Trying to Score (36 page)

Lucas wanted to go home; he wanted to be with his son, but then he thought that even if he went home he wouldn’t be with Aiden 100 percent of the time. It would always be a trade-off with Fallon and he hated that. He wanted that moment when the door opened and he was attacked by his kid. All the guys from the team that had kids talked about that moment and Lucas knew he wouldn’t be able to experience it because of his situation with Fallon.

Man, how he wished they could work things out. Their flirting and hot glances were driving him crazy. Lucas said that he didn’t think Fallon could hold out much longer, but really he wasn’t sure how much more he could handle. He wanted her more than he wanted to breathe. Yeah, it was cliché but it was the truth. Lucas felt like his heart only beat her name, no other woman could compare and he just wanted her. Not only did he want to come home to Aiden in the house, but he wanted Fallon in his bed, or cooking for him, or just being lazy on the couch, anything! He just wanted Fallon and Aiden, all the time.

Fallon slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor to check on Aiden. She knew he went upstairs to Skype with Lucas, but usually she heard something out of him by now. When Audrey appeared at the top of the stairs, Fallon smiled.

“Hey you,” she said. She hadn’t seen much of Audrey lately. Either Fallon was working or Audrey just wasn’t home. Fallon noticed that ever since Lucas left, Audrey had been home more, which was weird.

“Okay,” Fallon said, eying her younger sister. Sometimes it was hard to read Audrey. Fallon could never tell if she was lying, and it drove her insane. “Is everything okay?” Fallon found herself asking.

Fallon took in a frustrated breath. Why was she being so difficult? What was she hiding? “Okay,” she finally said, moving out of the way so that Audrey could go down the stairs. “Be careful.”

Audrey went down the stairs with nothing more than a wave for Fallon. Audrey was hiding something and Fallon wanted to know what it was.

Pronto.

Shrugging her shoulders, Fallon went towards Aiden’s door. When she reached it, she heard Aiden yawn. She slowly opened the door to see him lying on his side, with his back to the door, and the iPad sitting up so he could see Lucas. Lucas was also laying in a bed with a grin on his face as he talked to Aiden. Fallon’s heart lurched at the sight of Lucas. He looked so inviting, laying with his head on the pillow and his eyes half lidded. It was obvious that he was tired. Lucas had been playing some amazing hockey the past couple games. Fallon had no doubt that he would be tired, but why did he have to look so sexy while doing it?

Aiden took in a deep breath and Lucas smiled. “Buddy, you are tired. Go to sleep.”

Aiden shook his head. “I miss you.”

Fallon’s heart broke as she leaned against the doorway. Aiden had asked for Lucas every morning before school and then after. It broke Fallon in pieces when he would look up at her with those big gray eyes and his lip wobbling because he missed his daddy. She wished that she could take Aiden to Lucas, or bring Lucas home, anything just to make her baby happy.

“I miss you too, bud. I’ll be home in two days, and then you’ll meet your grandma. So go to sleep okay? I’ll call tomorrow.”

Fallon’s hands clasped together tightly at the thought of Molly coming to Aiden’s birthday party that weekend. Fallon had been a nervous wreck about seeing the woman that she had thought of as a second mother so long ago. All her fears before Lucas and Aiden knew of each other came back in full force. She was so scared of what Molly would say to her that Fallon was convinced she would be on pins and needles the rest of the week.

“I’m fi..,” Aiden tried to say, but the last word didn’t fully come out. Fallon slowly walked towards the bed, peeking over to see that Aiden had fallen asleep. When she heard Lucas chuckling, she picked the iPad up to see his beautiful sleepy face.

Nothing was said as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Fallon wanted nothing more than to climb into the iPad and magically appear on the other side in Vancouver, where she would promptly screw Lucas Brooks’ brains out. It was something about his eyes and mouth that had Fallon on edge, or maybe it was his whole body. Who the hell knew, all she did know was that she wanted him, even if it was against her best judgment.

“I miss you, Fal.”

Fallon took in a sharp breath before biting her lip. Why did he have to say that? Why couldn’t he just let her be? It was hard enough trying to resist his sexy ass but then he would say sweet things like that and Fallon really did want to figure out a way to climb through the damn iPad.

Fallon hit the disconnect button and crumbled into the chair beside Aiden’s bed. She turned off the iPad before letting her face fall into her hands. As she shook her head from side to side, all she could do was think why did he still miss her? Why did he still want her? She was a complete bitch to him, had kept his child from him. It made no damn sense. There was no way he still loved her because he had cheated on her, he had ruined them.

It had to be convenience. He wanted to be around Aiden all the time, and of course, there was still sexual attraction between them so why not try to get Fallon on board. Then he could have Aiden all the time AND get laid, but then again, that didn’t make sense because Lucas could easily fight Fallon for custody of Aiden and still get laid by all the females that threw themselves at him.

