Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“I can’t believe you left the game,” Bellamy tells her dad.
“I got your message and panicked.”
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
“No.” Will shakes his head. “We didn’t think she could get pregnant, but I’m not mad about growing our family.”
“We won, by the way.” Reid chuckles.
“I know. I looked it up online, and Jerry texted me last night.”
“Are you going to get fined?” Bellamy asks.
“Nah, and if I do, then I do. As I said, I’ve learned my lesson.”
“How far along are you?” Bellamy asks, covering her face with her hands. “This is so weird.” She groans.
“I don’t know. My periods have never been regular. I have to make an appointment with my OB. They’re closed today. You?”
“Eleven weeks. We were waiting until we were out of the first trimester to tell everyone.”
“And here I thought I was winning. I had the most kids, meaning my—stuff”—Reid coughs—“was superior, and here comes Coach, beating me three to two.”
Everyone laughs, and even more of the tension slips away.
I’m sure there will be hiccups along the way, but for the first time since blurting out my love for Will, the room doesn’t feel like it’s closing in on me.
Bellamy finally drops her hands from her face and points at Reid. “First of all, that is not how that works.”
Reid lifts both hands defensively. “Hey, I’m just saying, my track record was strong.”
“Your track record?” she repeats, horrified and amused all at once. “We’re talking about children, not racehorses.”
Will snorts. “I’m not touching that one.”
“Coward,” Reid mutters.
Bellamy reaches for her glass of water. She takes a long drink like she’s trying to steady herself. Her eyes keep darting between her dad and me, still processing. “Okay, wait. So… you don’t even know how far along you are yet?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Just… enough to know I should probably start figuring things out.”
“That’s a terrifying sentence,” Reid says.
“Tell me about it,” I tell him.
Will shifts beside me, his shoulder bumping lightly against mine in a quiet, grounding sort of way. “We’ll figure it out together.”
The simple way he says it makes my chest loosen a little. Like it’s not a catastrophe. Like sitting next to his daughter’s best friend that he knocked up is no big thing, and well, I guess it’s not. Not with a love as big as ours.
Bellamy exhales slowly. “Wow. Okay. This is a lot.”
“You’re telling me,” I say. “I thought I couldn’t have kids, and now, here we are.”
She nods. “But also…” She glances around the room, a smile creeping onto her face now that the shock is wearing off. “Our Rampage family is growing. You, me, and Eden are all pregnant at the same time.”
Reid grins. “Those other losers need to catch up. They’re falling behind.”
Another round of laughter ripples through the room, louder this time, the kind that settles deep and lingers.
And as ridiculous as the whole situation is, as unexpected, messy, and slightly terrifying, it suddenly feels a little less like the world tipping sideways and a little more like something we might actually survive.
Together.
I smile over at Will, and he leans in to kiss the corner of my mouth. “That’s a risky play, Coach,” I tease him—kissing me so openly in front of Bellamy when emotions are still raw.
“There isn’t a play I wouldn’t risk for you, Mandy.” He kisses me again, just because he can.
It settles into my soul that this man gets all my kisses from now on, and I’m so damn lucky that I get to call him mine.
Epilogue Amanda
Amanda
* * *
I knew this day would come. I just didn’t expect it to be this soon. I almost bailed, but Will reminded me that it doesn’t matter what his ex-wife thinks about the life we’re building together.
He’s right, but he’s also kind of wrong. I was close to Candice growing up. In many ways, she’s been my second mom, and now, here I am, in a relationship with her ex-husband. Not just a relationship, we’re having a baby. I was so wrapped up in losing my best friend, I didn’t think about her mom.
I’m ten weeks along, so we’re not announcing to anyone other than Reid and Bellamy. Besides, they planned this Labor Day get-together to announce their pregnancy. It just so happened that the Rampage played Thursday night in Cincinnati, so here we are on Saturday, at their place for a holiday cookout.
And I have to face my best friend’s mom, my boyfriend’s ex-wife. I don’t know if Candice knows Will and I are together, but she’s about to find out. I have to tell her. No more secrets, that’s what we said. Besides, he’s so affectionate now that we don’t have to hide.
I’m not just dating him either. We’re building a life together. A real one. The kind that comes with shared bank accounts, late-night grocery runs, and arguing over what color to paint the spare room. Will asked me to move in with him after we left Reid and Bellamy’s place on Monday, and I didn’t even hesitate to say yes. We’re in this, and I want us to be a family.