A Love Rekindled (The Game of Love #1) (6 page)

“
That
is not what I'm talking about,” he said, as he stared into her
eyes. “I loved you, dammit. I thought we were happy and in
love. I thought we were going to be together forever. I wanted a
family with you. Everything seemed perfect.”

Luke
put his head in his hands and continued to talk. She could see him
start to shake his leg.

“
I
had the ring in my pocket. I had been so worried and excited about
that day. It was going to be the day I would have to leave for school
without you, but also the first day of the rest of our lives. I was
going to work hard to be the best man I could, so that our family
would be taken care of. I was going to propose to you that day. I had
my hand in my pocket all day, protecting that ring. I waited for the
perfect moment to get down on one knee and ask you for forever. Just
as I was about to do it, you changed my life. You crushed my world. I
never saw it coming. You never even gave me a reason. I never
understood why you did it. You broke my heart. I left for college
devastated and alone. My life has never been the same. Did you ever
love me?”

Luke
looked over at her with tears in his eyes. She didn't know what to
do. How could he think she never loved him? She had done it for him.
Jessica sat up and put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away.
She could not hold her tears much longer. Give him his answers and
send him on his way, she told herself. You can't do this. She knew
she couldn't tell him everything. He would hate her if she did. She
needed to let him know that she did love him. It hurt her so bad to
see him like that.

“
Yes,
I loved you,” she said. “I can't believe you would think
I didn't. I never knew you were going to propose. I did it for you. I
thought it would be better for you.”

“
Don't
you think it should have been my decision?” he asked, with his
hands squeezed together. “I should have been the one to decide
what was better for me.”

“
I
didn't want to hold you back. You got a full ride to University of
Michigan. Football was your dream. You were going to go pro. You
worked so hard for that. I knew you needed to concentrate on your
dreams. It was crazy enough that you were going off to college, but
you were playing college football. That was a lot for you to take on.
I didn't want you to have to worry about me too. I didn't want to be
the reason your dreams didn't come true.”

She
moved closer to him and took his chin in her hand, as she looked into
his eyes.

“
Please,
don't ever think it was because I didn't love you. You called a few
times once you left. I looked forward to your calls. Then, you
stopped calling. You never called me again. You were only gone a
month and were already done with me. I knew then, that I had made the
right decision by letting you go. You were free to enjoy college and
have the life you deserved. I would have been holding you back. If
you would have been with me, you would have missed out on the fun
part of college. I was devastated that you quit calling. I can't tell
you how many nights I cried myself to sleep. It was hard, but it was
the right decision. You were going to be able to live the life you
worked so hard for. You might have only been able to play
professional for two years, but you got to do it.”

She
wanted to kiss him so bad, but pulled back and moved to the other
side of the couch.

“
Really,
the life I deserved,” Luke shook his head. “That was my
choice to make. You took that away from me. You have no idea what I
would have chosen.”

“
It
wasn't easy for me, Luke,” she said, as a tear ran down her
cheek. “If something had happened, and you had chosen me over
your dreams, you would have regretted it later, and it would have
been my fault. It was not easy to let you go. Do you have any idea
how hard it was to see pictures of you and your model girlfriends,
all over each other?”

“
Oh,
really,” he snapped, as he stood up. “It wasn't easy?”

Luke's
face changed. She could see anger and hurt in his eyes. He paced back
and forth. She was nervous about what was going to happen. Was he
going to yell? Was he going to walk out? She wanted him to leave, but
at the same time, she was afraid he was going to. Jessica had to hear
what he was going to say. She sat silent and waited.

“
How
does your husband feel about you looking at pictures of your ex?”
he blurted out, as he ran his hand roughly through his hair. “It
was so hard on you. You sure didn't wait long to be in bed with
someone else. Tell me, did you sleep with him before I even left? Is
he the reason you broke up with me? Who is he? Are you with one of my
friends?”

Luke
stared straight into her eyes. His chest puffed out and his arms
tensed up. Jessica was livid. How dare he accuse her of cheating? She
didn't want to let him go. He was going to have a great future. She
didn't want him to give any part of that up for her. Her face had to
have turned red. She could feel the blood rise in her cheeks. She
jumped up from the couch and got inches from his face. He wasn't
going to accuse her.

“
What
are you talking about?” she snapped at him. “Who? I
wasn't with anyone when you left. How dare you say that to me? I
loved you, Luke. I fucking loved you more than you could ever
imagine. I don't have a husband. What the hell are you talking
about?”

She
was not going to back down. Jessica was right in his face. There was
no way he was going to push her around. She had been through to much
to deal with his shit. He had his dreams. She worked her ass off
every day. Nobody was going to make her feel like she was lower than
she was.

“
I
drove by your house yesterday,” he said, as he got closer to
her face.

Their
noses were touching, and she could see his face darken a deep red.
Her hands shook at her sides. The conversation was getting too deep.
She had to stop him before he asked too much. What was she going to
do? She went to tell him to leave, but he cut her off and spoke
louder than her.

