Page 20 of Time Out

And now that I’d started it, I couldn’t reel it back in. “I went to get dressed, and you were gone. And trust me, I’d be impressed with the speed of how quick you shot the hell out of here if I wasn’t still mad you bolted.”

Her fingers twisted together in her lap, and a look of shock changed to something I hoped was regret. “You’d said one night, and it was morning. I didn’t want the goodbye to be weird or anything.”

Yeah, ‘cause nothing was weirder than wanting more and finding silence. “Right. Okay.”

Not like I was going to tell her I hadn’t wanted her to go at all that day. Maybe should have made that clear while she was riding me at sunrise in the hot tub. My bad. Lesson learned.

“So… um… the baby?”

A laugh broke free. Hot damn. “A baby.”

I wasn’t sure if I needed to laugh or cry or call my mom or punch a wall. A fucking baby.

What a dumbass rookie mistake to knock up some woman my first year of playing professional football by a chick who was supposed to be a one-night stand.

And oh shit… my mom… my dad. And my sisters…. They were going to want to murder Maggie.

My body turned freezing. Then boiling. My hands turned clammy, and my heart was ready to jump right through bone and muscle and flesh and plop itself right onto the floor with the speed it was currently beating.

God freaking damn. A baby.

I was going to be a father.

“How far along?” I choked out. I had four, soon-to-be five, nieces and nephews.

“Eight weeks based on my last period and all that stuff…”

My lips turned dry, and I licked them, but my mouth was equally parched, so I grabbed my water and chugged the entire bottle. Didn’t help. I shoved to my feet and paced. I could imagine the Christmas conversation tomorrow with my family.

“So hey, kid, what’s new today? Having a good Christmas?”

“Oh nothing, just gonna be a dad. Merry Christmas, gotta jet.”

Maybe I wouldn’t have to tell them. Maybe I could…

“Does your family know?” I asked Maggie. I’d somehow ended up behind the couch in my wild, possibly feral pacing.

She was gaping at me. “Uh. No?”

“No?”

“We’re not close.” Her lips pressed into a thin line, and still, I was thinking of how they tasted. Definitely not cherries, sweeter. Better.

“That sucks,” I muttered and returned to pacing. I’d had a game today and should be resting before heading out to…. “Oh shit.” I laughed and shoved my hand through my hair.

There was no way I was going to Broadway now. I’d have to call Mason and let him know.

“Are you okay?” Maggie’s quiet, hesitant question made me freeze in place again.

“Okay?”

“I mean… I know you’re in shock because this is big, huge, and I just showed up and sprang it on you but you don’t have to be involved or anything, but I still thought it was the right thing to do. To let you decide…”

Ha. Decide. She’d already made the biggest decision on her own—and totally within her right—but my decisions now sucked. Become a dad well before I wanted to or become a deadbeat. There was only one choice.

“I’m having something to do with this baby, Maggie.”

“Oh. Okay.” Those hands twisted together in front of her again. “That’s good. I’m happy. About that. You know.”

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