Man of the Match: hot celebrity romance (FULL NOVEL)

21. Revelations

[RECAP: Matt has realised that his girlfriend Miggy's pregnancy is probably not his.]

Cara had been worried about Ann's reaction to her news but Ann was just as supportive as Fiona was. She felt very lucky to have them both as her friends.

They were sitting under a tree on the lawns in front of some of the university buildings. It was lovely and shady in the late spring sun. People milled about and spread books and study notes out over the lawn. There was a growing sense of camaraderie among all the final year students who were taking exams soon.

Ann of course first assumed that the baby was Declan's and it was doubly awkward trying to explain the real situation.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it was all over and I felt so ashamed about it," Cara said.

"I wouldn't have judged you. I just feel bad that you've been going through all this alone." Ann was silent for a moment. "That was him, wasn't it, who came round here that night? I can't believe I thought he was some soap star. He's in the papers all the time. Does he know about the baby?"

Cara explained the same that she had said to Fiona, that there was no way she could ever tell him. "I can't wreck his life, and her life. Not now, anyway."

Ann was still thinking about the night Matt had visited their home. "Why did he come round then, if he didn't know?"

"I think he felt bad for never contacting me." It was partly true. Anything else needed to be forgotten. It was one moment, a lapse on his part, a lapse on hers to have worn her heart on her sleeve like that.

She still remembered the kiss though. She would remember it until her dying day.

"People are going to ask about the father. What will you tell them?" Ann asked.

Cara had already thought of this. "I'll tell them it was a one night stand in Sri Lanka and he didn't want to be involved." She didn't care if it made her sound cheap. The alternative - the truth - was impossible to contemplate.

"Were you really in love with him?"

"Yes, I think so." Cara said it partly because she knew it would make Ann feel easier about the situation if it hadn't been just lust. And partly because it was true. She should be over him by now, perhaps, but she wasn't. Having his baby only made her feelings even stronger.

She would learn to bury these emotions in time. Perhaps one day she would even meet someone else although she couldn't imagine that in a million years right now.

"You'll have to tell your child, one day. For now you have to figure out what you're going to do after graduation."

This one was easy. She would simply look for a job as she had always planned to. After all, she wasn't due until November. It seemed forever away.

"How have your family taken it?" Ann asked.

They didn't know yet. "I wanted to tell them in person. I'm going to go down next week and break the news."

They would be shocked, of course, but hopefully there wouldn't be a catastrophic scene. Cara's parents were fairly stoical people and should take it in her stride. One of her cousins had had an accidental pregnancy a couple of years ago, to a man who turned out to be married, and everyone had rallied round.

* * *

Sure enough her parents took the news on the chin. Her mother was the kind of person who always looked for silver linings. "At least it means that awful Declan is permanently out of the picture."