“WhatYouNeed”—BringMeTheHorizon
Iwas handling this all wrong, but my brain was scrambled after what had happened. Not only from getting my bell rung. It was everything.
The emotions, the pregnancy, the sexy, overwhelming, stubborn alpha in my house at the moment. It was too much. I stood up and scrambled after him. My normally bold self had been flagging, and I realized it as he walked away.
Which was why I had so eloquently blurted out “I’m pregnant” and then froze in my tracks and squeezed my eyes closed as I winced. Both hands covered my face as I chastised myself for coming across like an idiot.
There was silence, and I thought maybe he’d left. Cautiously, I peeked between my fingers.
“Decker?”
“What exactly are you saying, Loralei?” His tone was deceptively calm and quiet.
Jesus, did the guy need me to spell it out? I thought I was pretty straightforward when I blurted out that I was pregnant. Slowly, I lowered my hands. To humor him, I repeated myself. “I’m pregnant, and you’re the father.”
His eyes narrowed, and anger rolled off him in waves. “That’s not funny,” he ground out.
“I wasn’t joking,” I whispered, suddenly losing my nerve again.
“I need a minute,” he said and stepped outside. Afraid he was actually hauling ass, I ran after him. Before I could open the door, I saw him out the window. He was sitting on the back steps, elbows to his knees, holding his head.
At least he hadn’t left.
Biting my lip, I watched him struggle to come to terms with the shock I’d tossed at him. I got it, though. Sure, we’d had fantastic sex, and there was definitely a strong attraction, but we really didn’t know each other. Yet, we were having a kid together.
Unless he wanted me to terminate the pregnancy. The thought didn’t sit well with me. Anger bubbled up at the possibility, though he hadn’t said a word about it. I whipped the door open, and he looked over his shoulder at me.
“I’m not getting rid of it. Maybe I wasn’t very clear before,” I said, steeling my nerves. “I’m not asking you to marry me; I don’t even need you to be a part of this kid’s life, but it’s mine and I’m keeping it. If you don’t like that, you can go. Don’t look back, and don’t let the door hit you on the ass.”
He gave an incredulous huff as he looked at me like I was nuts. “You think I’d tell you to get rid of it?”
“Truthfully? I have no idea. You came out here, and I thought you might be leaving. You think I wouldn’t have loved to run away and hide when I found out? I’m terrified—but I’m gonna figure out how to make this work with or without you.”
Abruptly, he stood, his movements so forceful, I took a step back. Snowflakes poured down, landing on his head, sticking to his lashes, and on the shoulders of his black thermal shirt. Chest heaving, he stared at me. Then he moved toward me, and I stepped back as he continued forward.
Quietly, he closed the door.
“What the hell kind of man do you think I am?” Again, his voice was deceptively calm, while his eyes belied that untruth. They flashed blue-gray fire.
“To be quite honest, other than a fantastic lay, I have no idea what kind of man you are.” Spoken in a tone as dry as the Sahara, it was the absolute truth.
My snarky words seemed to snap him out of the internal rage I could see building. The smallest quirk at the corner of his pierced lips was the only telltale sign that his mood had eased. At least a little.
“Well, let me tell you that I’d never leave you with the sole responsibility of taking care of my child. Nor would I expect you to have an abortion or give it away. So how about if we start over. Tell me how this happened.” He crossed his arms, waiting for me to speak.
I raised a brow at his request, wondering if he really needed a lesson on how babies were made. He rolled his eyes.
“You said you had an IUD. I thought those were pretty reliable?” he asked, looking suspicious.
“Ordinarily they are extremely effective. Of course, nothing is one-hundred percent effective except for abstinence. The problem is, I lost it.”
“You lost it? How the hell do you lose it?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes heavenward, because I wished I had an answer for that. “Isn’t that the question of the day,” I muttered.
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Today.”
“And? What did they say?”
“That I’m pregnant?” I wrinkled my nose, then palmed my aching forehead.