Page 54 of Strike Zone

“Okay. I’ll leave her a note to join us when she wakes up.” Grabbing a pen off the coffee table, she starts looking for a pad of paper.

“Why don’t you guys go? I’ll hang here for a bit and walk down with her when she wakes up.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Lincoln Nash?”

“What?” They say it like I’m incapable of chivalry. “I’m a good guy.”

Brooke jumps up from the couch and runs into my arms. “You’re wonderful. It’s just weird that you guys finally listened to me and decided to try being friends, and now this. I really appreciate you making an effort with her, Linc. It means a lot to me. I know she can be difficult.”

I’m not sure she’ll be so grateful when she finds out I’m going to make her an auntie.

“You don’t need to thank me. She’s funny. I like her sense of humor. It would be infinitely more hilarious if her dry wit was aimed at someone other than me, but I know how to roll with the punches. Honestly, go have a few drinks, do your happily married thing, and I’ll keep my third wheel up here until number four wakes up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Come down as soon as she’s up.”

“Will do.”

Anders practically drags her out of the room, and the moment I hear the front door close, Diana sits upright on the couch. “What the hell?”

“I wasn’t asleep. We need to talk, and Brooke would not stop talking. I love her, but I have other things on my mind right now. Can we sit and have a conversation?”

“Yeah.” My pulse quickens as I take a seat across from her. There’s a war raging inside me right now with Diana at the center, tangled up in a million different emotions. “So… talk.”

“There are so many things I want to say, but I’m not good at this stuff, so I don’t know where to start.”

“How about the fact that you have an IUD, you’re about three and a half months pregnant right now, and I didn’t know until last night. Pick a point and go from there.” Frustration builds, coursing through my veins as I replay the moment the doctor mistook me for Diana’s boyfriend last night and spoke to me candidly about our baby.

“I’m so sorry. That’s not how I wanted you to find out. I took you upstairs yesterday to tell you. I know that sounds lame and convenient.”

“Yes, it does. You were going to tell me, but then you accidentally fell on my cock and forgot?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. You and me… we have chemistry… this phenomenal physical connection, and whenever I’m around you, it takes over. It’s like all rational thought goes out the window.” That’s the first thing she’s said to me that actually makes sense.

“Okay, so you’re attracted to my body but not my personality. I get it.”

“Yes. No. That’s not what I meant.”

“How about skipping to the part where you found out you were pregnant and didn’t call me?”

“I promise, I was always going to tell you, and no one else knows. I was in shock, and I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it. This is a big deal. It’s going to change our lives.”

“I know. That’s why it’s good to have time to prepare.”

“I thought if I had a plan, then it would be easier when I told you. And the night we conceived, I thought my IUD was still working.”

“I don’t care about that. We work with the situation we’re in. Where do we go from here?” I’m trying to keep a level head. “What do you want to do?”

She wrings her hands in her lap, a shadow of her UFC persona. “Can we be friends?” My heart sinks. “I think that’s probably the best way to do this. We don’t know each other that well outside of…”

“Mind-blowing sex.”

“That’s one way of putting it. We had a lot of sex, we made a baby, and we’re not a couple, so friends is a good option. What do you think?”

“Whatever you need, Diana.” Every fiber of my being is fighting against me, urging me to claim her as mine—but that’s the thing—she’s not mine. She doesn’t want to be claimed. I told her I wanted more, and she said no.

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