Marco (The Men of Indecent Exposure #1)(12)

What if she was like that?

What if she was one of those manipulative-type females?

What if late night phone calls with her yelling all in my ear about nonsense was what my future looked like now?

Even the possibility of having to put up with that made my head hurt.

I waved Carlos over when I was done setting up, but he didn't come.  Instead, he shook his head and stayed posted against the wall.

"You ready or what?"

He shook his head again when I asked. "Nah, I'm good. You seem distracted, man. I'm gonna sit this one out."

At his words, Justin looked up from his phone. He was the only one I  told about any of this, so I guessed he at least knew what was on my  mind even though I hadn't told him the new development-that I was  definitely gonna be a dad.

"Quit bein' such a pussy and get in the damn chair, man. You see Logan's  came out fine." I gestured toward Logan and he gave my work a wordless  thumbs up to back me up. "See?"

Carlos waited a few seconds, stared at me long and hard until he was  sure, and then finally came over to the chair, unbothered by the fact  that I was now laughing at him for almost punking out. While he removed  his shirt so I could finish the art on his shoulder, I glanced over at  Justin, not surprised to find him already watching me.

"You got something to say?" I asked, pretty much knowing what he was thinking.

He shrugged, pretending to be casual, and then started texting again as  he answered my question. "Yup, but I won't put your business all out in  the street."

The seat behind me creaked when Logan dropped down into it, probably so he wouldn't have to strain to eavesdrop.

These three, my brothers, were as close to me as my blood family. I  already intended to fill them in on what was going on, but I was  planning to wait for a better time-or maybe I was just stalling.  However, when would we get another chance to talk openly without all the  other guys being around? Here, in my shop, was probably the safest bet.

All eyes were on me as I pulled on a pair of black, latex gloves.  Although they were just now showing it, the guys had probably been able  to tell for weeks that something was wrong. This thing with Brynn had  definitely stolen my focus. It wasn't affecting any of my work, but  offstage I knew I'd withdrawn a bit. I didn't take calls from anyone I  didn't have to and I found myself uninterested in hanging out. It'd been  work and home for me. Those were the only places I went.

At this point, it didn't make sense to keep hiding my situation because,  in a matter of months, everyone would know. I set aside the bottle of  alcohol in my hand and took a breath. All three sets of eyes came my  way.

"I got a call a few weeks ago." I paused, shaking my head at how hard  this still was to believe. "Someone I met when we went to The Alibi a  couple months ago. She and I hooked up and-"

"The one you banged in the bathroom?" Carlos blurted, smiling hard.

The fact that he remembered more than I did …

"Why can't I picture her?" Justin asked next, leaning forward in his  seat. I glanced back and forth between the two of them. Both were more  concerned with Brynn's appearance than the rest of my statement. "What's  she look like?" The question was for Carlos, not me.         

     



 

Carlos's smiled as he recalled an image of Brynn and I felt my brow  tense. "She was definitely hittable, man. Definitely hittable," was the  response he gave, nodding. "Marco's type all day-cute, brown-skinned,  thick, hair was looking right, too." He paused to nod vigorously again,  giving his seal of approval. "You know I would've stopped him from even  going to talk to her if she was busted."

Justin shook his head. "I must've been high as hell, cause I can't remember a thing."

"You were," Logan confirmed from his seat.

Justin laughed and then saw the look on my face, realizing I wasn't  nearly as entertained as the three of them were. "My bad, man. Get back  to your story. We didn't mean to interrupt."

Deciding that my head was clear enough to work and talk at the same  time, I loaded the new needle from a sterile pack and grabbed the  alcohol again.

There was no candy-coating the rest of the story, so I gave up trying to  ease into it and just blurted the words, "She's pregnant."

Dead silence.

I dropped the used wipe into the trash basket, carrying on while the guys processed everything.

"And you're sure it's yours?" Carlos asked.

I nodded. "We got the paternity test results yesterday …  and it's definitely mine."

