Baller's Baby - A Bad Boy Romance (13 page)

Chapter
Thirty

Kiptyn

I feel
like the air has been sucked from my lungs, and it's slowly evaporating from
the room around me. I’m trying to hold on and be strong for Skila, because I
know she needs me to, but right now, I don’t know if my being here is the right
thing. Does she even want me here? Or am I just the cheap replacement for the
real thing that she can't have?

Camryn.

I want
to knock his teeth down his throat right now for what he’s doing to her. She
deserves so much better than this. I don’t give a damn what he went through
over there. I know it fucked him up—that much is obvious just from looking at
him. A nurse dropped a tray of medical supplies, and it clanged to the floor
loudly.

I
flinched, but Cam . . . shit, I thought he was about to go into full-blown
panic mode. He kept reaching for his waist and the gun that wasn’t there—thankfully.
I can't imagine what would have happened had it been—a catastrophe, for sure. I
tried to talk to him and calm him down, but he just pushed me off and stalked
in the direction of Skila’s room.

I stay
in the waiting room while the doctors are in there with her, and it fucking
kills me. Apparently, since we aren’t married and I'm not the father of the
baby—a fact that Camryn was oh, so happy to point out—I’m not allowed in there
while she’s still unconscious. It doesn’t matter that we’re dating or that the baby
is
mine
. Until she’s awake and able
to tell the staff who is and isn’t allowed in there, I have to stay out here.

I could
have made a big fuss about Cam being allowed in there, but it comforts me a
little knowing someone is with her. Someone who I know, without a shadow of a
doubt, will protect her. It’s evident in the way he stands guard outside her
room. If anyone even attempts to hurt her, they’d have hell to pay. Of course,
I don’t take into account the fact that she might still have feelings for him,
and what seeing him again will do to her.

I take the
forced solitude like a champ and make the required calls to Granny and Bo. I’m
not sure if Camryn had gone by there when he was in Atlanta, and since we aren’t
really on speaking terms, I can’t ask. Granny is floored, to say the least,
when I tell her Cam is alive and well—although that part is a bit of a stretch.
She wants to jump on a plane right away, but I convince her to wait and give
him some time. We spend the rest of our conversation talking about Skila and
the baby. If anyone knows how excited I am, it’s my grandmother. She hangs up
with strict orders to come visit soon and bring Sky along. I tell her I will.

I just
hope it’s true.

Now, I’m
sitting on the edge of her bed, wrapping my good arm around her and cradling
her against me the best I can, comforting the woman I love because my brother
has just broken her heart. God, my life sucks ass.

“Is
there anything I can do, Sky? Do you need anything?” I ask her.

Really,
I just want any excuse to get the hell out of here and track my asshole brother
down. I told him to wait and not stress her anymore about the baby until we’re
at least out of the hospital. Hell, the doctor hasn’t even made it back in here
yet.

“No, I’m
okay. It’s just a shock more than anything, I guess,” she states, staring
across the room and off into space.

I’ve
spent every day of the past two months with this woman. I know when her mind is
somewhere else, and I know that right now her mind is on Camryn. There’s a
light knock at the door, followed by the pad of feet entering. I glance over my
shoulder and see a nurse in blue scrubs entering, followed closely by the
doctor overseeing Skila’s care. She hasn’t even noticed someone new is in the
room. Her gaze is still locked on the closed blinds across the room, staring at
nothing, at everything.

The
doctor clears his throat and waits for Skila to notice him. She doesn’t, and so
I nod for him to begin.

“Miss
Parker, it looks like everything is fine on the ultrasound. There’s no further
bleeding. The placenta looks good. Growth is fine, and you’re not contracting,
so I think it will be safe to send you home. I'm going to put you on pelvic
rest until your next appointment in the office. That means no sex or anything
in the vagina until then, ok?”

“Are you
sure it’s safe to go home? She doesn’t need to stay overnight?” I ask, worried.

“No,
there’s no reason to keep her in the hospital at this time. If she starts
spotting again or feels contractions, then she can come back, but that is very
unlikely.”

“And
you’re sure the baby is okay?” Skila turns her head and looks at the doctor,
now waiting for his reply.

“Yes.
Everything with the baby looks perfectly healthy. His growth is great, and the
fall didn’t affect him at all. Everything is fine.”

