Page 133 of One Baby Daddy
“Because.” I grab the back of my neck. “Because you were a girl who went from man to man. At the time, I thought maybe I was different, but when you flinched, fuck, I thought I was just another number, another one of those guys.”
“Are you kidding me?” She throws her arms up in the air. “Logan, you are my friend, one of my best friends. Do you really think I would have slept with you and then left?”
“I don’t know. I was so goddamn shocked you actually gave me a shot.”
“I can’t believe this. And what now, you decide to tell me you love me when I’m knee-deep pregnant with another man’s baby? Can you say poor timing, Logan?”
“I know, I know.” I run my hands through my hair, frustrated with myself. “Believe me, this isn’t how I wanted this to go down, but I thought I could get over you. I told myself I could, but the minute I saw you with him, I lost all ability to think straight. I was hoping it was only a fling, but when things started to get serious, I started to go crazy. But then he left. I knew it was my time to make my move, but I wanted to give you time to grieve the loss of your relationship—”
“And then I found out I was pregnant,” she finishes for me, realizing my struggle with my timing.
“Talk about a blow to the fucking gut. But he was gone, and I was there. I told myself I didn’t care that it was his baby; I wouldn’t be the paternal father. I still wanted to be there, I wanted to be with you.”
“And you were.” Her eyes well up with tears, her face growing somber and the tension easing out of her shoulders, the anger dissipating. “And you moved out here.”
“Because I love you, and I can’t seem to let go.” I take a step forward. “No matter how much I try to convince myself I’m not in love with you, I can’t. You’re ingrained in my heart, Adalyn.” I point to my chest. “Right here, you have permanent residence.”
“Logan . . .” She breathes out, her eyes widening when I take another step forward and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her close to my body. Her hand falls to my chest, grasping for balance, her little baby bump poking my stomach. So fucking sweet.
I cup her face, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and search her eyes. “This right here, this is where I want to be. I don’t care if you’re having another man’s baby. I don’t care if we’re living in this tiny apartment forever with a screaming baby in the next room, because as long as I’m with you, that’s all that matters.”
Her eyes search mine, her voice lost, so instead of waiting for her to speak, I bend my head forward, breathing in her scent. Mint and vanilla. Her fingers curl into my shirt, my hand grips her hip, holding her in place while I caress the softness of her cheek with my thumb, my intent worn on my sleeve.
Inches from her mouth, I say, “I love you so much, Adalyn, and all I want is to be with you.” Closing the distance between us, I press my lips across hers, taking a moment to soak in the feel of her soft mouth against mine.
I don’t push her. I don’t part her mouth with my tongue despite wanting to, and I don’t spend more than a few seconds exploring her lips. Pushing away, shock in her eyes, hand to her lips, she steps out of my grasp and backs up, tripping over the coffee table and falling backward. Luckily I catch her arms before she can tumble to the floor.
“Jesus, Adalyn. Be careful.” I right her but she keeps walking backward to her room.
Shaking her head, she says, “I . . . I can’t do this right now, Logan.”
Trying not to get upset, I nod my head. “I’m not going anywhere, Adalyn. I’m here.”
With that, she shuts her bedroom door, leaving me alone in the living room, my actions hanging heavily in the air.
So there was partial moonwalking. But it’s not like she slapped me across the face when I kissed her. Maybe she didn’t kiss me back, but I also caught her completely off guard tonight. She was expecting to go to dinner with her friend, which she did, but then I hit her hard with my feelings. That’s a lot for a someone to take in, let alone a pregnant woman who’s highly emotional.
I need to be patient. I need Hayden to screw up again and when he does, I’ll swoop in. Adalyn knows how I feel. I put it out there, now I need to wait.
Patience. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ADALYN
Remember when I said I’ve never been more confused?
I was wrong.
This is confused.
And to add to the level of confusion, Hayden is on the way to my apartment to pick me up. He said he would come to the door but there is no way in hell I’m going to let that happen.
He fought me about it, saying he’s cool with Logan, and I’m going to guess after last night, he’s not going to be cool with him at all.
Can we just take a moment to consider what happened last night?
Logan, my dear friend, who I’ve been through everything with from bad one-night stands to learning how to insert a catheter . . . we’ve gone through it together. The good, the bad, and the incredibly ugly.
