✧

"This is gonna be a huge surprise to you guys...But Spencer and I are together."

Liv glanced at the two girls with a sheepish grin on her face at her news. Evelyn and Simone shared looks, the two girls were obviously not surprised at Liv's confession. In fact, everyone saw it coming.

"Okay," Evelyn nodded.

Liv's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay? You two aren't surprised..."

"Girl, no," Simone scoffed. "Neither one of us is surprised. This is our it's about damn time face."

"What are you so stressed about?" Evelyn asked. "This is supposed to be the fun part. The honeymoon phase."

"You and Asher have been in the honeymoon phase since you guys got together," Liv groaned, slapping her hand against her forehead. "You don't get to lecture me."

"False," she snorted. "Remember the whole steroids, situation? Hmm, or the whole Victoria thing? That was not fun."

"Vanessa," Simone corrected. "Not, Victoria. What is with you and calling people the wrong names?"

Liv let out a dramatic sigh, bringing the attention back onto her. "I'm just having like, a mini freak-out, and I don't know why. I just don't want to hurt Layla."

"That ship sailed in Vegas," Simone said.

"Honestly, Liv, everyone saw it coming after the whole cabin situation," Evelyn shrugged. The girl proceeded to stand up from her stool and gather her belongings an audible groan escaping from her lips as she did so. "I will see you guys later."

"No," Liv stopped her. "Where are you going? You just got here. I kind of need my best friend in time of crisis."

She shrugged, throwing her purse over her shoulder. "I have to go to brunch with my boyfriend and his dad. Look, you and Spencer are perfect for each other. Stop overthinking."

"Brunch with his dad?" Simone wiggled her eyebrows. "Sounds serious."

"Not really," Evelyn grumbled, crossing her arms against her chest and furrowing her eyebrows together. "It'll just be an excruciatingly long conversation about Asher and football. That's all his dad ever talks about."

"At least they invited you!" Simone grinned, optimistically. "Have fun!"

☆☆☆

Meals with Asher's dad were always the same. Non-stop talk about football, it's not like Evelyn minded. After all, her father was one of the greatest football players so she basically grew up breathing football. However, she would never admit it to her boyfriend but she kind of preferred having conversations with Gwen because she was a lot more interesting than his dad.

Asher nudged her with his elbow noticing her zoning out. "Babe?"

"Sorry, I swear I'm paying attention," Evelyn said, lifting a strawberry to her mouth and taking a bite out of it. "But, refresh my memory. What were we talking about?"

Mr. Adams cleared his throat. "Um, I asked about your plans for after high school."

"She has tons of offers," Asher gloated, placing his hand on her thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Tons of schools want her, dad. Tell him, E."

"I'm leaning towards schools in California," she admitted. "Um, Pepperdine, UCLA, Stanford, and Coastal California are all in the running."

"Coastal California, huh?" Harold quirked his eyebrow. "Imagine that...you and Asher ending up at the same schools. I'm sure your parents are proud of you. What about your brother? Has he gotten any offers?"

"Yeah, he has a few," she answered. "Golden Angeles, Oregon State, and a few schools in Texas."

Asher's phone began to ring, his eyes widening at the number. "It's the head coach from Coastal California."

"Answer it!" Evelyn urged, hitting his arm in excitement.

"Hello? Yeah, yeah, this is Asher," he picked his phone up, holding a finger at the two and stepping away for privacy. "Give me one second."

Asher turned around once the phone call ended. "He offered me a full scholarship!"

"Yes!" Mr. Adams yelled. "I'm so proud of you, son."

Evelyn stayed in her seat allowing her boyfriend and his dad to have their moment as they embraced each other in excitement. Once Harold sat back down, Asher turned to his girlfriend with his arms open. Evelyn practically leaped into his arms and clung to his body like a monkey.

"I'm so proud of you, baby!" Evelyn gushed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You deserve this!"

