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She stopped breathing, her whole world standing still.She was equally terrified and curious. She’d asked him more than once what he wanted to do. After he told her though, there’d be no going back.
He couldn’t unsay these next words, and she could never unhear them. Without his input though, she wasn’t sure how she’d ever make up her mind.
He said he’d go along with whatever she wanted to do. What did he really want though?
“I would.I really would.”
“I think I want to raise the baby together. Co-parenting and shit.”
Co-parenting and shit. Definitely not the way she always pictured the conversation going with the father of her first child.
Yet, here Jasper was, wanting to give it a go. He’d make a good dad. Shedidn’t doubt that. He was the opposite of hers for one thing. He was fun, and easygoing. He liked to laugh, and he liked for everyone around him to have a good time. He loved his family, that was obvious. Would he discipline their kid? Probably not. But she could be the structure, the stability. Jasper could be the heart, the warmth. Heck, he already was.
“Okay.”Okay. What a lame thing to say after his admission. “I think, uh, I think I still need some time to figure things out. But thank you for telling me how you feel.” She moved her hand a fraction of an inch, letting her fingers tangle with his for a brief moment. “It matters, Jasper, it matters a lot.”
She wanted their child to have two loving parentsanda big family. She wanted it to grow up at chaotic dinners like the one she’d sat through, listening to so many inside jokes her head seemed to spin.
They were in each other’s business. Theywere loud and they loved. She’d never had that growing up, and if she was the only one raising their child, all it would have was her strict parents who didn’t think laughter at the dinner table was appropriate.
“Yeah, well…” His words drifted off, like he’d lost track of what he was going to say.
“Well what?” She turned to face him, resting her cheek on her hand.
He mirrored her position, kicking off his covers as he moved. “I don’t want you to feel alone, you know? In anything.”
She couldn’t help the small smile on her lips. “You’re absolutely nothing like the guy I thought you were.”
“Yes,I am.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I am that guy,Callahan, I am. But luckily, we can be more than one thing.”
“That’s the dream though, right?” His brow furrowed like hercommentconfused him. “An overly confident playboy who is so good in bed you forget your own namewhoalso happens to be a really kind man with a heart of gold.” She wasn’t sure what made her so bold, what made her say words she would normally be too shy and embarrassed to say. Maybe it was the spicy scent of Jasper filling her lungs like a drug.
He smirked, like she expected him to. “I made you forget your name, huh?”
Lips pursed, she nodded. “You did, but then you got me pregnant, so it’s all pretty much null and void.”
He snorted, making her giggle. “Callie, baby, did you just make a joke?”
She didn’t answer him; instead she snuggled down under the covers and fell asleep to the feel of him smiling beside her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jasper
Callahan spent thenextfew days with Maddi, helping her setup the clinic in St. Leasing’s trainer’s office. They would start seeing patients next week, and they’d be busy for months. It wasn’t only Haxton the free clinic served doing physicalsfor theathletestobe eligible to play during the next school year. Other small townswere included, and they’d flock to get in on the perk. Maddi would never turnawayanyone who needed her help. She toldJasperthat Callie was a hard worker, eager to learn and help any way she could.
He knew the truth though. Shewas begging for a distraction. Working herself until she was exhausted. She’d come home, eat,and then pass out. He hadn’t spent much time with her, they’d barely spoken. But every night, after she’d climb wearily into bed, he’d join her.
Jasper wasn’t irritated and clingy like Linc. Hedidn’t care Callie was going to spend the summer surrounded by males dropping trou.
He didn’t need to mark her, imprint his scent so fully that even humans would know to stay away. Instead,it was the thought of her feeling lonely, feeling hopeless or heartbrokenthatdidn’t sit right with him or his wolf. He couldn’t stomach it.
She wasn’t his mate. She couldn’t be. He cared for her, sure. She was pregnant with his child, they’d always be close, they’d always have a deep connection.
He’d know if she was his forever.
Jasper had always reacted terribly to the pull of an unfinished bonding. First with Maddi,and then recently with Blake. It called to him, sent his wolf into hyperdrive. If Callie was meant to be his, the wolf lurking inside him would be losing his damn mind. Tearing at his insides to touch her, to claim her, to make her theirs irrevocably.
She was beautiful, there was no denying that. It was hard for him to keep his eyes to himself when she was around. He wanted to watch her, look for new signs of the pregnancy between them.
