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Chapter 23: Daniel, Part 1
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2022-10-20 14:06:02Related chapters
Juked Chapter 24: Daniel, Part 2
Her question gives me pause. I know I should want Geni to come over and relieve me as soon as she can. I mean, I have to work again tomorrow. And we're just dating, not in an official relationship or anything. But strangely, I don't want to leave her like this. I want to stay and take care of her and the baby. It's a strange feeling. "Uh… I think we'll be okay for one more night. I have an out-of-town game this weekend, so I definitely can't stay past tomorrow.""I'll take over for you starting tomorrow night. Will that work?""Perfect." The thermometer beeps, and I pull it out of Quincy's mouth. She settles in on the couch again as I read it out loud. "One oh two point seven.""Damn," Geni says."I gotta go. I need to get some more medicine in our girl and feed the baby before my mom gets here with dinner.""Your mom is bringing you guys dinner?" Geni sounds overly excited by this tidbit of information."Her chicken noodle soup."Geni laughs. "Quincy is gonna kill you when she's coher
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 25: Quincy, Part 1
"I'm so glad I got my flu shot," Geni says over the sound of her clippers. "You looked terrible.""Uh-huh." I pretend to ignore her and sweep the hair from my last client into a pile on the floor. Geni's been making it a point to lecture me all week about how dumb it was not to get vaccinated. Never mind that it's the only time I've been sick the entire five years I've known and worked with her."I'm serious," she says. "I've never seen you look so bad. You're lucky Daniel was there to - "Her voice is drowned out when I start up the vacuum to get rid of the hair. The timing doesn't go unnoticed by her, and she glares at me. I glare right back. "I'm just saying," she says as soon as the noise dies down, making me huff in annoyance. She's not going to let this go. "It's a good thing Daniel was there to take care of you. I don't know how I would have been able to do it without him. Don't you think it was dumb for her not to get her flu shot?" she asks her client, Mike."I haven't had a
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 26: Quincy, Part 2
Houston's Latest Heartthrob: The Woman Who Keeps Daniel Zavaro Warm Between the CleatsI snatch the paper from her and scan the article, vaguely aware Geni is reading over my shoulder.Step back ladies. It appears Daniel Zavaro is off the market. Maybe even for good! Last week, the twenty-nine-year-old captain of the Texas Mutiny, and one of last year's most eligible bachelors, was spotted in the company of twenty-five-year-old Quincy Watson, a local hairdresser. Seeing Zavaro with a beautiful woman on his arm isn't anything new, but what is new is his relationship with the seven-month-old nephew Watson has full custody of. Sources tell us that last week, while Watson was apparently recuperating from the flu, Zavaro spent all his free time with the tiny tot, including dropping him off and picking him up from day care."He was a real sweetheart," our anonymous source said in a phone interview. "He doted on baby Chance like he was his own son." Who is this new woman in Zavaro's life
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 27: Daniel, Part 1
I feel really bad about the article in the newspaper. Quincy is taking it like a champ and doesn't seem all that fazed by it, even though I know she's annoyed that several of her new clients seem to be fans. One actually had the nerve to ask her for tickets to a game.Most times fans are great. But in general, people really suck.I was relieved to find out that most of the "source" information came from that Hailey girl at Chance's day care. Quincy said she called a meeting with the director of the facility, and Hailey ended up confessing to the whole thing. She was given a final written warning for her job.That was good enough for Quincy. She didn't want the girl to lose her job but needed to make sure the point about privacy was made. Frankly, I agree with her. And it makes me trust her friendship that much more. Not that I didn't trust her to begin with. It just drives the point home to me again.I can't help feeling partly responsible for the whole thing. I could have let Geni hel
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 28: Daniel, Part 2
"What chase are you talking about, Lalo?" I feel like I should be on alert but not really sure why."Quincy," he begins, "how do you know my brother?""Oh Jesus," I mutter, looking at Quincy. She has a stunned look on her face. "Don't answer that," I tell her. "Back off Eduardo," I say, turning. "I didn't bring her here to be interrogated by you. You're fucking psycho, you know that?""Boys!" Mama yells."I'm sorry. Am I missing something?" Quincy says with obvious confusion.I sigh. "My brother here is a paranoid freak," I say, and he narrows his eyes at me. "He seems to think our relationship is some sort of scam on your part because of my job.""What?" she asks. "Why…?" She looks at him. "Why would you think that about me?""He thinks it about everybody," I say, staring at him. "Somehow he got it in his mind I can't have any friends or ever date anyone without them having nefarious intentions.""He's only trying to protect you," my sister, Erika, says softly from across the room. "
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 29: Quincy
After the nightmare that was meeting Daniel's family, we went back to my place to watch Netflix and chill. And by that I mean we talked, put the baby down for the night, and had sex.Lots of sex.The kind of toe curling, mind-blowing sex romance novels are made of.And Daniel apologized. A lot.I'm slightly embarrassed by the whole thing, sure. I was nervous about meeting them and now, knowing what they think of me, I have no desire to see any of them again. But I'm not really mad. Geni has told me all about the "cleat chasers." Why would his family assume I was anything different? When I expressed that to Daniel, and told him none of it was a deal-breaker for me, he got the strangest look on his face. Almost a mixture of disbelief and awe. Maybe I'm not freaked out about it enough, but I have more important things to do with my time than worry about what his family thinks. I'm not marrying the guy. We're just dating.Actually, I don't really know what we're doing, except hanging out.
