Page 79 of Ruck Me

“They might have been—in the past—but I get the impression they aren’tnow.”

“No shit?” he asked. “Why the actthen?”

I shook my head. “No clue. I asked her about it and she said she’d tell me someday, but …” I shrugged.

“What a stupid fucker,” Eoin said with no small amount of frustration. “How big of an idiot do you have to be to knock someone up?” he continued.

My blood froze. “Mistakes happen. You said it yourself, the condom broke.”

“The first thing they tell you when you join the team is never to fuck someone who isn’t on birth control.”

“The first rule?” I asked, my voice rising with skepticism. “Even before they tell you where your lockeris?”

“You know what Imean.”

“Actually, I don’t,” I said, rising from the sofa to pace theroom.

“Declan never toldyou?”

“Why would Declan tell methat?”

“Yeah, okay. Stupid question. Anyway, on the first day of camp, they take all of us into a room and this woman from human resources comes in to go over the proper way to represent theteam.”

I scoffed. “Like any of you listen.”

A guilty, lopsided smile slipped across Eoin’s face. “The worst part is when the doctor comes in, passes out a giant box of condoms, and reiterates how babies aremade.”

“No way,” I marveled, dropping onto the floor and crossing my legs like a pretzel.

He nodded and leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. “Yes, way. The guys who’ve been through it before make a game out of it and everything. Meanwhile, he’s very clear about not sticking your wick where it doesn’t belong.” Eoin shook his head again and chuckled. “They even pass out a sheet of paper listing everything you should discuss before you have sex with a woman.”

“Likewhat?”

“Are you on the pill? How many partners had you had? Have you been tested? Are you clean?” he rattled off one byone.

“You didn’t ask me any ofthat.”

Eoin raised his eyebrow. “I was confident you were clean.”

“Fair point.”

“And you’d already said you were on the pill, so I wasn’t worried about that either. Obviously.”

We’d had sex every day since that first time—barring when he traveled overnight for a match—and we’d never used a condom.

I nodded as fear clawed at my gut. “Idid.”

“So we’re safe, right?” He leaned back against the cushions and stretched his arm out along the sofaback.

I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry, and nodded again.

“Come back here and let’s finish watching the movie.”

Wordlessly, I made my way into his lap and proceeded to ignore the film for the next hour. All I could hear were Eoin’s words echoing through my head while he sat here with me, completely oblivious that his baby was growing in my belly.

Stupid fucker.

How big of an idiot do you have to be to knock someoneup?

We’resafe.

I’d been putting it off my decision for as long as I could, but now I knew what I had todo.

I didn’t want to use Tanya’s heartbreak for my personal gain, but if Aidan had gotten some other girl pregnant, she and I could both use some time away from Dublin.

It looked like I was going to London afterall.

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