worked as he tried to come up with the words.
“Me passing out?” Junior finished his sentence for him. She grimaced. She had to admit that she really hadn’t kept her end of the bargain up very well. Oh, she’d tried to make the experience pleasant for him, but she hadn’t really given her all. She couldn’t—not with the liquid courage she’d consumed earlier.
Griff blushed and waved his hand dismissively, staring at a point somewhere over her shoulder. “You know, the whole thing, I could have been more sensitive to, to your—”
“Hey, not to worry.” Junior mopped up the last of the steak juice with a piece of toast. “No problem. You were great, really. I mean I’m sure that if I’d been able to—oh, forget it. Besides, the whole point was to, you know…” Junior paused, stumped. Do the deed? How exactly did she thank this guy for his bodily fluids? What was the etiquette for a situation like this?
Griff blinked rapidly several times. Junior wasn’t entirely sure he was still breathing until he coughed and finally looked at her.
“The thing is…I realized, and I’m feeling really awful about this, ordinarily I never forget, though things moved a little quicker than I expected last night…”
Junior furrowed her brow in puzzlement. He was stammering like a teenager, and she could detect faint beads of sweat popping out on his brow.
“Spit it out,” she suggested.
“We didn’t…I didn’t use any protection,” Griff finally finished. He had crumpled his napkin so tightly in his hand that his knuckles had gone white.
“Huh?”
“You know, birth control. Condoms. I didn’t use one,” Griff said, his face nearly purple now.
“Ah.” Junior looked him over carefully. That was it. He was having second thoughts. Regrets.
How could she blame him? The plan she’d hastily come up with was nothing short of selfish. How could she have asked him to create a baby with her, and one that he would never know about, much less be a part of its life. Well—she never would have, on her own. But Griff had practically insisted. And—well, he didn’t have to be so damn irresistible. That certainly hadn’t helped.
She knew those were just excuses, but given the swirl of emotions in her, something had to give. She just had to get through today. Junior tried to push her guilt aside. She took a deep breath and turned so she wouldn’t have to look in his eyes. She tried reminding herself that she’d only done what lots of guys did without even thinking—taken advantage of a near-stranger in bed.
“Am I somehow missing the point, but why exactly would we have used a condom?” She bit the words off hard. “When the whole point is that I am trying to get pregnant?”
When Griff said nothing, she snuck a glance at him.
It was like watching a movie cut to slow motion. A movie about a war, maybe, where the hero—a young Allied soldier—discovers that he has just been betrayed by the commanding officer, sent into a mission that will almost certainly result in his death. Griff’s mouth fell slowly, silently open, and his eyes widened, and the napkin fell from his hand.
“Pregnant?” he finally whispered.
“Yeah. You know, with a baby. Hey, keep breathing here. I don’t need you to go fainting on me. C’mon, innnnnn…outttt.”
Junior rounded her lips and drew air deep into her lungs in an exaggerated parody, then slowly let it out, nodding at him in encouragement. He was going pale, and he looked like he was going to pitch forward.
Griff slowly shook his head. “But…”
Junior sighed. Honestly! Was it possible he’d talked himself into some sort of amnesia? “Remember? You heard me and Rosie talking? About my fibroids and my endometriosis? And how it’s basically now or never for me to get pregnant?”
Griff opened his mouth, moved his lips without speaking, and coughed. He tried again. “Endometriosis?”
“It’s this condition where a woman’s—”
Griff made a
“Me passing out?” Junior finished his sentence for him. She grimaced. She had to admit that she really hadn’t kept her end of the bargain up very well. Oh, she’d tried to make the experience pleasant for him, but she hadn’t really given her all. She couldn’t—not with the liquid courage she’d consumed earlier.
Griff blushed and waved his hand dismissively, staring at a point somewhere over her shoulder. “You know, the whole thing, I could have been more sensitive to, to your—”
“Hey, not to worry.” Junior mopped up the last of the steak juice with a piece of toast. “No problem. You were great, really. I mean I’m sure that if I’d been able to—oh, forget it. Besides, the whole point was to, you know…” Junior paused, stumped. Do the deed? How exactly did she thank this guy for his bodily fluids? What was the etiquette for a situation like this?
Griff blinked rapidly several times. Junior wasn’t entirely sure he was still breathing until he coughed and finally looked at her.
“The thing is…I realized, and I’m feeling really awful about this, ordinarily I never forget, though things moved a little quicker than I expected last night…”
Junior furrowed her brow in puzzlement. He was stammering like a teenager, and she could detect faint beads of sweat popping out on his brow.
“Spit it out,” she suggested.
“We didn’t…I didn’t use any protection,” Griff finally finished. He had crumpled his napkin so tightly in his hand that his knuckles had gone white.
“Huh?”
“You know, birth control. Condoms. I didn’t use one,” Griff said, his face nearly purple now.
“Ah.” Junior looked him over carefully. That was it. He was having second thoughts. Regrets.
How could she blame him? The plan she’d hastily come up with was nothing short of selfish. How could she have asked him to create a baby with her, and one that he would never know about, much less be a part of its life. Well—she never would have, on her own. But Griff had practically insisted. And—well, he didn’t have to be so damn irresistible. That certainly hadn’t helped.
She knew those were just excuses, but given the swirl of emotions in her, something had to give. She just had to get through today. Junior tried to push her guilt aside. She took a deep breath and turned so she wouldn’t have to look in his eyes. She tried reminding herself that she’d only done what lots of guys did without even thinking—taken advantage of a near-stranger in bed.
“Am I somehow missing the point, but why exactly would we have used a condom?” She bit the words off hard. “When the whole point is that I am trying to get pregnant?”
When Griff said nothing, she snuck a glance at him.
It was like watching a movie cut to slow motion. A movie about a war, maybe, where the hero—a young Allied soldier—discovers that he has just been betrayed by the commanding officer, sent into a mission that will almost certainly result in his death. Griff’s mouth fell slowly, silently open, and his eyes widened, and the napkin fell from his hand.
“Pregnant?” he finally whispered.
“Yeah. You know, with a baby. Hey, keep breathing here. I don’t need you to go fainting on me. C’mon, innnnnn…outttt.”
Junior rounded her lips and drew air deep into her lungs in an exaggerated parody, then slowly let it out, nodding at him in encouragement. He was going pale, and he looked like he was going to pitch forward.
Griff slowly shook his head. “But…”
Junior sighed. Honestly! Was it possible he’d talked himself into some sort of amnesia? “Remember? You heard me and Rosie talking? About my fibroids and my endometriosis? And how it’s basically now or never for me to get pregnant?”
Griff opened his mouth, moved his lips without speaking, and coughed. He tried again. “Endometriosis?”
“It’s this condition where a woman’s—”
Griff made a
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