“Ok.
Kiptyn, please take me home,” Skila says and then turns her head to stare back
toward the window.

The
nurse informs me that she will be back in a few minutes with the discharge
paperwork and that Skila can get dressed while we wait. I’m starting to wonder
if she’ll be able to do anything other than stare into space, but as soon as
everyone else leaves the room, she stands and drops the gown from her
shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. I pass her bra and shirt to her and
then her pants—minus panties, because they were thrown in the trash earlier
when we first arrived at the hospital.

I’ve
never been more terrified in my life than I was when Camryn told me Skila was
bleeding. I thought we had lost the baby. I don’t know shit about pregnancy and
how any of this crap works. I didn’t know how a fall like that would affect an
unborn baby. I heard the word
blood
and I freaked the fuck out.

My world
caved in around me. Hearing that the baby is okay feels like someone had
breathed a lungful of air back into my dry lungs, and I soak it in, absorbing
it. As soon as I get out of here and get her home safe and sound, I'm ordering
every pregnancy how-to book I can find.

The
nurse returns and hands me a packet of papers on shit that could go wrong and
what to look for in case of emergency. I glance at it and sign the sheet of
discharge papers for Skila, and then I lead her outside to Chris’s car so that
I can take her back home where she belongs. The last twenty-four hours have
been beyond fucked up, and I just want my girl and our bed.

Chapter
Thirty-One

Skila

Kiptyn
tucks the sheet up around my shoulders and kisses me lightly on the forehead.
He keeps telling me to get some rest, but there is no chance in hell I’ll be
able to sleep. My mind won’t shut off. It’s racing in a million different
directions with one hundred thousand unanswered questions. My hand snakes out
from under the lush black comforter, and I grab hold of Kip’s wrist before he
turns to leave.

“Stay
with me, please?”

I hate
the way my voice breaks when I ask him to stay. I hate having to ask him at all.
His shoulders drop forward, and he hangs his head for just a second before
kicking off his shoes and pulling back the covers. His long, lean body sprawls
on the bed next to me, and I take advantage of it, wrapping my leg around his
and laying my head against his chest in the crease of his uninjured arm.

“Talk to
me,” I say.

“What do
you want me to say?” he asks, looking down at me.

His hand
is running up and down the length of my spine, and with each pass, my heartbeat
accelerates even more. I’m trying to control the way his touch makes my body
react, but it’s not working. Every time I’m around this man, I want him more
than the last. If it wasn’t for the fact that the doctor said no sex, PERIOD,
then I’d already be half-naked, and talking wouldn’t be on the agenda.

“I don’t
know. Tell me something. Tell me everything. What’s your favorite food, color,
band?” I ask in a moment of desperation when his hand dips lower down my back
and his finger trails across my hips. My aching core can’t take much more of
this. I need to get his attention on something else, and now that I think about
it, I don’t really know anything about him other than his love of basketball. I
want to know more. I want to know everything.

“Hmmm,
let me see. My favorite food would probably be Granny’s fried pork chops,
homemade mashed potatoes, fried okra, corn on the cob, and peach cobbler,” he
says after thinking for a minute.

“Oh my God,
Kiptyn, that’s not
a
food. That’s a
whole meal. Good Lord. Mmm, peach cobbler sounds so good right now, though.”

“It's
the best. I'll have to call her and see if she’ll make you one. I know you and
my little man will love it.” His body goes rigid for a moment, and I wonder
what he’s thinking, but then the moment passes and he’s back to rubbing circles
along my back like nothing happened, so I let it go.

“Does
your Granny live around here?” I ask, because this is the first time he has
mentioned any family other than Camryn to me. I’m curious to know who all he
has.
Will I ever get the chance to meet
them?

“You can
meet them anytime you want, baby. Mostly, I just keep in contact with my Granny
and Cousin Bo. My mom and dad were both killed in a car accident when I was
nine, so I lived with my Granny after that. I didn’t think you would want to
with the situation, but I’d be honored to introduce you to them. I have no
doubt that they will all love you.”

It takes
me longer than I’d like to admit to realize that I spoke my earlier thoughts
out loud and he was answering them, and then I feel my face blush with
embarrassment. I can’t believe I just invited myself to meet his family. Who
does that?

