Page 25 of What if It's Us

“Alright.” He nods. “And then?”

“And then I tell you it’s time and then we’ll have a short window of a few hours to get the job done before the egg is no longer fertile so we’ll need to be quick and thorough.”

“How many hours exactly?”

I shrug. “Hard to say. Usually anywhere from twelve to twenty-four. So, I’ll text you and then you’ll come over to my place and umm…” I clear my throat, shifting on the bench.

“Jack off into a cup?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “And then I basically use this little turkey baster type thing and insert it inside me and shoot your tiny swimmers up in there and the race is on. And then we wait.”

“How long do we wait? When do we know?”

“Could be a few weeks. If I get my period, we’ll know it didn’t work but if my period doesn’t come, I could take a test and see if it comes up positive. Technically, I could test before my period comes, but we’ll see how it goes.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

I shrug. “We try again, I guess.”

He seems to take a few long seconds to embrace the process as I’ve described and then finally, he glances at me and smiles. “Well alright then. Let’s do this.”

“So, you’re still in?” I ask one last time just to be certain and to give him every opportunity to back out if he wants to. “This is your last chance to back out so speak now or forever hold your peace.” I offer him my hand as if we’re sealing the biggest sales deal of our lives.

“I am one hundred percent in.” He grasps my hand with his, the heat of his body emanating through his palm as he stares into my eyes and says, “You’re mine Marlee Remington. I promise you I will put a baby inside you if it’s the last thing I do.”

Hooooly hell.

I think I like the sound of that.

CHAPTER FIVE

LEDGER

“Ibet it’s going to be any time now,” Griffin says as I slam another puck into the net from center ice. “You just wait. That phone is going to go off and you’re going to sprint yourself right out of here.”

He’s not wrong.

I’ve been waiting to hear from Marlee for the past eight days. It’s killing me that I haven’t heard from her yet. And not just because she hasn’t texted me. I was good for the first four days. I even practiced my jack-off technique so I could be swift and efficient. I’ve got it down to a science now. I could probably blow my load into the damn cup with my eyes closed. But these last four days? I’m literally dying.

I’ve convinced myself that if I fast and don’t rub one out until the moment Marlee says it’s time, I’ll have more to give her. Who the fuck knows if it’s true or not, but logic says whatever I keep in means I’ll have surplus later.

It’s got to be like constipation, right?

Don’t shit for days, and then have a blow out when the time comes.

The more sperm for the beautiful mom-to-be, the better.

Makes sense to me.

“How are you going to do it?” Griffin asks when I don’t respond to his first statement. Clearly, I’m a little on edge, which is why I’m currently on the ice on a Thursday evening slapping pucks into the net with my best friend and only teammate to know what’s going on in my personal life. I’m not ready to tell the guys just yet, but I had to tell Griffin, for no other reason than because Layken and Marlee work out of the same office so I’m certain they will talk anyway. Plus, Marlee is right. I need to be able to talk to someone. Griffin called a few hours ago, knowing I was probably on edge, and invited me to shoot pucks with him.

I love the guy for knowing what I need and getting me out of my apartment.

“What do you mean how am I going to do it?” I ask, only slightly irritated at his question.

“You know. Are you going to just stand there in her bedroom and…” He gestures with his hand. “Jack off in front of her?”

My brows pinch as I glare at him. “What? No dumbass. I’ll do it in her bathroom.”

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