Vanessa Miller - Better for Us

“Do I look all right?”

Noel stood, took the superglue out of her hands and opened it. He handed it back to her and then sat down again. “Why on earth do you keep superglue in your car?”

“I don’t have the newest model car, if you haven’t noticed.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I have to glue things back in place.”

“Why are you out buying Jimmy Choos if you can’t afford to get a new car?”

“Hey, I saved for months to get these shoes. And I choose not to get a new car, because I’m putting the money into my new business...if it’s any of your business.” Ryla sat down and began to glue her shoe back together, as she asked, “And anyway, do you know that it’s against the law to stalk a person.”

“If I’m a stalker, then you must be crazy, because you left your front door wide open so I could walk in.”

“Why did you follow me home? Isn’t it obvious that I don’t want to talk to you?”

Noel leaned back against the cushion of the couch. “Oh, it was obvious. But I’ve been trying to find you ever since I saw you at that wedding last month, because I definitely want to talk to you.”

“Why don’t you just talk to your little girlfriend? The two of you seemed to be having a good time.”

“Marla is not my girlfriend, as you put it. She and I are friends and I simply escorted her to her cousin’s wedding. But that has nothing to do with what I need to speak with you about,” Noel said pointedly.

Ryla kept her head down, continuing to press the heel to the base of the shoe.

He could tell that she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. That was all right with Noel, because as long as she wasn’t looking at him, he was able to stare at her. And Noel liked what he saw...aside from the shoulder-length hair, Ryla hadn’t changed in the past eight years. She was still beauty queen fine to him. He wanted to go to her, put his arms around her and remind her of their sweet yesterdays. But he wasn’t here for that. “You don’t want to know why I’ve been trying to find you?”

Ryla lifted her head. But she still didn’t make eye contact. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

“First I’d like for you to tell me something.”

“What?” she asked, with suspicion lacing her words.

“Where’s the little girl I saw you with last month?”

She placed her shoe and the glue on the coffee table as she nervously fidgeted with her hands, trying to remove the excess glue and stall for as long as possible. When she noticed that Noel seemed perfectly comfortable sitting on her couch waiting for an answer, she said, “She’s not here.”

“Where is she?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Getting irritated by their unproductive conversation, Noel shifted in his seat. “Since that question is too hard for you, let me ask another.”

She nodded, giving him the go-ahead.

“Did you leave me when we were in college because you were pregnant with another man’s baby?”

Chapter 2

No, he didn’t just accuse her of cheating on him. “Come again?” she said with hands on hips.

He stood up and walked over to her. “You might need to get your ears checked, since you seem to be having a lot of trouble hearing me tonight.”

Ryla’s eyes traveled the distance as she gazed up at Noel. He was almost seven feet. When they were dating, Ryla was thankful for Noel’s height, because at five-nine she’d dated a few guys who were shorter than her, and had always felt a little awkward. Today, rather than being a comfort to her, his height was more imposing than it had ever been.

She stood up, trying to get on equal footing with him, but even that made her feel a bit ridiculous since Noel was a full foot taller than her. “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing—I just don’t appreciate being called a cheater.”

“Well, what am I supposed to think, Ryla?” Giving her a questioning glare, he asked, “Did you adopt that little girl I saw you with?”

With her arms folded she said, “No.”

He clenched his fists as he turned away from her. Exhaling a burst of hot air, he whirled back around. “Why didn’t you just tell me that you had a new man? Why’d you have to sneak out of my life like that without letting me know what was going on?”

Ryla rolled her eyes. She wished Noel wasn’t so tall, because she really wanted to box his ears. How dare he assume that she was the kind of woman who would sleep with multiple partners. She wasn’t the cheater—he was. “I see you’re still a big dumb jock.”

“Oh, I was never a big dumb anything.” Then as he gave her a sinister grin he added, “Except when it came to you.”

Ryla stomped her foot like a two-year-old and rolled her eyes. “She’s yours, Noel. I’m not a cheater like some people I know!”

Noel looked around the room as if the little girl would suddenly materialize so he could verify Ryla’s statement. “Did I hear you right?” His voice thundered as he turned back to Ryla.

Recognizing the fury in his voice, Ryla stepped back. She hadn’t intended to just throw it out there like that. But Noel had made her mad when he accused her of cheating on him. She lifted her hands. “Noel, there’s no sense getting all mad. Sit down and let’s discuss this like two reasonable adults,” she said, attempting to take control of the current situation.

He looked at her as if she was a known crackhead asking him for some spare change. “Oh, now you want to be reasonable. Well, I need to speak with my attorney first, and then I’ll let you know just how reasonable I’m going to be.” He moved away from her and headed toward the door.

But Ryla knew that an angry Noel could be a formidable opponent. She had once witnessed him losing badly to a team that was much better than his on the court. But during the third quarter, two of the players started taunting him and Noel got mad. Nothing but net was happening after that. The game might have sent Noel and his teammates to the locker room hanging their heads in shame, but because Noel refused to lose, that game ended up making him a star.

Ryla grabbed his arm as she implored him to stay. “Please, Noel, don’t leave like this. She’ll be home tomorrow. Why don’t you just come back over in the afternoon and I’ll introduce you.”

He shook her off his arm. “Do you even hear how you sound? You’ll introduce me to my own child.... What kind of sense does that make, Ryla?”

She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, you’re right. I admit that this doesn’t make much sense at all. But Noel, it’s all we have. Now, I’m sorry that all of this is being thrown at you at once, but we don’t need to get lawyers involved.”

Noel laughed. But it wasn’t a ha-ha kind of laugh. “You have kept a child from me for seven, eight... How old is she?”

“Seven. She’ll be eight in July.”

He shook his head. “You’ve kept a child from me for almost eight years and you’ve run from me each time I’ve seen you, but you expect me to trust you?”

“If you can’t trust me, who can you trust?” Ryla deadpanned, as she did whenever she was backed into a corner with no escape. But as usual, the jokes didn’t work for her.

“I’d rather trust a DNA test and my lawyer, if you don’t mind?”

With a lifted brow, Ryla asked, “What do you need a DNA test for? Can’t you count? I just told you that her birthday is in July, so that should tell you that I got pregnant in October, during the fall.”

“How do I know that you didn’t get pregnant during Thanksgiving or Christmas break when you were home with your mom and her many boyfriends?”

Ryla jumped as if she’d been slapped. Noel had always been a daunting opponent, but she’d never known him to be outright mean. She’d heard all the reports about his gambling, drinking and womanizing during his NBA superstar days. Maybe all of that superstardom had gone to his head and turned him into someone she didn’t know anymore. “Okay, if you want a DNA test, then we’ll do that. But can we please just work this out between the two of us?”