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 30: Daniel, Part 1
We won. Took out the Galaxy five to four. Except for our sweeper rolling his ankle when he came down wrong during a head shot, the game went fine. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but we got the job done.I might have had more enthusiasm if I hadn't still been pissed at my family. It's been a week since the showdown at my mom's house, and the only two people to even try to apologize were Blanca and Geovany.This doesn't surprise me. Geovany isn't just my big brother. He's one of my best friends. He knows I'm smarter than everyone gives me credit for.Blanca… well, she knows better than to believe everything you hear. Her ex-husband blasted her publically, not that most people cared, but she lost a lot of friends over his lies about her being a gold-digging whore and cheater. None of it was true, and he basically said as much in court when the divorce finally went through, but the damage had been done. Since then, she's way less quick to judge people, especially other women.Eduardo, thou
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 31: Daniel, Part 2
"Sure, why?" "I get the impression you have something on your mind," I hit the highway and we zip toward the exit to my apartment building. "Are you worried about the baby?""What? Oh no!" she says with a wave of dismissal. "I'm just distracted is all."We are silent while I park in the lot at my building. My place is only ten minutes from the stadium. It's not the fanciest apartment complex, but rent in Houston is really expensive, especially inside the loop. I'm lucky I can afford it. Not all soccer players can. I'm pretty sure the rookies are all driving from at least thirty minutes away and have roommates."So here we are," I say, turning off the engine."No underground parking with a secret passcode to get in?" she jests. "I'm shocked there's not more security."I snicker. "Professional soccer players don't need much security in the States. In Europe or South America, hell yeah, but here, people are more interested in football players." I get out of the car and make my way around
Last Updated : 2022-10-20
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Juked Chapter 50: Quincy, Part 2
His eyes widen. "Oh god, no! I am nowhere near ready for that." I relax. "Good. Neither am I.""Quincy, I'm not even ready to talk about moving in together." "Sorry. I didn't mean to freak out. You started making a speech, and I wanted to make sure we were on the same page before you dropped down on one knee in front of everyone and got turned down."He smacks me on the ass. "Do me a favor. If I ever do propose, and it happens to be in public, say yes no matter what. You can break it off with me as soon as we're alone, but it'll save me the public humiliation."I chuckle. "Deal."He runs his hand down one of my cheeks to cup my jaw. "I really do love you, though, Quincy. You juked me."I smirk. "You're gonna have to teach me all your soccer lingo if I'm gonna stick around a while. I have no idea what you just said."He smiles. "I saw you coming, but before I could even get my guard up, you ran right over me and left me dazed.""That doesn't sound very good," I joke."Oh, but it is,"
Juked Chapter 49: Quincy, Part 1
5 weeks later…"What is Tiffany the tramp doing here?" I shush Geni and smack her with a towel. "She's with Rowen Flanigan.""The rookie?" she asks, taking a sip of her wine. "Since when do the players bring groupies to team parties? I thought they only had special parties with those girls."I roll my eyes and slice more cheese for the cracker platter. I'm thrilled so many players showed up for Chance's first birthday party, but they eat a lot. Daniel hasn't even started grilling yet."Be nice," I reprimand her. "They're dating now. From what Daniel says, Rowen really likes her."Geni chokes on her wine. "Does he know what she does for a hobby? He seems a little too, I don't know… virtuous for her.""The heart wants what it wants. I'm not judging."After greeting a few teammates and their significant others, Tiffany and Rowen make their way through the crowd and over to us. It's obvious Tiffany is uncomfortable. Her eyes keep darting around the room like she's waiting to be jumped. It
Juked Chapter 48: Daniel
After talking to the court clerk and Erik's attorney, Doug returned to congratulate us on our win. We all recognized Rosemary had scored the equalizer and go-ahead goals to save this case in the last seconds, but it didn't make the feeling of victory any less sweet. From what we can all tell, Rosemary is a nice lady, who has an interesting son. She seems to care about her grandson, even though she hasn't met him yet. "Is it weird that I'm excited about his visit with Rosemary?" Quincy asks as I drive to the day care. I'm still holding her hand. I haven't let go since we got to the courthouse this morning, except to change positions. I can pretend it's because I'm being supportive of her and don't want her to think she's alone in all this, but the truth is, when she told me last night she might lose custody of the baby, I was scared shitless and needed to hold onto her as much as she needed to hold onto me."I don't think so." I turn on my blinker and wait for the light to turn green
Juked Chapter 47: Quincy, Part 2
