Game On
Chapter 54
Garrett’s POV
My room hasn’t changed since I left for college. It even had the same sheets and bedspread.
Mom made my bed after dinner. Dad left to grab his shower while Mom made the bed for me.
He knew we needed to talk. I knew that Mom was the one who insisted on keeping me in the
dark about this. I just needed to understand why.
“I’m going to the store tomorrow, Garrett. If you want, I can buy you a new bed. You will be here
for months with your arm immobile. I think you’re too big for this bed now. You will need at
least a Queen. I’ll grab you some new bedding, too,” my mother said as she started to put my
clothes away.
“You know we need to talk about this, right, Mom? How could you not tell me I was right about Addison being pregnant? I’ve been worried about Addison for the last five years. I told you the
day she left town, I thought she might be pregnant. How could you not tell me?” I asked. My
voice was low, but I knew she heard the pain in it.
She kept her back to me as she hung my clothes in the closet. I knew she wanted something
to do with her hands. I knew she was upset at me questioning her, but my God. I had a four–year–old son that I knew nothing about. How could they do that to me? I had the feeling
that Dad had felt worse for me than Mom did. Her choice allowed her to have a relationship
with my son, but I didn’t even know about him. How was that fair to me at all?
“We had to, Garrett. Alexandra was so upset about what had happened to Addison. She was
already angry and hurt at losing Ana right when she was coming back to their family. She was the one who came up with the rules. I argued for you, Garrett. I did. But the problem was that Addison saw you that day. She saw you with Tammy. Hanging out with the two guys who had assaulted her,” my mother admitted.
“I didn’t know what they had done that day, Mom. I knew what Tammy had done, but I was only pretending to get along with her to get proof that she was behind the video. Holden knew that, and he was helping me,” I angrily snapped back.
“Garrett, she felt like you had betrayed her. She didn’t want anything else to do with you. We hadn’t heard from Addison for two months until Alexandra called us out of the blue. I had to
make a deal with the devil. It was either agree to her conditions, and be in my grandson’s life, or not get to see him at all. You were already several months in, I honestly thought you would make it,” my mother told me with tears running down her face.
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Game On
I believed her. I could tell that Addison’s aunt had it in for me despite not meeting her. I could
even understand why Addison left without speaking to me. I was furious once I knew what had happened to her at school with Tripp and Alden. I dealt with each of them after that, but it
didn’t take away the fact that they had assaulted her.
“If you had told me there was a timeline, I would have made it, Mom,” I told her as I dropped
into my computer chair. I felt utterly drained of energy. I don’t think I have ever felt so
depressed in my life. I lost years with my own child. All because her aunt hated me. It just
wasn’t fair.
“I couldn’t tell you, Garrett. That was Alexandra’s only rule. We couldn’t tell you, or we wouldn’t
get to see Corbin again. We fell in love with him the moment we saw him. We didn’t need a
test to tell us. We both knew he was yours. We knew from the moment we saw him. We have secretly gone to Dallas every month since he was born. I have two photo albums full of
pictures of Corbin. I documented him at every stage so you could see him grow each month. I
had to keep him a secret because you don’t understand who her family is, Garrett. They could
have taken him away from us. We would never be able to see him again if they had. I am very
sorry we hurt you, but I would do it over again to have him in our lives,” my mother told me.
I knew he was mine the moment I saw him, too. If his face had also been in the photo of that
gossip rag, I would have known he was my son. I would have moved heaven and earth to find
the two of them.
“When was the time up?” I asked quietly. I had to know.
“Addison’s twenty–first birthday,” my mother replied.
My stomach dropped as I realized that I was at the two–week mark when I screwed up. I got
pissed off at seeing the picture and didn’t stop to think. I knew the probability was high that
she would be pregnant after we were together. How could I just assume she cheated on me?
Instead of wondering if she had given birth to my child. The pain in my chest was incredible. It
was a physical pain as I realized how close I had come to getting not just Addison back, but
my son as well. We could have been living as a family these last two years.
