Page 31 of Gunner

Dawn swallowed hard, her stomach in knots. Now or never. She took a shaky breath, staring at her hands as they fidgeted in her lap.

“I need to tell you something,” she managed.

Gunner stilled immediately, his eyes sharpening. The warmth in them shifted to something else—concern, curiosity—and he dropped to a crouch in front of her, his hands gently settling on her knees. The moment felt too heavy, too important to rush.

“Talk to me,” he said.

She could feel the weight of his gaze on her, his fingers warm on her skin. Her pulse thundered in her throat. This was it.

“I ... I found out a few days ago. I wanted to wait for the right moment to tell you,” she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest.

His grip on her knees tightened, his eyes flickering with confusion, then worry. “Tell me what, Dawn?”

Dawn took a deep breath, steadying herself as best as she could. She met his eyes, her voice trembling as she finally said the words she’d been holding in. “I’m pregnant.”

Silence crashed down between them like a tidal wave. For a moment, it was all she could hear, her breath ragged in the stillness. Her stomach twisted in knots as she waited for his reaction, the uncertainty of what came next choking her.

Then—

Gunner inhaled sharply, his eyes widening, and before she could even process what was happening, he surged forward, cupping her face in his large, calloused hands.

His lips crashed against hers with a force that took her breath away. Dawn gasped against him, her hands instinctively gripping the sides of his vest as he pulled her closer, his breath shaking as he kissed her, deep and frantic, like he couldn’t get enough of her.

When he pulled back, his thumb brushed over her cheek, his voice a raw, broken whisper. “You serious?”

Her chest tightened, tears welling in her eyes as she nodded. “Yeah. I’m serious.”

His face broke into a slow, incredulous grin, a sound escaping his throat that was part laugh, part disbelief. “Jesus Christ, Dawn...” He shook his head, as though trying to process it, but his hand moved instinctively to rest over her stomach, his palm warm and protective. “We’re having a kid?”

Dawn nodded again, her heart swelling in her chest as tears slipped down her face. “Yeah. We are.”

Gunner’s jaw clenched, his eyes suspiciously glassy, and without a single word more, he scooped her up into his arms, lifting her easily and sitting down on the blanket with her on his lap.

He held her so tightly she could barely breathe, but she didn’t care—not when he was holding her like this, like she was everything to him.

“You have no idea how happy you just made me, baby,” he whispered. “You and me ... we’re gonna do this together. We’re gonna be a family.”

Dawn let out a breathless laugh, running her fingers through his hair, trying to steady herself. “You’re really okay with this?”

He pulled back just enough to meet her gaze. “Okay? Dawn, this is the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me. You and this baby? You’re everything to me.”

Her heart soared at his words, the warmth in her chest flooding through her veins. She leaned into him, her forehead resting against his. “I love you, Gunner,” she told him.

Gunner tightened his grip around her. “I love you too, baby. So damn much.”

The End