Page 73 of Reckless Goals

She was breathing harder, but the tears had stopped. Her hands wrapped around my neck the way mine had been on hers and she tilted my head up.

“After Mel disappeared, I decided that I could be a father without her. Without anyone. I had the money, and the means. All I needed was a surrogate. My brother talked me out of it, reminding me that we had grown up with a single parent. We turned out okay, but being a single parent wasn’t really what I wanted.”

Her fingers moved on the back of my neck, caressing me.

“I ended up at the doctor though. In order to get started I had to be tested for all sorts of things. The doctor came back a week later and told me that my little swimmers could be retrieved, but I only had a five percent chance of reproducing the old fashioned way.”

“Oh no,” she whispered, knowing how much that devastated me.

“He couldn’t tell me why. Nothing serious, I just had a low sperm count or something.” I blushed, slightly embarrassed at admitting how inept I was. “No one knew. Levi was the only one that even knew what I was doing, and I had changed my mind before the doctor told me. It has always been something I kept to myself.”

“So you knew that the odds of getting me pregnant that night were slim.”

“I did, but we were so in the moment that I didn’t tell you beforehand. I wanted to feel you so bad. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking about my issues at that moment. Being inside of you was all I could think about.”

“The next morning I was gone.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “And halftime at your game seemed like a shitty time to tell you. Then when I came here, I was on a mission to beg you to be with me. Seemed like ‘hey I can’t get you pregnant without medical assistance’ was a poor way to start off, so I didn’t tell you then either.”

“I’m hate that you've been dealing with that alone,” she kissed my lips and rubbed her nose along mine. “And I am so sorry I didn’t come to your place tonight. I was dealing with so many emotions. I lost track of time.”

“You have all the time in the world to have kids. Whenyouare ready.”

“Right now,” she sighed. “I’m just glad you always find me when I need you. And always know how to make me feel better. Complete.”

“And I’m thankful you’ve shown—”

A pounding on her door cut me off and we both turned toward the manic screams that came through the thick wood. “Open up!”

Ash climbed from my lap and put her hand over her mouth. I stood up confused, not sure if I should open the door. I watched Ash, waiting for a cue to what she wanted.

“Open the door!”

Ash and I looked at each other at the same time. Our looks of confusion matched, and our eyes were locked in horror. Simultaneously, we said the only thing that came to mind.

“Oh fuck!”

ChapterThirty-Seven

Ash

“Rhys?” I put my hands up, attempting to stay calm, but knowing it was about to be a shit show. “Just give me a second to get rid of her.”

“No, I’ll get rid of her.” He started toward the door, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“I need to do this.”

“You don’t, Ash. You never have to do anything alone.”

I gave him a quick nod. We were trying to be a couple, and even though the timing was bad, we were going to have to face the devil eventually.

Rhys angled himself in front of the door, and I went to unlock the latches before easing it open.

“What do you want?”

“I need to talk to Rhys.”

“Rhys?” I practically yelled. “I haven’t talked to you in almost a year and you show up here wanting an autograph?”

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