Page 35 of Home Run

As we walked off, I didn’t dare turn around for one last glance, because who knows what that would have done to my brain. It was enough that I was pregnant with his baby. I wasn’t about to start developing feelings too.

EIGHT

TANNER

“So letme get this straight. You slept with Millie, got her pregnant, and somehow managed to keep it a secret for seven weeks.” Ace picked an apple from the bowl and crunched into it.

I listed off each point he’d made in my head. “Yup, that’s about right.”

Wiping a drop of apple juice from his chin, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms. I waited for him to add more, especially as his stare was still leveled on me.

“What?”

He reached behind him and flicked on the coffee machine. “I honestly don’t know which is more unbelievable. That you got her, or that you kept your mouth shut. I had a hundred bucks on you telling the entire club before the bedsheets cooled.”

He had a point. I wasn’t known for keeping secrets, not that I couldn’t, obviously. I just got too excited. Everyoneknew it, therefore I was usually the last to find out anything.

“How’d you do it?”

Sighing, I pushed out of the stool, circled the kitchen island, and placed two cups under the coffee machine. I could see Ace ruminating on exactlyhowI hadn’t told anyone about Millie to pay attention to what he’d been doing. He’d be waiting a while, because I still wasn’t quite sure myself.

I passed him one of the coffees. “The only way I can explain it is this, you remember when you and Payton first hooked up and it was supposed to be a one-night thing to fix your pitch?”

He nodded. “Yes, what about it?”

“It’s like that.”

Payton and Ace got together after he accused her of giving him the yips following (according to her) a less-than-stellar performance on his part during their first hookup. His pitching went to shit, and he became convinced that the only way to fix it was to have sex with her again. Somehow, he got her to agree to a do-over, though I can’t remember all the salient details. One night led to another, led to another, and so on. Now they’re practically inseparable.

Anyway, I remembered him coming home after that first second-chance do-over, and the look on his face told me there was no way he was giving Payton up.

I slid back onto the stool and took such a large sip of my coffee I’d need to make another in a minute. “You didn’t stick to one night. You knew there was something there.”

He scratched along his jawline, nodding in agreement. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“This is the same. You know how long I’ve liked Millie, and she isn’t just any girl for me. That’s why I didn’t say anything. Because even without the baby, we have chemistry, and I didn’t want to jinx it.”

The coffee cup paused midway to his mouth, where a smile tugged his lips. “Dude, you’re gonna be a dad, I think you jinxed it.”

“Nope. I didn’t.” I shook my head. “And I only found out about the baby ten days ago.”

He dropped his head with a shake. To be fair to him and all the guys, they’d only known about the baby a couple of days, so the adjustment period was still in full flow. Every time the baby was mentioned, it was followed with a moment of silence while we all let the enormity of the words sink in.

“Shit, I can’t believe you’re gonna be a dad. Out of all of us I’d have put my money on Lux.”

Someone (Ace) had left a box of Cap’n Crunch on the counter, and I reached over to pour myself a bowl. It was still early enough that Lux wasn’t awake to make breakfast, so we usually had to fend for ourselves.

“You’re losing a lot of money this morning.”

“Yes,” Ace replied, passing me the milk before I asked for it. “Anyway, back to you and why you’re so calm.”

“I’m not.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Then maybe Holiday’s not the only one with the acting gene, because you look pretty damn calm. I would befreaking the fuck out.” He pulled the Cap’n Crunch back over his side of the counter and stuffed his fist into the box. “Does she know?”

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