He didn’t need Fallon.

So why?

Fallon was going to drive herself insane trying to figure Lucas Brooks out, so she took a deep breath in and decided to go to bed. When she stood up, Aiden sat up quickly, looking around the room.

“Dad?”

Fallon’s heart stopped at the sound of the three letter word. Aiden’s eyes were wide as he started to search the bed for the iPad. Aiden had called Lucas dad, and he wasn’t there to hear it. That was just great. As if she didn’t already feel horrible about everything else, now she had that on her conscience?!

Just freaking great.

“Honey,” Fallon said, causing Aiden to let out a little scream before looking up at her.

“Mommy, you scared me!” Aiden said. He then climbed out of bed and came to her, climbing into her lap. “Where’s my iPad? I didn’t get to say bye to my dad.”

His dad.

“Oh, well,” Fallon said, trying to get herself together. She was falling apart inside and really didn’t know what to do to make it better. She knew that this would happen, so why couldn’t she breathe? While Fallon sputtered, Aiden picked up his iPad, and after tapping a few times, Lucas was back on the screen, grinning.

“Haha, I knew-Aiden. Hey, bud. I thought you were sleeping?”

Lucas’ eyes cut to Fallon’s but she looked away as Aiden said, “I didn’t tell you bye, and good luck on tomorrow’s game.”

Fallon leaned her head against Aiden’s, taking in his fresh smell as Lucas said, “Thanks bud. We’ll win just because you wished me luck.”

Aiden waved and Lucas did the same before the screen went black. Aiden leaned his head against Fallon’s as the iPad dropped into his lap. “I’m ready for him to come home.”

“I know, Punkin’. Only two more days, okay?”

“The day of my party, huh?”

Fallon giggled as she picked Aiden up, laying the iPad down before carrying him to his bed. “Yup. It’s gonna be the best day ever, huh?”

“Yup! Cause not only will my dad be there, but my new grandma will, too,” Aiden gushed as Fallon tucked him in.

Fallon mentally told her heart not to be offended by the fact that Aiden only cared about Lucas and Molly right now. Lucas had told her before that it was because they were new, but it didn’t help the jealously. Molly was an amazing person, and Aiden was bound to love her, so where would that leave Nora? Would Nora still mean as much when Molly came along? Aiden used to think Nora was the best Grammie ever, would he still think that? Then again, Fallon had two sets of grandparents and loved the both deeply, so really her fears were pointless.

“Is my new grandma nice?”

Fallon smiled as she sat next to Aiden in the bed, nodding her head. Even though Fallon was jealous as hell, she would never bad-mouth Molly. “She’s amazing. You’ll love her.”

Fallon got up and headed towards the door. When she glanced back at Aiden, his eyes were closed and his breathing was almost even. She smiled as she lightly closed the door and started for the stairs. She was almost to the bottom when the door opened and Audrey came in with some mail in her hand.

“Oh, okay,” Fallon said. She stopped when she came to a letter from Richard Price, Lucas’ lawyer. She dropped the other letters before proceeding to open it.

“What’s that?” Audrey asked when she turned.

“A letter from Lucas’ lawyer,” was all Fallon got out as her eyes focused on the letter from Mr. Price.

Dear Ms. Fallon Parker,

Enclosed is the back support for one said child, Aiden James Brooks. Regular payments of $145,833.33 will be mailed on the 15
^th
of every month. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at my office. The number is included at the end of this letter.

Have a nice day,

Richard Price

“Oh, my God,” Fallon whispered as she reread the letter again.

“What?” Audrey asked, coming around the table to where Fallon stood.

“Oh, my God,” Fallon said once more. She moved the letter out of the way to see a check that had a whole bunch of numbers on it. “Oh. My. God!”

“Fallon, we could move! Or better yet, you could open your cellar! This could be capital since Dad won’t fund it! You could do it on your own! This is great! Or! You could do both! This is amazing, such a blessing!” Audrey said from behind her.

Fallon took in long shuttering breaths, trying to settle herself, but it wasn’t working. No wonder Levi was pissed — that was a whole bunch of money. Fallon knew it didn’t put a dent in Lucas’ finances but still, that was a big chunk of change and Audrey was right. They could move, she could open the cellar — the possibilities were endless.

“Why aren’t you talking? This is great, don’t you think?”

Fallon shook her head. Even though the possibilities were endless, she wouldn’t give Lucas or Levi the satisfaction of cashing that check. “I can’t cash it, AA.”

When Audrey didn’t say anything, Fallon turned to see her sister looking at her like she had grown 10 heads. “I have went seven years without his help, and I refuse to have it now. He shouldn’t have to pay for a child he didn’t know about.”

“But Fallon…”

“No. I will not use that money. I’ll talk to Lucas about it this weekend, and give it back to him. He can put it in a college fund for Aiden or whatever. The monthly payments are high and I will talk to him about that, too.”