IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance Read Online Free

stop complaining. Federal prison is a total walk in the park compared to St. John's and Sister Rosemary and you know it."
    My brother whistled through his teeth. "That old bat hated me. I swear to god. I think she prayed the rosary every night that I'd end up dead. Or worse, an altar boy."
    I chuckled. "So what's the word?"
    My brother paused for a second. "I've got news, Brad."
    A little alarm bell went off in my head. "Your hearing?"
    "It was this morning."
    I nodded, inwardly cursing myself that I'd forgotten something so important. "And?"
    Marc let out a whoosh of air. "It was approved, Brad. Parole was granted. In the eyes of the state of Illinois, I've been rehabilitated."
    I sank my fingers into the padding on the weight bench, not daring to hope. "So this means…?"
    "This means they're letting me out. One more week, little brother. One more week in this filthy hellhole, and then I'm walking out of here a free man."
    "That's incredible, Marc! Congratulation!"
    "Thanks." He paused.  "And...you know I hate to ask this, Brad, but I'm kind of in a bind here."
    Here we go.
    "It's gonna be a second before I can find a job, especially with my rap sheet," Marc wheedled. It sounded like he was reading from a script. "Find an apartment, get my shit together, all that. And I was hoping that my little brother the hockey star, with his big apartment that sits empty half the time... "
    He kept talking, but I tuned him out. I could hear his sheepish grin through the phone, and could picture it perfectly even though we hadn't been face-to-face in months. My older brother, always the charmer, always with the avalanche of flattery and bullshit. He was the Scott brother who could talk your ear off, while I had to struggle just to string a sentence together.
    Marcus was the one who had everything fall into his lap and what did he do with what he'd been given? Piss it all away. All that talent. All those words, for nothing.
    He grinned that grin of his and spouted his bullshit, and that old feeling of wanting to punch him just to get him to stop talking came roaring back.
    But what the fuck could I say? He was my goddamned brother. "Of course Marc," I sighed, cutting into his monologue. "You don't even have to ask."
    "Well, I will anyway. Can I stay at your place?"
    I took a deep breath. My tongue felt like it was tying itself up in knots so I had to keep it simple. "Y-yes."
    There was a scuffling sound, then my brother's muffled voice shouting at someone that he needed more time and to fuck off. I wondered if he had even heard me, but then he was back on the line, sounding rushed. "Thanks, man. See you soon."
    The line went dead.
     

Chapter 3
     
    Olivia
     
     
     
    I pulled down my favorite mug from the shelf. It was navy blue and at one time had announced - in a swoopy gold script - that I liked my coffee the way I liked my men - hot, full of cream, and able to keep me up for hours.
    Now the lettering had rubbed off and there was a chip along the rim just aching to cut my lip open when I wasn't paying attention.
    But it held half a pot in one go, so it remained my favorite.
    I dumped a bunch of cinnamon roll creamer into the mix, grabbed my Kindle and headed towards the couch. I had a big day of doing nothing ahead of me and I didn't want to waste a single moment.
    I walked into my living room and straight into a toxic cloud of stench. "Romeo!" I screeched, waving my hand in front of my nose and nearly spilling coffee down my front.
    My pit bull didn't even look up from his nap. His tail thumped twice against the floor to show that he heard me say his name, and then he went right back to snoring like a chainsaw.
    "Stop farting, you stupid mutt! It smells like a slaughterhouse in here," I complained, nudging his flank with my toe. He snuffled a little and the snores mercifully decreased in volume.
    That's when I heard my door buzzer go off.
    "Oh, shit!" I said out loud. "Romeo! You were supposed to remind me it was my turn this