James' features were soft and full of love. This wasn't even his child, yet he was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the entire world. If I didn't know better, I might have even assumed that Eva was his by the protective way he held her.
“It's strange,” he murmured. “I can see Ryan in her. She has his eyes, but none of the violence in them. They're the same shape, but there's love in hers.”
I didn't know it was possible for my heart to melt more than it already was. If I hadn't already been head over heels in love with James, I would have fallen right then. There was no way not to love him when he was looking at that baby like she was the best thing in the entire world.
I could have looked at them all day, but then my phone started to ring. I had turned it off to anyone but preferred contacts since the news came out, so the fact that it was coming through meant that it was important. I tore my eyes away from James and looked at the caller ID.
Tessa.
I stared at the phone for a long minute. It stopped ringing. I knew I should call her back, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to have this conversation with her.
The phone started to ring again. She wasn't giving up on me so easily. I let out a sigh. She'd just keep calling until I picked up.
“This is Allie,” I said, dreading whatever Tessa had to say next.
“I saw the papers. We need to talk.”
“I know, but right now isn't a good time,” I said, keeping my voice low so I wouldn't wake the baby. James took her to the couch and laid down, putting her on his chest. It was so paternal and sweet, I wanted to take their picture and hang it in my heart forever.
“No shit,” Tessa replied. “But I need to talk to you. There's something you need to know.”
“He's not the father of Audrey's baby, okay? Will you please stop with that?” I hissed into the phone. “Today is not the day to bring that up.”
Tessa stayed quiet. “It's not about Audrey. It's about me. And James. It's something you should have known a long time ago. Please?”
I sighed. There was so much regret in her voice that I wanted to say yes. Tessa was my best friend. We'd been through everything together. Over on the couch, James was just watching TV, the baby on his chest rising and falling with his even breaths.
“You have one minute. Go.”
“Thank you, Allie.” She let out a short breath, as if mentally preparing herself for what was coming next. “James took my virginity.”
I nearly dropped the phone. “What?!”
James glared at me from his spot on the couch, the baby wiggling against him and almost waking up from me yelling into the phone.
“James took my virginity,” she repeated.
“I heard you right the first time.” I sank into a chair and stared over at James. I tried not to imagine him and Tessa going at it, especially since he was smiling at the baby on his chest. “How? Why?”
“I went to a party at the beginning of our freshman year and had a couple of drinks. He didn't take advantage of me, if that's what you're thinking,” she quickly added. “Anyway, I thought he was my prince charming that night. A senior paying attention to me. We went upstairs and one thing led to another...”
“You don't need to go into detail about that part,” I quickly interjected.
“I thought I was in love.” She sighed and I could just see her in my head, fidgeting with a strand of her dark hair and looking guilty. “But, then he never called me back.”
“He did that to a lot of girls,” I said slowly.
“Yeah, but I didn't think it was going to happen to me. I thought I was in love,” she scoffed. “I thought he'd at least give me the time of day, but he refused to even acknowledge my presence for the rest of the year. It was humiliating.”
“I'm sorry, Tessa.” The antagonism between her and James suddenly made so much more sense now. I had often wondered why James ignored her whenever he walked into a room and she was there. Now I knew. It also explained why she would say he was hot one minute, but then hate on him the next second. It even made sense as to why she was so hung up on the idea of James being the father of Audrey's baby. After her experience, she must think that he was a real love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy.
All the pieces came together perfectly. James had been a real jerk in high school. He was an ass and a player, and I had no doubt that Tessa's story was true. I'd heard similar stories from plenty of other girls throughout the years. There was a good reason why all his ex's hated him.
“I just don't want that to happen to you,” Tessa said after a moment. “You're my friend, and I just don't want you to get hurt.”
“I really appreciate that, Tessa.” I looked over at James. He was smiling down at the beautiful baby on his chest with such softness and sweetness in his eyes that my heart ached. I touched my own belly, knowing that soon he would be looking that way at our child. “He won't hurt me, though.”
“I hope you're right.” I heard her take a deep breath. “Anyway, when I saw that in the paper this morning, I thought you should know. I feel like we've been keeping a lot of secrets from one another.”