Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
I’m there again, feeling her warmth, her wetness, reliving her giving herself to me.
“Logan?” she says, more insistently.
“I’m here.”
“I need to tell you something. Have you got time to talk?”
“I’m not doing anything,” I tell her.
My voice is coming out cold and robotic. I realize I can do it, over the phone at least, though it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I can close down my feelings, but when they explode…
“I’ll be quick. I know you probably don’t want to speak to me.”
I swallow. “It’s not that, Emma.”
“N-no?” she says.
“I left things badly. I shouldn’t have walked out like that, but your dad… He helped me while I was growing up. He was there for me, whether or not he knows it.”
After a pause, she says softly, “So you ghost him?”
I grit my teeth. I can’t explain how hard that was, but it felt necessary. It was. Hell, if Michael knew I was speaking to his daughter now, he’d be furious, and he’d have a right to be.
“I’m sorry,” she says after a pause.
“You don’t need to be. It’s fair. I’ve handled this like a jackass.”
I can’t be close to any of them. If I kept speaking with Michael, I’d keep thinking about Emma. I’d end up fantasizing about her and wanting her. I’ve become good at ignoring what I want and focusing on what I need to do. At least, I used to before that night. That’s my baseline: ignoring and burying.
“Why did you walk out?” she murmurs.
Because I could’ve told her I loved her right then. I could’ve meant it. I could’ve proposed to her. With my body content from the sex and the connection, I could’ve pledged myself to her forever with her dad sleeping in the next room.
I take the coward’s way out. “Isn’t it obvious?”
She sighs. “Dad…”
I wait, wondering where she’s going with this. When she doesn’t speak, I say, “Did you just want to talk, Emma?”
“Would it be a problem if I did?”
I realize I haven’t asked her where she got this number, but it must’ve been her dad’s phone. Did she ask him for it? “No,” I say, even if I should say the opposite. “We can talk.”
“That was a bit of a sneaky question,” she murmurs, “just to see what you’d say. The truth is, I have a specific reason for calling. I need to tell you something.”
I wait. Her sighs and small movements on the other side of the phone make me think of her sitting in bed, anxiously gripping the sheet. That flush in her cheeks, but more concerned than sexy. Or both. I wish I were there to hold her. Goddamn, I was wrong about it being easier over the phone. My defenses are crumbling.
“I’m not sure how to say this.” She pauses and makes an eek noise. “Okay, I’m just going to say it. Just get it out there, and then we can deal with it. Band-Aid logic, okay?”
My heart picks up speed. In all the games I’ve played since that night on the balcony, I haven’t noticed my heart pounding once. But now, I feel it. I can’t ignore it. It feels like my life is about to change forever for the better, I hope.
“I’m pregnant,” she says. “I’ve done three at-home tests and been to the doctor. So yeah, there’s no doubt about it. I don’t know where to go from here.”
I’ve got my teeth clenched. I want to cheer. I want to punch the air. I want to run next door and shake Chuck awake and tell him. I’m going to be a dad! I’ve always wanted this, a deep primal urge, but I never knew if I’d meet the right woman.
“Emma,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. “This might sound insensitive, but—”
“You want to know if I screwed somebody else right after we had sex. Is that it?” she snaps.
The thought makes me beyond sick. It makes me want to find anybody who’s ever touched her and break my hockey stick over their head.
“Because that’s the sort of woman I am,” she says. “I sleep around. I fucked you on a balcony after a quick conversation. So I fuck people easily, right? On a whim?”
“Calm down,” I say gruffly. “If that’s my son or daughter—”
“They are your son or daughter, okay? I was a virgin when we had sex, and I haven’t slept with anybody since. There, happy now?”
I try to speak, but nothing comes out but a shaky breath. “You were a virgin,” I whisper, remembering how she rocked for me, how wet and ready she was. “That was the first time you had sex?”
“That’s what a virgin is, right?”
“Easy on the sass,” I tell her.
“So you get to boss me around now, huh? Yes, that was the first time I had sex.”