Touchdown Baby Read Online Free PDF Page B

counter inhaling coffee looked completely different from the little pain-in-the-ass he remembered. Tall for a girl, probably five ten and maybe one hundred twenty pounds soaking wet, she could no longer be called his little sister.
    Jace stood across the room and waited for the caffeine to take effect so he could greet her. Before caffeine she was evil, and he knew it. He let her have her space.
    Over the rim of his own coffee cup, Jace continued to take in the changes in his sister. The hair had to be the biggest difference. Gone were the long, dirty-blond locks he had pulled just to bug her; now she had a fashionably short haircut with platinum blond highlights. The piercing in her nose always made him cringe, but somehow it looked perfect on her. Roxanne Louise Coolidge, Roxi to everyone who wanted to live, was a wild child, and Jace loved her as only an older brother could.             
    As if she just woke up, Roxi realized Jace was standing there. Standing in her pink pajama T-shirt and striped lounge pants, she mumbled, “Good morning. How’d you sleep?”
    He shrugged. “Fine.”
    Jace watched her wrap her hand around the Renegades mug, clutching as if it were her lifeline. The emotions that played across her face had him bracing for the questions he’d been expecting.
    “So what the hell is so important that you would come racing into town in your fancy Porsche?”
    Jace took a minute to figure out what to say. “Did you tell Mom or Dad I was here?”
    “No. You asked me not to tell them, and I haven’t. I did call Ava because I didn’t want her to be shocked. You seemed sort of stressed last night. So again, what brings you to town?”
    The need to talk made him unload on his little sister. “I got served with some papers on Saturday morning. They spooked me, and I wasn’t sure what to do. The only thing I could think of was maybe Ava could help me out since she works at a law firm.”
    “What are you talking about? Are you being sued? Did you break the law? How can Ava help you?” Shocked and worried, Roxi came across the room to stand beside her brother in a show of support.
    “No, I didn’t break any laws, and I am not being sued. Well, not really. Do you remember when I came home for a short visit right after Krakitz was injured, and I was put in as starting QB?”
    “No. I should, though. You only come home when it’s convenient for you.”
    Damn, he was hoping his sister would remember his visit and he wouldn’t have to drag their parents into this disaster. “Yes, you do. I’d called, and you said I could come here and stay, but you were going to be out of town with your latest boyfriend.”
    “Let me think.” Roxi waggled her finger by her temple and made a comical thinking face. “I remember it. Ava was going to be home, so I told you it was okay. I didn’t think she would mind, because she was staying home a lot because of the pregnancy.”
    “Yeah well, I’d tried to call her, but she didn’t answer. I thought about her having a baby and all and decided to stay at Mom’s when Alex told me he was going to his aunt’s for a few days.” There was no way in hell he was going to tell his sister he’d made love with Ava on a previous visit and skipped out because he hadn’t wanted to face his feelings for her.
    Roxi obviously still didn’t know, because if she did, he was sure she would forever be pissed at him for getting busy with her best friend. “I decided to meet up with him on Tuesday, in Henderson County, and we went out Tuesday night. This is where everything gets fuzzy. See we were drinking pretty heavy, and I drank a little more than I should have.”
    Jace stared at his little sister and braced himself as he finished. “I was served with paternity papers. Some girl says I got her pregnant that night, and now I have a one-and-a-half-year-old son.”
    He knew nothing he could have said could have shocked Roxi more. Her golden boy brother had made the