Page 8 of Stalked By the Assistant Coach

“What?” He looked like I’d slapped him. His large body froze solid, and I doubted the man was breathing. Suddenly, Red teetered and stepped back, no longer caging me in. I immediately missed the warmth of his body heat.

“I love you, Red Bridges. But I’m going to start a family. Me and my one or two little buns in the oven are going to be a family.” I smiled weakly as I blinked away tears. "I just can’t keep wishing for something that’s never going to happen."

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“You’re just… what? Going to cut me out of your life?”

“Red—"

“I don’t think so!” When he stepped forward, and I took one backwards, which was stupid since I was against the wall. “Cut me out of your life and get someone else to knock you up? Some stranger?” Both his hands rested just above my head against the wall my back was pressed against as I stared up at him.

“Red—"

“I’ll do it,”he cut in, and I frowned.

“What?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll give you a baby.”

“No! Red?—"

“You want a baby, I’ll give it to you.” He closed the small space that separated us. His heat pounded against me in waves. When he pressed a very large thick part of himself against me, it felt like all the air had been sucked from his office.

“Red,” I whispered. My chest rose and fell heavily, like I had been running. Which was stupid considering the only way you would ever see me run was if an animal was chasing me. “Red,” I whispered again as I stared up at him.

The heat of his body felt good. I looked away from the intense expression on his face and noticed the way his forearms flexed. The muscles contracted and relaxed, making him look almost larger than life. If that wasn’t enough, one hand dropped and touched my shoulder. Softly at first, almost like a brush as it moved down to my hip. I was too shocked by what he’d just said and the way his hands were touching me to speak.

“If you want two, I’ll fuck twins into you. Or we can have as many as you want. But I’ll be damned if stand around, let you kick me to the curb, andlet some stranger knock you up.”

“He wouldn’t. His sperm?—"

“I don’t care about the logistics, bug,”he huffed, sounding half offended.

“And I don’t think that’s how twins work,” I whispered. His lips twitched in that way they usually did when he thought I was being cute.

“Bug.” The warning in his tone was clear, but I couldn’t help myself.

“I hate that nickname,” I whispered and shut my eyes. There had been a million and one ways I’d thought he would react to the news, but not one had been him offering to knock me up.

“Think about how much it would save you,” his voice rumbled low, and I could feel the heat of his breath at the shell of my ear.

“Think about…” I started to repeat, and my eyes popped open. “You just offered to fuck me so I could save money?”

“Yes"—I opened my mouth— “and no.” I blinked. How was this real life?

“Listen to me, Kaity bug, please. Yes, because I know what you make and what a shit of an excuse benefit package the school district office offers. You’d be paying for that insemination until after the kids graduated.”

“Red—"

“And no because I fucking love you, too,” he announcedthrough gritted teeth.

“Like a friend.” I sighed. “Red, this is really sweet but?—"

“No,” He cut me off. I wanted to roll my eyes. “Like a man loves a woman,” Red shared, but my poor brain couldn’t seem to process his confession.

“What?”” He repeated his words, and if that wasn’t enough to make my brain explode, he kept talking,