Everyone on campus knew Roman Hayes.

Star quarterback. Future NFL prospect. The guy whose face was plastered across every sports poster and social media page the university had.

And then there was me.

Guest

No one knew my name unless we shared a class.

Which was exactly how I liked it.

I liked sitting in the back row. I liked quiet coffee shops and rainy afternoons. I liked living my life without hundreds of people watching my every move.

Roman Hayes lived for the spotlight.

We were not supposed to cross paths.

But one stupid night changed everything somehow.

The memory still came back in flashes.

The music from the party vibrating through the walls.

His laugh.

His hand finding mine.

The way I forgot every reason I had for staying away from him.

It was supposed to be one night.

I sat alone in a pharmacy bathroom staring at two pink lines four weeks later.

My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped the test.

I was eighteen years old.

A senior in high school.

And somehow…

I was pregnant.

The father was Roman Hayes.

The same Roman Hayes whose future depended on football.