☆☆☆

"I want to thank all y'all for coming out today to celebrate this huge accomplishment by my baby boy, Spencer James. All he's ever done is exceed my expectations, not just on the football field, but with the man that he's become. And every one of you has helped Spencer become that man. I realized very early on that he doesn't just make me proud, he makes all of us proud, because this is Spencer's home. You're all his family, and now he's Crenshaw's All-American."

Evelyn sat in the crowd watching as Ms. James gave a speech on Spencer's behalf. Asher had opted out of attending the party because he was too busy with Coach Montes and Enrique was sulking because he wasn't an All-American. So she attended the party herself, also steering away from Simone, Jordan, Spencer, and Liv because Jordan had been heavily glaring at the girl for no apparent reason.

Once Simone had left Slauson Cafe due to a playdate with Baby Shay, Jordan took it as a sign to confront Evelyn and stormed over to the girl. "What the hell, Evelyn?"

She furrowed her eyebrows at his hostility. "Hi?"

"I heard you the night you slept over my house," Jordan confessed, sitting down across from her. "How could you keep that from me for 3 years?"

Evelyn's face paled at his confession and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Because...it...it wouldn't have affected my decision, Jordan."

"Evelyn you were pregnant with my baby!" he stressed, revealing the words that he had overheard just a couple of weeks ago. "I had every right in knowing! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because...Jordan," Evelyn glanced down at the table, tears welling in her eyes. "I was 16, and you were 15! We had no business in being in a relationship together, let alone having a baby. I'm sorry I didn't tell you and I'm sorry you had to find out by eavesdropping on a private conversation. But I'm not sure if you remember or not, you were a terrible boyfriend!"

"I could've helped you," Jordan sighed. "You-you didn't need to have Enrique and Layla take you to have an...abortion. I would've been there for you."

"You wouldn't have been any help," Evelyn scoffed. "Come on, Jordan. The person you are now, compared to when we were 15 is completely different. No offense, but I didn't want you knowing because you would've guilted me into keeping it and I didn't want that."

Jordan hung his head low and let out a sigh, rubbing his palms onto his thighs. "I've been upset with you for weeks. But...you're right, Evie. I wouldn't have been helpful especially at the time. I just wish I would've known. That's all."

"I wanted to tell you," she admitted, remorse filling her eyes as she glanced at his broken expression. "But, I wasn't sure how you'd react after I went through with it. Then we broke up so I thought it was too late. I've felt so guilty for years and...I don't want you to hate me, Jordan."

Jordan reached over softly squeezing her hand. "You know, Evie? I don't think I could ever hate you. You had your reasons. Really good reasons."

"Can you not mention this to anyone?" Evelyn sheepishly asked. "I'd prefer if all of this was kept in the past and between...us. Besides, the people who already know."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Evelyn," Jordan sighed. "It's no one's business. Except for yours...or ours, I guess."

Before Evelyn could even attempt to respond, Billy had walked up to the table and interrupted the two from their serious conversation.

"Just the two people I wanted to see," Mr. Baker grinned.

"Me?" she questioned, quickly wiping her tears away before he could notice them. "What's up, coach?"

"Well, actually, I was looking for Ricky," he corrected. "Is he here?"

"Oh, no, he skipped the party," she frowned. "Don't tell him I told you this but he's a little bummed that Spencer got an invite to the game and he didn't. So, he's sulking."

"Right," Mr. Baker nodded. "About that, can I trust that you'll relay this very important message to him?"

She squinted suspiciously at the older man. "Depends on what it is."

Mr. Baker rolled his eyes at the teen, pulling out an envelope. "Just give him this envelope."

"I'm going home right now!" she grinned, plucking the envelope from his hand. "Wait...this doesn't make sense."

"What's doesn't?" Billy asked

"How is this possible?" she asked. "He was suspended from playing football."

"Well, yes," he nodded. "But, Ricky only missed one game of this season and he played extremely well last year. They liked what they saw."

"He is one lucky bastard," she scoffed. "Hey, uh, Asher didn't happen to get one of these, did he?"

"No," Billy sighed. "He didn't. Sorry."