“
I
saw you outside with a little boy. He had to be about five or six. I
was in shock. I couldn't believe it. It doesn't take a genius to
figure out you were pregnant within months of my leaving. I felt like
someone tore my heart out all over again. I was supposed to marry
you. You were supposed to have my babies. I was the one you were
supposed to have a family with. I can't believe I spent all those
years thinking about you, when you never even cared about me.”

Jessica
started to cry. She couldn't take it. He was going to hate her, but
it didn't matter anymore. It seemed like he already did. She took off
to her bedroom and slammed the door.

Luke

Luke
was so upset. It felt good to get it out of his system. He walked
over and sat on the couch with his hands on his lap, clenched
together. Luke was glad she stormed off, because he needed to calm
down. As mad as he was, he still felt bad seeing her cry. He had
always had a hard time when she cried. Luke loved her so much. He
never wanted her to hurt. She was his love. The only woman he would
ever give his whole heart to.

He
sat there for at least a half an hour. His muscles started to relax.
He could feel himself calm down. Maybe he should just leave, he
thought. Was she going to come back out? He was not sure what to do.
Luke went there to get answers, and he had not gotten them yet. After
all of the yelling, he still did not have his answers. He had come
that far, and he was not going to back down. Luke wanted to know who
she had been with. Once she told him that, he would be on his way. He
would make sure their paths never crossed again.

Suddenly,
a door in the house slammed open against the wall. Luke jumped. He
looked up just as Jessica stormed into the room. Her eyes were red
and her face was puffy. Had she been crying the whole time, he
wondered? She had a box in her hands. He could see sadness in her
eyes as he looked at her. She tore the lid off the box, turned the
box upside down, spilled the contents onto the floor, and threw the
lid to the side.

“
If
I didn't care about you, then what the hell is all of this,”
she yelled.

Luke
felt bad as he looked into her tear filled eyes. He got off the couch
and walked over to the pile. He bent down and picked up one thing
after the next. There were things there from their time in high
school. He moved some things to the side. Jessica walked over to a
window and stared outside. He picked up more stuff from the ground.
There were a bunch of pictures, articles, and print outs from the
internet. They were all of him, from college and professional
football. The box was filled with stuff from while he was gone.
Everything in it was of him.

“
What
is all of this? Why do you have this stuff? What the hell is going
on, Jessica?” he asked.

She
didn't respond. He stood up and walked over to a wall with pictures
on it.

“
You
broke up with me and immediately had a baby with another man.”

Luke
saw pictures of her with her son. They were all of just the two of
them.

“
Why
is his dad not in these pictures?” he asked.

“
We're
not together,” she said.

He
saw a picture of her holding the new baby in the hospital. She looked
just as he remembered. Jessica was so beautiful.

“
Who
took this picture,” he asked, “his dad?”

“
My
sister, Renee,” she said, still looking out the window.

“
Did
you go through your pregnancy alone? He asked, as she stood silent.
“What kind of man would not be there for his baby?”

“
We
were fine,” she said. “Renee was there the whole time.
She has helped me for years. I have given him a good life. I do my
best to be a great mom. I work very hard for what we have.”

Luke
looked at another picture of the little boy. He was so adorable.

“
He
is so cute. He has your color hair, but he didn't get your eyes. He
has beautiful blue eyes. You always said you wanted our babies to
have blue eyes,” Luke said, as he felt his breath catch in his
chest. “He is adorable. Did his dad have blue eyes?”

Jessica
stood still and stared out the window. Why won't she look at me, he
thought? Look at me, he commanded in his mind. He wanted her to turn
to him. If he had known she was alone and pregnant, he would have
been there for her. No matter what the situation was. Luke felt
horrible that she had gone through that alone. What kind of man does
that to his child, he thought? It upset him to think someone had done
that to her and that little boy.

“
Yes,”
she finally answered, barely audible.

Something
seemed off. Why was she acting so nervous? He felt a nervous feeling
rush through his entire body.

“
What's
your son's name?” he asked.

He
watched her and waited for her to answer. Luke stood quietly. After a
minute, she looked down at the ground. He felt horrible seeing her in
pain. What was going on with her? She let out a huge breath of air.

“
Lucas,”
she said.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
His
name is Lucas,” she said.

Luke
felt his body freeze. He wanted to go and sit on the couch, but he
couldn't. He could not make his feet move. Jessica walked to him and
put her hand on his arm.

“
He's
your son, Luke,” she said, as tears ran down her face.

“
How?”
Luke asked quietly. “How could I have a son and not have known?
How could you do this to me? How could you not tell me?”

Luke
pulled his arm away from her and walked over to sit on the couch. He
felt hurt and furious.

“
I
didn't know when you left. I found out a month later. You had already
stopped calling me. That quickly you were over me. You never fought
for me. You were having fun at college. You were spending so much
time with football and classes. I knew you needed to concentrate. I
wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to take your dreams away.”