Page 19 of Scoring Eden

God, I hate him.

I hate him so fucking much.

I wish I could go back to high school and tell my stupid seventeen-year-old self to leave the quarterback alone. To never go to that house party and sleep with him in a bed belonging to someone whose name I can’t even remember now.

But if I did that, then I wouldn’t have Macon.

And as awful as his father is, I wouldn’t give up my little boy for the world.

“Hello again, gorgeous. Have you missed me?” Alex Wolfe stops dead in the center of the room, his eyes pinging between my ex-husband and me like he’s watching a game of tennis. He shifts on his feet, looking at me with concern. “Am I interrupting something?”

Never in my entire life have I been so happy to see somebody.

“Yes,” Sebastian grits through his teeth just as I shout, “No!”

An idea is forming. One that could go terribly fucking wrong if Alex doesn’t play along, but it’s the one time I’m glad for his overly flirtatious, overfamiliar disposition.

I told Sebastian I’d fight him at all costs, and that starts now.

“Actually…” I spin back to Sebastian with a small smile on my lips. “I’m not alone. As it happens, I’m also seeing someone. Isn’t that right, honey?”

Alex’s eyes bulge, as do my ex-husband’s.

“What?”

I’m not sure which of them said it, but there’s no turning back now. I’ve started it, and now I have to finish it.

Beckoning Alex to my side, I watch with a thundering heart as he steps behind my desk with a questioning expression.

“I missed you today.” My smile is too clenched, my words too tight, and my eyes too wide with desperation for any of this to be believable.

But to my utmost surprise, he grins, wide and glistening with perfect white teeth, and his eyes shimmer with a mix of mischief and delight. Leaning over me, he presses a kiss to my hair, lingering just long enough that even I believe it’s real. “Back at you, babe.”

“So…” I whirl back to Sebastian. “As you can see, you aren’t the only one who can give Macon a ‘real family.’” It might be a step too far to use air quotes, but I do so anyway.

He scowls. “Is it serious?”

“Very,” Alex answers for me. “Eden here is the center of my universe. The apple of my eye. My beloved. The light of my—”

“Okay,” I interrupt before he can go any further. I appreciate his commitment more than he’ll ever know, but if he carries on, this charade will be over before it’s begun. “Sebastian, you are welcome to file a petition.” No, he isn’t. “But evidently, the process won’t be as smooth for you as you first thought. And who do you think the courts will side with? The mother who has raised him singlehandedly for the past ten years, or the father who has only now decided to take an interest in his life?”

If looks could kill, I’d be bleeding out on the floor. Dusting off his suit, his knuckles turn white around the handle of his briefcase. “We’ll talk about this another time.”

“Certainly.”

Without another word, he heads for the door. But then he pauses, shaking his head, and looks back at us. Though, to my surprise, it’s Alex who’s got his attention. “Aren’t you that soccer player for the Seattle Strikers? Alex…something?”

“Wolfe.” Alex holds out his hands. “And yep, in the flesh.”

Sebastian narrows his eyes on me like he doesn’t know how I managed to land myself a star athlete. I haven’t. I would never be able to, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Interesting,” he says more to himself than anyone else before finally leaving the room.

I don’t breathe until I hear the front door close behind him.

But if I thought I’d get a second to absorb what just took place, I’m mistaken. Because Alex leans against my desk, his arms crossed against his chest, with an expectant and somewhat amused expression on his face.

“Hey, um, what the fuck was that?”