“I’ll hang with the baby,” I said softly. “I won’t go anywhere until we can talk.”
Banner looked somewhat appeased.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” he growled.
He was still pissed.
Really, really pissed, actually.
I nodded once. “I can do that.”
My dad may very well kill me for it afterward, but I could do it.
He touched me on the cheek with a single finger, then jogged out onto the field.
Blue came up to me with Slone’s baby. A baby that looked so much like our friend that it hurt.
“Jesus, I don’t know how she ever gave this up,” I said, curling my finger around the baby’s fist.
The girl latched onto it with surprising force.
“Me neither,” Blue whispered. “And the way Slone looks at her like she’s his world? I seriously don’t know what happened to her. I wish I was a ghost whisper that could sneak into the afterlife and ask her what the hell had happened.”
For the next hour, we played with Slone’s baby.
And it was only toward the end that I realized that I didn’t actually know her name.
“Did they ever name her?” I asked curiously. “I mean, obviously she has a name. But did Abilene have a part in it?”
“No.”
I blinked, startled, and stared up at Slone who was just all of a sudden standing in front of us.
Chapter 8
I’m so broke I can’t even pay attention.
-Banner to Ford
Banner
“Is that kid really Slone’s?” I asked curiously.
The baby under question was currently sitting at the water station with the trainer now, as well as Blue and Perry. But, earlier, I’d seen the baby sitting on a parent’s lap.
I was honestly confused on whose baby it was at this point.
“Slone’s,” Titus confirmed. “He and a friend of ours who died had a baby. Her name was Abilene.”
“Abilene?” I asked. “Were they a thing?”
Titus shook his head. “They are most definitely not a thing. I’m not really even sure what exactly happened there.” He paused. “But yeah. Don’t mention Abilene. Abilene’s murder is just too fresh in his mind, but they were never really together in the first place. And Slone has a thing for Tempy.”
I nearly rolled my eyes at all the drama.
Tempy was currently making googly eyes at the baby, and Slone was watching her do it with a small smile on his face.
“Who’s supposed to be watching this baby right now?” I asked curiously.
“Martina was the one you saw watching the baby earlier.” Titus took a hefty swallow of Gatorade. “But Martina, Slone’s mom, works nights. She leaves at four in the afternoon to drive an hour to work. She’s an anesthesiologist at the hospital. The trainer chick that is also doubling as our water chick is Tempy’s mom.”
“And she watches the baby while Slone finishes practice?” I asked.
Titus nodded. “When Martina is working, yes. Martina and Ms. Brennan are best friends.”
Sounded like a mess waiting to happen, I thought.
“Slone doesn’t look too fucked up about having a kid at seventeen,” I said as we walked to the water table.
“He’s not,” Titus agreed. “He’s a good dad, from what I’ve seen.”
My eyes went over to Slone, who was talking to Perry and Blue.
Just as we arrived at the table, we heard Slone say, “Her name is Briley.”
“Aww,” Blue said. “That’s so sweet. She looks just like you.”
I agreed.
The baby was small, but you could definitely see a little Slone mixed into her face.
The dark brown hair. The nose and the eyes. They were all Slone.
Which, I guessed, might be a good thing.
Perry’s eyes immediately came to mine.
“You done?” she asked.
I shook my head. “We have sprints. Then we’re done.”
“Fuck sprints,” Slone muttered.
Blue covered the baby’s ears. “Slone. You can’t say words like that anymore!”
We all chuckled at Blue’s words.
Sadly, for Slone, Blue was probably right.
At least I would try to control my mouth if I had a baby to listen to it.
“The coach doesn’t seem too impressed with your not-friend,” Perry said, her eyes across the field where Vance was having a discussion with the coach.
I grimaced.
“Vance has a way with words,” I said. “He’ll be on the team.”
“Or maybe not,” Titus offered as he brought my attention once again to the two.
Coach had his arms crossed and he was staring at Vance who was clearly not happy.
Vance marched away then, walking past us and hitting the water table so hard that the entire thing upended.
Blue screeched and stood up. Titus, who’d seen it coming, curled his arm protectively around Blue who was still holding the baby.
Perry cursed when she was soaked with water.
And Slone took a threatening step toward Vance who was clearly ready for a fight.
“Don’t,” I said, catching onto his shirt. “He wants it. You have a baby to take care of. Baiting Vance isn’t going to be good. I’ve been dealing with him for a year now, and I can guarantee he’s fucking dirty.”
Dirty meaning he’d do shit that Slone wouldn’t have a counter for because kids in high school weren’t supposed to be this fucking crazy.
Slone stilled, but he didn’t look like he wanted to.
In fact, if Slone saw Vance in a dark parking lot, there was a distinct possibility Vance would be meeting the pavement.
“I can see why you fucking hate him,” Slone growled, jaw clenched tight.
He moved over to where Blue was now pulling away from Titus and took his baby out of her arms.
“You okay, Briley girl?” Slone asked, lifting her up until he had her lifted slightly in the air.
Briley kicked her feet, knocking him in the chin.
Slone grinned and brought her down until he could place a kiss onto her cheek.
Then he handed her back to Blue.
“Let’s go get this over with,” he growled to Titus.
Titus and I followed, my eyes going to Perry with a distinct ‘stay here’ order.
She winked at me, causing my heart rate to pick up.
By the time we were done with sprints, I half expected to see Vance lurking. But he was long gone.
“At least we won’t have to deal with him
