Page 9 of Forbidden Dunk

The dread I was expecting never came, nor the anger. The shock was there, but I couldn’t tell if that’s because of the news or because I was subconsciously happy about what this could mean for us and a future I hadn’t pictured before.

Chapter 6

Marketa

Ilaid the test on the counter in case he wanted to see it. But he didn’t move. Hell, he didn’t even blink. Did I break him? I mean, he was at least breathing, so there was that.

“Shawn?” Still nothing.

I was starting to get worried. I mean, I at least had a few hours to wrap my head around what was happening and how my future had changed on a dime. He had nothing. And I didn’t mean to blindside him. Not like that. Not when we were getting along.

But he also didn’t have to follow me. He should have just stayed away, thinking it was a bug. Would have been more helpful than me thinking I broke him. How did words break him?

“Shawn?” I called once more, this time breaking through the haze he was encompassed in.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure, yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

I lifted a brow at the question, and he just shrugged, as if it wasn’t anything big.

“I landed a bomb on your lap.”

“This might sound totally strange, and I won’t blame you if you happened to kick me out on my ass, Shorty, it’s a bomb for sure, but not an unwanted bomb.”

Okay, that was the last thing I was expecting. I read the articles on most ball players and though Shawn wasn’t a player and didn’t have a woman in every port, he still had quite the fan base to choose from. A baby might just destroy that image and what man wanted that?

“Huh?” Not the best line or question, but he had me thoroughly confused. And instead of answering it, he asked another question.

“Can we sit on the couch?” I numbly nodded as I followed him back to the living room and took the seat next to him. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“For the moment I’m okay. It comes and goes though. Shawn, any man might be a little flabbergasted by having someone blurt out that they were pregnant after a one-night stand.” I cocked a brow as he winced. “Not the words to use?”

“Marketa, it might have been a one-night stand, or at least started out that way. But I’m not lying when I say you haven’t left my thoughts. I really do want to get to know you better. And, crazy as it may seem for not knowing me, I want to be part of the baby’s life. I don’t want to be an absentee father. I had one of those, that shit hurts.”

“I mean, I was never going to deny you, Shawn. I’m just saying if you wanted to back away, I was fine with that too. I understood.”

“But you don’t get to back away.”

“I….uh….no.”

“And last time I checked, it took two of us to make that baby, not just you, Marketa.”

“I’m pretty sure your dick in my pussy caused this.”

“I’m pretty sure too, Shorty. It’s not fair that I can pull the move to leave, and you can’t, not till the baby is born. I’ve always been the type of man to own up to my mistakes, to fix my faults, if I can. And this won’t be any different.”

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

“And I’m not offering that. I’m not even staying out of obligation, so don’t throw that in my face.” I glanced down as he took my hand, and I had to swallow hard, feeling the zing from that touch race down my spine. “I honest, to God, want to be here, right by your side.”

“And my father, Shawn?”

I grinned as Shawn let out a breath before lifting a shoulder.

“I’m not sure. How long do you think you can hide being pregnant?”

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