Infamous: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Novel (22 page)

A
s April would attest to
, when I made a promise, I fucking kept it.

“You did it, son,” Coach said with a grin as he gripped my helmet and pulled me closer so I could hear him over the thunderous applause of the crowd. “You fucking
did it!
”

I didn’t do it alone
, I thought as Lee, Fred, and a number of other teammates flocked to us and started the massive pile-up.

Not only did we make it to playoffs this season—we made it beyond. To the final game of the season.

And we’d
won
.

The high was indescribable.

Lee gripped my face mask from the right and turned me to face him. “You’re gonna get MVP, man! You ready?”

“You seen April?” I shouted back. “I saw Marline already!”

“She’s probably stuck in the box! She’ll be down any second!”

He gave me a hard congratulatory pat before stalking off to find Marline. I pulled my helmet over my head and looked around, trying desperately to spot her somewhere in the growing crowd of people on the field.

Coach came up behind me and guided me toward the stage that the field crew had set up to make their final announcements, including the one of who was chosen as most valuable player. Coach seemed adamant that it was going to be me, so I moved with him. I figured at least being higher up would give me a better angle to spot her from.

Sure enough, Coach and I were asked to step up and prepare for the cameras to roll, confirming that it was me who had won.

Superbowl MVP.
Fuck.
What a rush.

I was standing in the background waiting for a cue as the cameras began to roll, still scanning the crowd with my eyes. I frowned when I spotted Lauren shoving her way through—completely unapologetic as she shoved people to the side.

“Jared!” she shouted once she was fairly close to the stage.
“Jared!”

The announcer kept going, but the cameraman leaned away to shoot Lauren an annoyed look. She just snarled and started pushing her way forward again. Coach held me back when I tried to walk to the edge of the stage to ask her what was wrong.

To everyone’s surprise, she barreled right up to the stage and started to climb up. Security flanked her immediately and I jumped forward and yelled, “Stop! She’s my publicist!”

They let her go and she hastily smoothed down her shirt before stepping up onto the stage and snatching the microphone away from the announcer.

“Your fiancée’s water broke in the box!”

“W-What?”

“April. Water. Broke. Baby.
Now
.” Lauren listed slowly, earning a number of laughs from the crowd. She turned and gestured at them as she shouted, “I need everyone to make a gap for Jared to get through! The ambulance is already on its way and he needs to get out of here immediately!”

The crowd began to part and I patted Lauren on the shoulder, speaking into the microphone as I said, “Lauren will accept any trophies on my behalf. I’m going to be there for my girl as she delivers a future Superbowl winner!”

The crowd roared as I leapt down from the stage and jogged through the crowd. Lee and Marline fell in behind me, just barely keeping pace as I made my way to the exit.

There was a man waiting to direct us to where they had parked a wheelchair-bound April to wait for the ambulance. Her head was jerking around wildly and when she spotted me, her wide eyes gained a bit of relief.

“I’m here, baby,” I said as I crouched down beside her. “You okay?”

“I’m freaking out. I’m not due for two more weeks, Jared. What if—”

“It’s perfectly normal,” Marline’s soothing voice came. “The baby is
fine
.”

“Hear that? He’s fine,” I said, jerking my chin toward Marline. “She would know. She’s a nurse.”

“Okay, okay,” April breathed out, her eyes staring off into the distance for a long moment before snapping back to me. “Congratulations, by the way.”

I grinned. “Thanks, princess.”

“The ambulance is here!”

Someone began to push April out even as she groaned, “Don’t call me princess!”

“We’ve been through this. Until we have a girl—I’m calling you princess.”

“You’re such an
asshole
,” she hissed, gripping her stomach. “I can’t believe I let you do this to me!”

“Now
there’s
the reaction I’m prepared for,” I said with a chuckle, easing the chair to a stop and offering my arm to help April stand and get into the ambulance. “Anger. Don’t freak out, baby, just rip into me.”

She paused, her angry eyes faltering when she realized I was purposely pissing her off to try to relieve her stress.

“I love you,” she said softly, tears welling to her eyes. “I’m sorry I’m such a bitch.”

“Oh, Christ,” I muttered. “You’re not a bitch, April. And I love you, too. Now be a good girl and let these fine people do their job and get you to the hospital.”

The look on her face became panicked and she reached out to grip my hand as she asked, “You won’t leave me, will you?”

“Never. I promise.”

It was a promise I intended to keep for the rest of my life.

* * *