Page 63 of Pregnant By the Playboy

I want Marissa to be the first person to know how I feel, not my dad when he’s questioning her integrity.

“Has there been a paternity test?”

“You can do those before the baby is born?”

“There are ways, yes.”

“I don’t need a test to know the baby’s mine.”

There’s no doubt in my voice. I know, in my bones, that she’s not lying. She might tell little lies, like saying she only finds me a tiny bit attractive, but she would never have tampered with the condoms or tried to make me support a baby that isn’t mine. She said there’s no one else who could be the father, and I believe her.

The fact that my dad could think that of her...it makes me feel gross.

“You should leave,” I say.

He nods. His calmness infuriates me

I follow him to the door.

“I’m just looking out for you,” he says.

I sigh, a bit deflated. “I know.”

And with that, he’s gone.

* * *

That afternoon, I head to Brian’s, and we relax in the glassed-in room at the back of his mansion with some fine merlot. I’m not in a great mood after my dad’s visit—though the wine running through my veins does make me feel a touch better—and Brian picks up on it.

“You’re still not yourself,” he says. “Can you tell me what’s up yet?”

I take a deep breath. “I’m going to be a father.”

The look of horror on Brian’s face is amusing.

I’m pretty sure it’s not the idea of me being a father. Brian absolutely does not want to be a parent himself, as he’s told me before, and he had a vasectomy last year. This would be his worst nightmare.

“Who’s the mother?” he asks.

“The woman I met at your party in January.”

“Which party?”

It’s true. Brian had multiple parties in January.

“Her name’s Marissa,” I say. “She’s Carrie’s friend.”

“That explains the cryptic comment Carrie made the other day.” He sips his wine. “Though I’m still not sure why you’ve been weird and broody, uninterested in sleeping with women and...” He drops his voice, as though he’s about to say something truly shocking. “Leaving parties before midnight.”

I smirk, but then I say, “Brian, I’m going to be a dad. It changes things.”

“It doesn’t have to change much. Or are you worried about this happening again? You can get snipped.”

“Nah.”

“It doesn’t make you any less of a man.”

Anyone who thinks that is an idiot.