“Bathroom drawer.”
Brooks was already standing and went to retrieve them. The tea kettle started to whistle. He came out of the bathroom and handed me the glasses case and then went to turn off the burner.
But then he just stood there.
“Brooks?” I asked.
“Can you have chamomile?” he asked, looking at me. “In your . . . condition.”
“Condition,” I repeated slowly. My hand went to my belly.
He nodded.
“Yeah, I can have it.”
He took a deep breath and gripped the edge of the counter and bent his head.
I gave him a moment to get himself under control.
Finally, he began to move again. He made me tea with a big dollop of honey. The sound of the spoon clanking against the mug was the only noise in the apartment.
I took the tea from him and wrapped my hands around the mug, breathing in the steam.
“I’ll be there for you and the baby. Even if you don’t want to be in a relationship with me. I won’t abandon you or the baby. I swear it.”
His face was wreathed in anguish, as if the words he spoke caused him physical pain.
My lips trembled. “I was going to giveyouthe out, Brooks.”
His brows slashed together. “Give me an out? Why?”
I swallowed. “I had a bit of time to think down in that shaft. I wasn’t sure that I’d . . . make it.”
The words were ugly. Painful.
“But I realized something while I was down there. I’m not good enough for you, Brooks. I’m weak and I have no courage.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled. “You quit your job and moved across the country without a plan. You changed everything about your life. No courage? Are you serious?”
“I told you to go,” I whispered. “Yesterday, after you told me about your road name. I—I couldn’t handle it, and I told you to go because I wasn’t strong enough to face it.”
His gaze softened. “Because you needed space. Time to process.”
I paused and then shook my head slowly. “I shouldn’t have told you to go. I should’ve begged you to tell me the entirety of it. The whole truth. Because you didn’t give it to me, Brooks. You gave me just enough truth that I nearly hung myself with it. It wasn’t until Archer came by last night and . . .”
“Archer came here?”
“Yes.”
“What the hell did Archer say?” he demanded.
“He told me how you got the name Ripper.”
“Itold you how I got the name Ripper.”
“No. He told me about them.Allof them.”
He paused. “He shouldn’t have told you.”
