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Chapter 27: Daniel, Part 1
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2022-10-20 14:06:02Related chapters
Juked 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 : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 32: Quincy, Part 1
"I can't believe Daniel convinced me to do this," I grumble as I push a stroller, carry a collapsible chair over my shoulder, and drag a small cooler through the crowd, trying to find his sister Blanca.The sister I've only met once. The sister that stood there while her other brother berated me.But Daniel agreed to be in his nephew's high school Homecoming Parade as the Master of Ceremonies and he thought the baby would enjoy it, so here we are.I sigh. "Okay, Lucky Ducky. Let me know if you see her," I say to Chance, lifting one shoulder to keep from dropping the chair on my toe again. I feel like an idiot bringing so much stuff with me, but it's October in Houston. That means it's hot and humid, so I needed a lot of supplies. I've read that babies can dehydrate very quickly, and there wasn't enough room in the bottom of the stroller to pack diapers, wipes, changing pad, change of clothes, toys, formula, sunscreen, hats, and several bottles of water. I've turned into a freaking pac
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 33: Quincy, Part 2
I stay silent as my heart drops. I'm not asking for anything right now. It's too soon. We both have fears, but to hear someone he's close to say he may never be ready for something more is jarring."When my dad left my mom, what, ten years ago? Eleven? Wow. I didn't realize it had been that long." She clears her throat. "Anyway, it threw our family into this weird chaos, especially the boys. They all looked up to my dad. Thought he was practically a god among men. So him revealing he was a lying, deceiving, cheating human the whole time, well, you can imagine how well that went over.""I'm sure.""Add onto that, my mother is really close to her boys." She twirls her ponytail around her finger. "She's close to all of us, but Daniel and Geovany the most. They're her babies, ya know? Ever since then, Daniel has made it very clear over the years he has zero interest in commitments, says he refuses to settle down until he is one hundred percent sure he's got the right person because he'll
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 34: Daniel
We played a shitty game. Really shitty. Not only did our sweeper get hurt again, Mack Shivel decided to be a dick and taunt a forward from the other team. Finally the ref had enough of his shit, and he ended up with a yellow card. Several times.Pissed me off and pretty much ruined the flow we had going, which led to the loss. I'd say we went down in a blaze of glory, but it wasn't even that good.Not to mention I'm still struggling with my corner kick. Christian is having trouble with his back and it's becoming clear to the rest of the team the rookie is being set up to be a starter. That's probably part of what made Shivel act out in the first place.So yeah, no matter where I turned, today's game was just shitty. Add that to the fact that my family still hasn't apologized, and to say I'm pissed off is an understatement."A bunch of us are going out for drinks to cool off if you wanna come with us," Christian says. I walk over to my locker from the showers, towel wrapped around my w
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Juked Chapter 35: Quincy
I stare at the TV, Jamie Fraser's naked butt strolling by. That alone should hold my attention, but I can't concentrate on the most recent episode of Outlander.All I can think about is how it's been more than a week since I've heard from Daniel and how it's pissing me off. I texted him once. He never texted me back. I'm not surprised. I knew this was coming as soon as Chance called him dada. It was written all over his face. It scared the shit out of him and threw him right back into that default mode Blanca talked about. He'd tried to cover it well, but the fear was so obvious.The next morning, I saw his picture online. He and his teammates were coming out of some strip club at four in the morning. There's no way to convince me they went to Purple Palace to have a team meeting. So not only did he get freaked out, he lied to me, and immediately ran to the safety of other women. Distant women. Women whose names he will never know, and he doesn't have to worry about getting close to.
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
