The Quarterback's Love Child (A Secret Baby Sports Romance Book 1) by Stephanie Brother

he didn’t even know. Mom had voiced her disappointment at my weight gain, but then she said that seeing as this was my second pregnancy that could be the reason for getting so big quickly. It couldn’t be because of my huge appetite, which I lost as soon as I came out of Hell.
    Funny, no one seemed to have noticed in school. Or maybe it was a case of them noticing, but everyone keeping quiet.
    I shook my head. If they had noticed, Carl would have said something. There was no way he would have kept his distance. I was only four months, but then I suppose to anyone else I would look a lot bigger.
    “The Prom. It’s the first time that the school has been allowed to have one after all these years.”
    The school? Rather Dad had allowed them to have one.
    “Anyway, I just want to make sure that you have no intention of contacting that boy. You know the consequences, and you’re already a few months gone. You wouldn’t want to go back to Hell, would you?”
    I nodded, agreeing that it was the last place I wanted to go to, but not because I was a few months. Going there would mean the end of my plan. I would miss my graduation ride and then never have another opportunity again.
    I intended to be on my best behavior. I had worked too hard to be anything else.
    “Good, as long as we understand each other.”
    I slumped down on the bed, wondering if Carl was going to the Prom with someone. I had heard a rumor, two kids talking, but then when they saw me, they stopped talking about Carl or anything related to me.
    I had even seen flyers about voting for the King and Queen of the Prom. I hoped that they would win, Carl had been through sadness, though not as much as I had. The idea that he was getting over me pulled at my heart strings.
    A tear escaped my eye and then I could hear my mom shouting to my dad, for my benefit of course.
    “She understands, dear. Now, let’s get on our way.”
     
     
    Chapter Twenty Three
    Carl
     
     
    Everyone was having a good time. Father Roger grabbed his wife and they took to the dance floor when the band played, ‘Oh Happy Days.’ I looked at my date, one that was chosen by my mom, and I could see that she was happy to dance too.
    Dwight’s date had left, because she had broken her heel, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to give my date to Dwight. Both of them looked confused, but there was only one person I wanted to dance with tonight. Soon, it would be graduation and I wouldn’t be coming back to this town after I left.
    It was too painful being here and not being able to speak to Michelle. If I came back during the holidays the only voice I would hear would be my mom’s telling me about my dad leaving. He’d told me that as soon as I left, he would be gone too. I’d had a feeling that he’d been thinking of doing that, but knowing he would be gone made me realize that there was nothing to come back for. In four years’ time when it was time to grab Michelle and make her my wife, would she still want me then?
    We would be different people, and the love that we shared could be different by then.
    No, what was I thinking? I had to come back during the holidays to find out where she had gone. I knew that Faith and Harmony hadn’t turned their backs on her. Maybe after graduation, Michelle would leave. I wouldn’t pressure her for an answer now, but I would find out from them in time.
    I had my chance and I didn’t hesitate when Dwight asked my date for a dance. I hopped into my dad’s car that he had loaned me for the night and drove to her house.
    I thought about parking it down the road and sneaking in as I used to, hoping that she would be in the kitchen or somewhere nearby. I knew that her dad was watching my movements, and I shouldn’t have taken the risk, but I had to.
    That burning ache inside of me for the last few months from seeing her and never being able to talk to her was too deep to let it slide by.
    I knocked on the door and when there was no answer, I