The razor I used to prep Carlos's shoulder clattered into the trash and I  swiped his skin with alcohol one last time. Next, I glanced over at the  sketch of what he and I discussed adding to his tattoo before grabbing  the bottle of black ink.

"Wow, I didn't realize you went through with setting it up." Justin's  tone let on that he was shocked, probably remembering how confused I was  about everything the last time we talked.

I let out a breath and pressed my foot on the pedal, concentrating on  the area of Carlos's skin where my lamp was focused. "Yup, it's  official."

"Well, congratulations," Logan mumbled.

I laughed a little, but didn't turn toward him. "Thanks …  I guess."

"Nah, this is gonna be a good thing," Carlos cut in. "Regardless of how  it happened, this is your first kid. That's definitely something to  celebrate."

"Agreed," Justin added.

One thing's for sure, they were all a hell of a lot more optimistic than  me. Mostly, I was skeptical about how Brynn and I would manage to pull  through this together. Being complete strangers was bound to make things  more difficult.

"I know you don't know this chick all that well, but … " Carlos paused in  the middle of his question. "Wait …  what's her name, so I don't have to  keep calling her that?" he asked.

"Brynn."

He started over. "I know you don't know Brynn all that well, but does she seem cool? She sending up any red flags?"

I thought about that and shook my head, answering honestly. "Not so far."

She'd been pretty level-headed about everything, aside from getting  upset when I wanted a DNA test, but that was it and apparently, there  were other things going on with her that day. So, for the most part, I  suppose she seemed normal.

"So, she's how far along again?" Justin asked.

I did the math in my head. "A little over three months now."

Carlos's eyes widened. "Damn! And time is gonna fly past. She'll be delivering before you know it."

I envisioned that, her going into labor. When and if I ever decided to  have kids, I imagined it would be with my wife, or at least someone I  was committed to. How in the hell was I supposed to be there for Brynn  through that and we didn't even have a basic connection? None of this  felt right.

"Just quit talkin', Carlos. Looks like you're scaring him," Justin said with a laugh.

They continued to discuss my life, but I checked out of the  conversation, trying to contemplate my next move, trying to sort out the  details. However, before I could work through any of it on my own, I  needed to clear the air with Brynn. With me just finding out all of this  was legit roughly twenty-four hours ago, we hadn't had a chance to talk  things through.

Just like I had questions and concerns, I was sure she did, too, and the  easiest way to keep confusion down was to keep the lines of  communication open.

We had to.

I refused to have drama between us and besides, in her condition, she  didn't need that either. And whether I liked it or not, Brynn, for  obvious reasons, was now my number one priority.

Period.

This may not have been an ideal situation, but I wasn't about to be a  deadbeat. Not having the best relationship with my father growing up  taught me a valuable lesson, a very simple one that I'd never forget: be  there for your kid.         

     



 

No matter what.

No excuses.



Brynn

"Dammit!"

One peek through the peephole when someone knocked sent me into cleaning  hyper-drive. I scrambled to rid my coffee table of the half-empty  bottle of ginger ale I downed to settle my stomach and my Sex in the  City DVDs. After submitting a few resumes online in an effort to stay  ahead of the curve if my job situation went sour, I let myself veg out  in front of the TV. I needed a mental break, so to say this had been a  lazy Saturday was an understatement.

Yesterday-my first appointment with Marco present-had been stressful.  Having a stranger in the room while Dr. Rubino and I spoke in detail  about the horror of first-trimester pregnancy was …  strange. However, I  knew I'd have to get used to it; if he was planning to be at other  appointments, that is. For all I knew, he only made his way to this one  to find out the test results. Who knows …

I wasn't expecting company today so I hadn't bothered getting out of my  PJs, hence the reason I damn-near fell trying to hop into a pair of  jeans. Nothing fit like it used to, so this was nothing short of a  struggle. This was the very reason I'd been wearing a lot of stretch  pants lately.