I turn cold. Doug immediately stands. "Mrs. Cope," he says. "I'm Doug Linus, Ms. Watson's attorney.""Oh good," she says. "I'm glad you're here. That makes this so much easier. May I sit?" She gestures to the bench perpendicular to us. There's just enough space for her to sit next to Daniel. I look at Doug. He shrugs, putting the decision squarely on my shoulders. Do I want to talk to Erik's mother, or do I want to wait to get into the courtroom?Frankly, I'm afraid of what will happen in that courtroom. So I nod. She smoothes her skirt as she sits and crosses her feet at the ankles."First things first," she says without wasting any time. "How is my grandson?"I look at Daniel for reassurance. I'm not sure why she wants to talk to me, but at least she's asking about his well-being. Erik didn't even do that."He's, well, he's wonderful." I smile as I think about the toothy grin my sweet baby boy gave me this morning. "He's eleven months old, and he's just the most wonderful, loving ba
Juked Chapter 46: Quincy, Part 1
"Let's go over what's likely to happen in court today."Doug, my attorney, stops the idle chitchat and gets down to business. I feel like I've been taking deep breaths all morning, mostly because I feel like I can't breathe at all. The pressure on my chest is unbearable. Daniel squeezes my hand and puts his arm around me, rubbing his other hand up and down my arm. He made good on his promise to call in a personal day today. This, after he basically held me all night long. I tried to get a good night's sleep, but instead I was restless and cried out several times. Daniel kept holding me, murmuring encouraging words into my ear in a soothing voice. I feel bad that I kept him from resting well, but more than that, I'm grateful he was there to get me through a tough night.He was still there this morning when my alarm went off. He was already up, had coffee made, and had even gotten a suit from his apartment so he could help me get the baby ready to go this morning. When he'd said he was
Juked Chapter 45: Daniel, Part 3
I bite back a grin. What she doesn't realize is how painful the weeks without her were. I already learned my lesson the hard way. I won't make that same mistake twice."The pattern has changed," I say. "I didn't see it before, but now that Blanca has pointed it out, I can do something about it. I'll have to keep it in the forefront of my mind when life throws a curveball at me. Sometimes you may have to call me on it, but now that I know it's there, I can fix it."Quincy takes a breath. Ironically, I feel like I'm holding mine."I really missed you, you know?" I say.She reaches up and caresses my cheek. I close my eyes and relish the feel of her touching me again. "I really missed you, too."I slide to my knees and hug her around the waist. I probably look like a total pussy in front of her, but I don't care. I can breathe again. She's giving me another chance.We stay like this for a few minutes, me hugging her, her running her fingers through my hair. I'm so content, if I wasn't hyp
Juked Chapter 44: Daniel, Part 2
"She's a producer at a local TV station. Every once in a while I have to call her about getting some press if there's something the coach wants covered on a weekend when the PR department isn't in." She averts her eyes. "Look, I admit I watched some terrible porn and spanked the monkey one too many times." That earns me a small smile. "But I didn't disappear because I was bored with you. I vanished because I was afraid."I let that sink in for a minute plus I needed a break. It's hard for me to admit all of this to myself. Admitting it to someone else is even harder. "Quincy, please look at me. My entire life, everyone told me I was just like my dad. I used to take pride in that. I couldn't wait to be old enough to get married and have a family, to treat them the way he treated us. I don't know why he decided to have an affair and why that woman became more important than the rest of us. One day, the man I admired, someone a lot like me, well, it turned out he was a fake." I move to s
Juked Chapter 43: Daniel, Part 1
She stares at me, looking beautiful but tired and thin. There are circles under her eyes. Did I do that to her? The guilt I already feel doubles. Once again, my automatic instinct is to flee, but I stay strong. I'm not leaving until she kicks me out."What?" She breaths out the word.I clear my throat and quickly lower the flowers to my side. "Um, I'm, uh, I'm nervous. Let me try this again." I lift the flowers again. "I'm sorry. I'm here to ask you to forgive me. I miss you."She takes the bouquet from me, still looking wary at my unexpected appearance. We haven't seen each other in over a month. Her concern is understandable, but I'm determined."Can I come in?"She thinks for a moment then moves aside so I can enter. I shove my hands in my pockets as she closes the door behind me. The apartment looks like I remember it, with baby toys sprinkled around the room, like she hasn't had time to clean up yet.I follow her as she goes to the kitchen, gets a vase out of the cabinet, and fill
Juked Chapter 42: Quincy
I hum and run a finger over Chance's eyebrows and down the bridge of his nose. He finished his bottle a while ago and has been asleep ever since, but I can't muster the desire to put him down for the night.I think about how much he's changed in the last nine months since I got custody of him. He's longer and not nearly as chunky as he used to be. All the crawling and pulling up is quickly burning off his baby rolls. His facial features are more distinct. He still bears a striking resemblance to my dad's baby pictures, but Chance looks more like, well, himself.His pouty lips move in a suckling motion, like he's dreaming of his bottle. It always warms my heart when he does it. It's a sign a baby feels safe, loved, and content.Lucky him. All I feel is terror. Tomorrow we go before a judge, who will decide where Chance will live for the next seventeen years of his life. A judge who will determine if the man who didn't care enough to acknowledge his own child can now parent that child a
