Page 47 of Hooked On Them

The door closed behind us, and I finally remembered how to breathe. Well, sort of.

The second we were out of earshot, my knees started to buckle underneath me. Miles caught me by the elbow, steering me down the hallway with the smoothness of someone who regularly escorted people on the verge of panic attacks.

“I think that went well,” Miles whispered, completely oblivious to the apocalypse happening inside my brain.

I made a sound like a kettle reaching full boil, and Miles glanced down at me with concern.

“Miles,” I hissed, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed helium. “That was Carter.”

“Yeah, I know.” His eyebrows drew together before realization dawned. “Wait.ThatCarter? Threesome Carter?”

“No, the other Carter I’ve mentioned repeatedly who knows I’m pregnant!” I whisper-screamed, flailing my arms so wildly I nearly hit the wall. “The one who now apparently owns part of the team I work for!”

Miles’s eyes widened to the size of hockey pucks. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit is right! He bought into the team! Who does that?” I paced the hall, my brain hitting the escape button with each step.

Miles ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, let’s not panic.”

“I’m way past panic. I’ve left panic behind in the dust. I’m currently in the questioning-my-entire-existence phase.” My hands couldn’t decide whether to pull at my hair or cover my face, so they alternated between the two. “He knows we’re lying. He knows there’s no way you could be the father or my boyfriend.”

“We’ll figure it out. We can?—”

“Nora.”

The voice from behind me turned my blood to ice. I spun around to find Carter standing right behind me, looking unfairly good in a charcoal suit.

Miles instantly placed himself slightly in front of me, his shoulders tensing. “Hey man, do you mind? We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

Carter’s eyes never left mine. “I think I’m entitled to a conversation with one of the coaches of the team I just bought into.”

“At least buy me dinner first before you stalk me,” I snapped, my brain-to-mouth filter completely offline.

“I have bought you dinner. Several times. And I wasn’t stalking you.” Carter’s expression softened slightly.

Miles glanced between us, his protective stance unchanged. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but now is not the time or place for this.”

“I did it to protect you,” Carter continued, ignoring Miles completely. “This way, I have a say in team management decisions. I can make sure you keep your job.”

The genuine sincerity in his voice made something in my chest flutter traitorously. For a split second, I softened. It was... sweet? In an absolutely over-the-top way.

Then reality crashed back in.

“I had it handled,” I hissed, anger flaring hot and bright. “I don’t need you to swoop in and save me like some damsel in distress.”

Carter’s eyebrow arched skeptically as his gaze shifted to Miles. “Did you? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re creating an even bigger problem.” He gestured between Miles and me. “He’s definitely not Dominic.”

Miles stepped forward, jaw tensing. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I know who the real father is.” Carter’s voice remained calm, but his eyes held a challenge. “And what’s the plan when the baby comes?”

The tension in the hallway became so thick I could have cut it with a dull hockey skate. My eyes darted between the two men. Miles was practically vibrating with protective energy, and Carter radiated a calm confidence. It was all too much.

“You know what? I can’t do this. You two figure it out. This mess just got bigger, and I need air that doesn’t smell like testosterone and my poor choices.”

I stormed down the hallway, leaving them both staring after me because sometimes the only logical response to your life turning into a three-ring circus was to walk away from the clowns, even if you were the ringmaster who invited them in the first place.

Chapter17

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