“Thank
you, Kip. I’d love that.” I crane my neck back and kiss him on the jaw. The
coarse grain of his five o’clock shadow tickles my lips. I love it.

“Your
turn. What’s your favorite food?” he asks.

“See
food,” I say, straight faced.

“Sea
food?” he asks.

“Yep, I
see food, and I eat it.” My stomach growls at that moment, and we both burst
out laughing.

“Looks
like someone is hungry right now,” he says when he’s able to contain his
laughter. I just nod my head, unable to speak yet.

“Do you
want something quick and easy like a hot pocket, or are you ready for dinner?”

“Dinner?”
I don’t know why I say it as a question, but that’s how it comes out. He just
shakes his head at me and climbs from the bed.

“Do you
want a snack to hold you over until it’s ready? I can grab you some
strawberries or grapes.”

I shake
my head no. “I can wait. Thank you though.”

I roll
onto his side of the bed and curl around the pillow he was just using. He was
only lying on it for twenty minutes at the most, but I can still smell his
scent all over it. I inhale deeply and hold it in, savoring it. He leans down
with one leg still on the bed and tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear
before laying his lips against mine. I don’t think he planned on giving me more
than a simple peck, but the moment his lips touch mine, sparks erupt between
us.

Instinctively,
I run my fingers through his hair, pulling him in closer. I open my mouth
beneath his, and my tongue darts inside his warm mouth, playing tag with his
own. My free hand traces the muscles along his biceps up to his shoulder, and
then down his chest to his abdomen. When I reach his hips, his body becomes rigid
and I freeze.

"I
know what you're thinking, and I promise I'm not trying to seduce you. It just
feels nice to have you close to me."

"You
are such a terrible liar," he replies with a laugh. "I know you. I
know how your breath hitches when I get close. I know how your cheeks flush as
you undress me with your eyes, and I know without a doubt the way your heart
races when I kiss you. You want me, Skila Parker, as much as I want you, but we’re
both out of luck."

I can
only imagine the look on my face in this moment. I can't think of anything to
say. Not even sarcasm can save me. Hell must have frozen over. I open my mouth
to speak several times, only to close it again. He smiles a stupid smile and
bites his top lip. His breath is just as ragged as my own right now, and
judging by the erection in his tight pants, I think he wants this just as much
as I do, but we both know it can’t happen. Not right now.

"Stop
that shit. Don’t be an asshole,” I say, and he laughs loudly, pressing his
forehead to mine.

"You,
my dear, are turning red. Did I hit the nail on the head or what? Don't be
hatin’."

"Oh,
there's no hating going on. Maybe resisting the urge to throat punch you, but
no hate," I whisper, trying to keep my tone serious.

 
His laughter is contagious, and before I even
realize it, I'm laughing too. "Asshole."

"Nah,
if I were an asshole, I wouldn't be here right now, would I?"

"No,
I guess you wouldn't." A smile slowly creeps across his face as he leans
down and rests his head on my swollen belly.

"Damn,
woman. You really are hungry." About that time, he sits up in a flash.

"Holy
shit. Little man just tried to go all ninja on me. Seriously, he just kicked me
in the head."

I smile
and shake my head. The laughter building in my chest is almost painful.

"Ninja
baby? You know what? I think I like that." Kip smiles and traces circles
over my now exposed belly.

I close
my eyes, enjoying the sensation. "Don't stop that . . . ever."

Kip
pauses for a moment, laying his hand flat on my belly, feeling the baby kick
against his palm. He’s very active this afternoon, and I can tell Kip loves
every minute of it.

"We've
definitely got to get this one into sports."

"Of
course. He’s gonna play basketball, just like his daddy," I say without
thinking.

In my
heart, Kiptyn is the baby’s daddy—unless he’s changed his mind. He lifts his
head and searches my eyes with his bright blue ones, searching the depths of my
soul, it seems, and then he leans down and kisses me again.

This
time, my breath is hitching and my toes are curling. If he would just reach
down and touch me, I'm sure I’d melt on the spot. All it would take is one
touch, just one. I will him to touch me, wiggling beneath him while his mouth
devours mine, but his hands never leave the side of my face. I squeeze my
thighs together, trying to alleviate some of the pressure building there, but
nothing helps, and then, without warning, Kip pulls away, kisses my forehead,
and walks out of the room, leaving me in a complete state of helpless arousal.