"Right," Evelyn pouted. "I guess I'll deliver the good news. Bye, Baker's."

As Evelyn walked past the two Baker men, Jordan couldn't help but stare at her, giving his father an apologetic smile before getting up and running after her.

"Evelyn, wait, I—"

"Don't," she stopped in her tracks as they stood directly outside of the cafe, holding her hand up. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" he questioned.

"Try to make me feel better," she scoffed. "What I did was not okay. I should've told you and I'm sorry for basically calling you a terrible person. I don't think that lowly of you. In fact, you're one of the best guys I know."

"Hey, I wasn't a good guy back then," he admitted, honestly. "You always saw the best in me. Even when I messed up more times than I could count. How many people do you know would forgive someone for putting the blame of smoking weed on them, cheating on them, and all those times when I was possessive, jealous, and literally everything else. It's one of your best traits, Evelyn...you always see the best in everyone. Even when we mess up."

"Jordan..." Evelyn sighed. "I didn't want you to find out this way. Honestly."

"As upset as I was when I found out," Jordan let out a breathy laugh. "I'm not anymore because I understand why you did it and why you didn't tell me. So...it's okay. You did the right thing, we were way too young and immature to have a baby."

"I should probably head home," Evelyn jabbed her thumb in the direction of her car. "Congrats by the way."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "On what?"

"Your dad had two envelopes in his hand," Evelyn shrugged, waving the invite in the air. "One for my brother...and one for—"

"Me!" Jordan exclaimed.

"Exactly," Evelyn grinned. "See you later, Baker."

Jordan reached out to tug on her wrist. "Do you think...maybe one day, I can ask some questions..." he eyed her stomach intensely. "about the whole...pregnancy and everything else?"

"One day," Evelyn agreed. "Bye, Jordan."

☆☆☆

Evelyn pulled her car into a parking space at the stadium where the championship game was being held at. She glanced down at her phone reading a text that she had gotten from Asher's dad.

It was a bit cryptic and lacked details, only stating for her to meet him outside of the locker room for something. So she responded with an okay and then sent a text to Liv to save her a seat on the bleachers and then she headed straight for the locker room.

She quickly caught up with Mr. Adams outside of the locker room. "What's going on?"

Mr. Adams took a deep breath, softly shaking his head. "Asher's going to need you."

She scrunched her face up at his statement but reluctantly followed him into the locker room.

Asher's eye lit up at the sight of his girlfriend and his dad. Happy that the closest people to him got along so well. "What are you two doing here?"

Evelyn shook her head, the black eye on his face catching her attention. "I have no idea. Your dad asked me here."

Tears welled up in Harold's eyes as he looked at how happy Asher seemed, his happiness would be coming to an end soon. "You can't play in the game, son."

"Woah, what?" she asked, caught off guard.

"What?" Asher brushed it off. "No, you heard the doctor. There's no fracture. My ribs are just sore. I'm playing."

"What's going on?" Coach Montes asked, walking up to the three.

"My dad's telling me I can't play in the game," Asher said. "Dad tell her what the doctor said. My ribs are fine."

"It's not your ribs, Asher," Harold said. "It's your heart. The chest x-ray showed a probable condition. You have cardiomyopathy. It's a rare heart condition. It kills me to tell you this, but...you can't play football anymore."

"No, dad," Asher's voice broke. "Coastal California. My full ride. They said they wanted me. And—"

Harold emotionally apologized and then cleared out from the locker room. "I'm so sorry, son."

Evelyn's heart broke as she wrapped her arms around him and he sobbed into her shoulder. "Baby, I'm so sorry."

Asher pushed her arms away and stood up. Throwing his helmet on the floor and letting his aggression out.

Evelyn knew there was nothing that she could do to help him. Asher's dream had finally come true, he got an offer from his dream school and that was taken from him within days. So, she sat there and allowed for him to throw things and cry all he wanted because as much as she wished she could help...she simply could not.

end of season 3

—season 4 is about to be...interesting