My eyes burned as I tried to stop the tears from falling. I had been trying to help Addison, not
hurt her. I should have left it for someone else, but she had no one at the time. I had no idea
she had a secret family. I was honestly trying to be her knight in shining armor. I never realized
that she was watching Tammy as she touched me. No wonder Addison blocked me and went
no contact. She thought that I lied when I told her I loved her. I felt sick over what happened,
but this explained a lot.
“How did you know?” I finally managed to ask. My mind had been racing with all the thoughts
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Game On
running through it. Trying to figure out how to dig myself out of the pit I created. I had the best intentions, but that won’t help me now. Addison was convinced that I had tricked her. I am much less angry at Addison and my mother. I had to face the blame for this. It was Tammy, and me, who screwed this all up. I fell for Tammy’s lies and manipulations. She was street–smart and pulled my sister into supporting her lies. She knew I wouldn’t trust her, but I had completely trusted what Valerie said.
“One of my friends had a son in your fraternity. He was the one who told me. I was so proud of you. Addison was, too, even if she didn’t want to admit it. I know you love her, but your actions have not been positive towards her for a long time. You hurt her, Garrett. You hurt her badly. The worst part was that she had been all alone in this world when you decided it was a great idea to sleep with her. You should have waited. You should have done it right,” my mother stated.
“I was trying to comfort her, and things got out of hand. I have always cared for Addison, you know that. But things changed for me the Christmas before I turned fifteen. I felt differently about her, not like a best friend anymore, and more like a boyfriend. I didn’t say anything to her at the time. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship over something that might have just been one–sided. I was trying to go slow with her until my football disappeared. That was the catalyst for everything to implode,” I admitted.
“Garrett, you could have just slept in the same bed and held off on having s*x. That decision
was what destroyed everything. There would have been no video made. There would have
been no s****I assault. Tammy would have been forced to bow out and let you and Addison be together. It looked like you took advantage of Addison, son. Not just to Addison and Alexandra but to me, as well. I was there with her when she cried her eyes out the next night. It looked suspicious that you were with Tammy the next day,” my mother noted. I could sense
her frustration.
Now I know why she has been mad at me for the last two years. In her eyes, I failed and ruined
everything. “Mom, I may have slept with others, but none of them meant anything to me. I will
earn Addison’s love again. I could tell she still had feelings for me. I want to be with Addison,
only her. I can wait five years if that’s what it takes to get her back again. But I won’t stand
back and let her marry that jerk. He has it out for me, too. I’m not scared of a little
competition. He might be engaged to her, but they aren’t married yet. I will win her love again,”
I assured her.
That had been my plan all along after I found Addison. I never knew she had been so close to
me this whole time. For God’s sake, we were in the same state for three years. How did she
stay hidden? Meeting my son only stiffened my resolve. Nothing would have stopped me from
finding her if I had known that she was pregnant. I wanted to punch something in my
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Game On
frustration. I know my honest mom told them, but I have a gut feeling that even if she hadn’t, Addison’s aunt would already have known I messed up.
Mom brought me the albums, and I spent the next hour looking at them. Corbin was the cutest baby I had ever seen. I was glad to see Addison in most of the pictures in the album. I knew that my mother had probably done that deliberately for me. I saw Addison drained but happy after Corbin was born. I watched him walk towards her excitedly as he took some of his first steps. It was hard to see everything I missed.
I went to grab some water to take my medicine and had just turned off the light in my room when I saw Addison. She was sitting cross–legged on her bed, using a tablet. She was intently focused on it as she didn’t look around. I took a minute to sit in my chair and watch her. She was gorgeous, effortlessly so. She had become even more beautiful over the past five years. I was enjoying the view when I noticed her looking up and freezing. I looked over to see what caught her attention and wished I hadn’t.
Addison was dazed as she looked at him. I could tell just how interested she was in that jerk. I had underestimated him. I took him for a banker type and thought I had a leg up on him. I saw him glance at me with a smirk as she continued checking him out. She didn’t know I was watching them, but he did. They spoke for a little while, and my anger grew. He was very comfortable with Addison. He winked at me as he closed her blinds, making my fist curl in anger. He did that deliberately. OK, Phillip, it’s game on. Let the best man win.
