Page 37 of Hooked On Them

“Come in,” I called, smoothing down my shirt unnecessarily.

Dominic entered, freshly showered, his damp hair curling at the temples. He’d changed into jeans and a simple gray T-shirt that clung to his broad shoulders. Even in his current state—exhausted, defeated, and wary—he was ridiculously attractive. My traitorous body still reacted to him. Wonderful. Apparently, pregnancy hormones weren’t helping my libido make better choices.

“This better be important.” He closed the door behind him, and his eyes darted to the basket on the floor next to my desk.

It was an elaborate arrangement of gourmet chocolates, herbal teas, ginger candies, and a teddy bear holding a tiny bear in its arms. Carter had sent it earlier, and I may have teared up at how sweet it was.

“Have a seat.” I gestured to the empty chairs across from my desk as I sat down.

He stood with his arms crossed, keeping the desk between us like a shield. “I’ll stand. What did you want to discuss?”

My carefully prepared speech evaporated. How exactly does one segue into “surprise, you’re going to be a father”?

I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and decided to rip off the Band-Aid. “I’m pregnant.”

The words hung in the air between us, heavy and impossible to take back.

Dominic’s expression didn’t change except for a slight widening of his eyes. For a second, I wondered if he’d heard me at all.

“You’re...” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and lowered into a chair. “Is this a joke?”

“No, it’s not a joke.” I pressed my palms against my desk to keep them from shaking.

The silence that followed was so complete I could hear the distant sounds of skates scraping ice from the rink down the hall.

His face remained perfectly, unnaturally still, like someone had pressed pause on his expressions. Only his eyes moved, darting from my face to my stomach and back again, as if searching for visual confirmation of what I’d just said.

He finally cleared his throat. “That’s not possible. We used condoms and… Carter.” His voice came out strained, and he ran a hand down his face.

“The friction from the condoms might have caused them to not work…”

His face cycled through disbelief, confusion, and fear before settling on something carefully blank. “How do you know it’s mine? It could be Carter’s or who knows who else you’ve fucked.”

Heat rose to my cheeks. “I’ve already confirmed paternity. Carter took a test. It’s not his, and there are no other possibilities.”

That got his attention. His head snapped up, eyes focusing on me with laser intensity. “You already tested him? When exactly did you find out about this?”

I straightened in my chair. “Two weeks ago, and I had a prenatal paternity test done last week. I wanted to be sure before I said anything. We got the results two days ago, and I didn’t want to tell you right before a game.”

“How considerate.” The sarcasm in his voice could have etched glass. “You told Carter first?”

“Yes.” No point in lying. “I didn’t want to drag you into something until I was sure who the father was.”

He stood abruptly. “So let me get this straight. You’ve known for two days that I’m going to be a father, and you’re just now telling me? After you already told Carter?” His voice rose with each word.

“Yesterday was a game day?—”

“Oh, right.” His eyes flashed with annoyance. “Because it would be such a crime if you distracted me from the game that I completely fucked up anyway.”

“That’s not fair. You know we don’t deliver… personal news before games. It’s protocol.”

“Protocol?” He laughed bitterly. “This isn’t a fucking injury report, Nora. This is my life.”

I stood too, needing to feel less small in this moment. “It’s my life too, Dominic. And my career. I’ve been trying to process what this means for everything I’ve worked for.”

“Is that why you went to him first? Testing your options?” The accusation hung heavy between us.

“That’s not what happened. I was scared, and he seemed like the safer option to tell first.”

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