“Yet?” His jaw ticks as he says it through clenched teeth.
“He told me if I got rid of the baby, he would.” I shake my head. “And I can’t raise a kid on my own. I struggle to take care of myself.”
“You should have come to me.” He tells me.
“And tell you what. I need your help because I fucked up and got knocked up by another man.”
“Yes.”
“And what would you have done?” I look at him, demanding him to answer me.
“Given you more options. Fuck, you still have more options.”
“Like what?”
“Like… uhhh.” He groans as he paces a couple more times, as if he’s building up the courage to say it. “Like, let me fucking protect you.” He pauses and takes a step closer to me. I know what that statement means, though. “Do you want to keep it? If you don’t, I will protect you from him.”
“I don’t know if I do.”
“Okay. Then if you want to keep it, let me help you.”
“Zane, this isn’t a few days here and there thing.”
“I’m not that naïve.” He cuts out at me, slightly irritated with me, now. “I’m aware of how long kids are around until they’re an adult.”
I sit stunned for a moment as I realize what he’s offering, not to just help me out, but to raise this baby with me.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Why?” He pauses, looking at me. “If it was mine, you wouldn’t have a problem then?”
“That’s different. It would be yours then.”
He hesitates, his eyes continuing to stare at me, though. “Answer me one thing.” His voice drops as he steps closer to me.
“What?”
“Do you wish it was mine instead of his?”
“Don’t make me answer that.”
“Why?”
“Because wishing changes nothing, it’s not fair to either of us, and we both already know the answer.”
“You won’t let me help, will you?”
“No.” The tears are welling up in my eyes again and I look away, trying to clear them. He’s right. Out of every single man that I have slept with in my life, I wish that it was his.
His hand comes up, stopping my head from turning away. “Somewhere, in another reality, you let me give you the world.”
“And in another, this is your baby.”
“That’s…” He trails off, stopping himself, almost as if he didn’t mean to start the statement in the first place.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He hesitates and then starts again. “If you ever change your mind, the door is always open.”
