I swallowed, heart hammering.
“Um, surprise,” I said, just above a whisper.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, fuck.
Brooks
“Um, surprise.”
I didn’t say anything.Couldn’t.Not when it felt like I had been sucker punched straight in the dick.
It had been years since something—or somebody—had knocked me on my ass. Not since a 98-mph fastball to the collarbone back in Double-A had left me seeing stars and spitting teeth. And then there was the time Carolina had sliced her hand open on a sliver of broken glass. I’d nearly passed out trying to wipe up the blood before the paramedics had gotten there.
But this?
This hit different. And it hit hard, without mercy.
The second Matty had held up that sonogram photo and asked who it belonged to, I’d felt the ground shift under my feet. Every pair of eyes had turned to Dani. And not because of how incredible she looked in her bikini—I had nearly swallowed my tongue when I’d first spotted her running across the yard in thescrap of black-and-white fabric, my favorite bits bouncing and jiggling with every step—but rather because of the guilt coloring her cheeks.
Because she was pregnant.
My kitten was pregnant.
My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding, and I had the sudden urge to vomit all over my shortstop’s well-trimmed grass.Breathe, asshole.I knew I should have said something. I must have looked like a bumbling idiot, and in front of my team no less, but still, I struggled to find the words.
And all the while, I never took my eyes off Dani.
Her face flushed, her mouth parted like she was about to deny it—or maybe defend herself—but she didn’t say a word. She took off, snatching the photo out of Matty’s hand and bolting for the house.
I stood frozen for a second too long, my brain still trying to play catch-up with what the hell had just happened. And then, I was moving, too.
I barely registered Pink’s wide-eyed expression or Clarke calling out after Dani. I was already cutting through the stunned silence and heading for the sliding glass door.
She was fast, but I was faster. I found her halfway down the hallway inside the farmhouse, pushing open a door like she didn’t care where it led, just so long as she could disappear.
Not on my watch, kitten.
I reached it just as she did, slamming it closed behind the two of us. It was a guest room, dressed in recycled wood and at least fifty shades of cream, a stark contrast to the tan, tattooed beauty standing across from me, avoiding my gaze.
“Something you want to tell me, kitten?” My voice came out harsher than I’d meant it to, cracking around the edges.
I stalked toward her when she didn’t respond. I needed her to look at me, but her eyes were stubbornly fixed on her feet.
Fuck that.
I stopped when we were toe to toe, tipping her chin back until our eyes finally met. Moisture gathered in hers, but she blinked back her tears. I was mad—fucking pissed, actually—but I knew what that look on her face meant.
Shame. Guilt.
It wasn’t something I was used to seeing on her, and I didn’t like it one bit. I swallowed past the knot in my throat and forced myself to soften my tone.
“Dani.”
She didn’t say anything right away, but I could feel the tension radiating off her. Her breath hitched against my chest, shallow and uneven. She blinked up at me, lashes fluttering like she wanted to look away but couldn’t—not with my hand still under her chin, tilting her face toward mine.
“I wasn’t hiding it,” she said finally, her voice hoarse. “I promise.”
My thumb brushed her jaw, and I felt it clench beneath my fingers. “Hiding what exactly?”
