“Aren’t you going to say something like that to me?”

He gave me a funny look. “You mean warn you not to cheat on me? I don’t think it’s necessary. You aren’t that kind of woman.”

I frowned. “I-I wasn’t trying to imply—”

He shook his head and cut me off with a short, but heated kiss. When he pulled away, he said, “I know you didn’t. It’s fine. And if it makes you feel better, if you ever cheat on me, I’ll bury the motherfucker. Sound good?”

“Sounds
great
.”

Jared laughed at my agreement and started another kiss, one that promised to turn into something far more pleasurable. Just as his tongue slid into my mouth, the sound of the door opening made us both freeze.

“There you—
Oh!
Shit. Sorry, man,” Lee said as he began to back out of the room. “Hello again, April. Thanks for coming.”

“We didn’t get that far yet,” Jared said with a smirk.

“Well I hate to interrupt you getting laid at
my
wedding, but we got pictures to take.”

Jared frowned and looked down at me, then back over to Lee.

“Can I get some taken with my girl?”

Lee’s eyebrows rose sky-high. “So that’s what your speech was hinting at? Did you two crazy kids find a way to work everything out?”

“We did,” Jared confirmed. “And before you hear it from anyone else—April is pregnant.”

“Holy
shit!
For real?” Lee asked, looking between the two of us multiple times before he let his gaze land firmly on me. “Congratulations. Seriously. And hell yeah, April can be in the pictures. We’re practically family now.”

“It’s all right if Marline doesn’t want me to—” I started, and then snapped my mouth shut when I saw the bride stepping up behind her new husband.

“Did you find him—Oh! Hello,” she greeted. “I’m Marline. You must be April?”

“What the fuck, man?” Jared asked. “You told her?”

Lee shrugged. “I tell her pretty much everything. Sorry.”

“Everything except for stories about you shitting your pants, apparently,” Marline chimed in.

“Then do I have a story for you. Come on, princess,” Jared said, reaching his hand out for me to take as he narrowed his eyes at Lee. “Let’s take these pictures and I’ll tell you
all
about the time Lee shit his pants in a very public bar.”

Marline and I were already laughing before the story even began and as we walked through the halls and back out into the reception area, I quickly realized that I was going to fit into Jared’s world just fine.

And when the baby finally arrived, the two of us would work together to make sure he or she fit into it as well.

We were far from a perfect couple and I doubted we’d be perfect parents, but I looked forward to trying.