His shoulders hunch, his posture full of defeat. “Fuck, Laiken.” He runs a hand across his face before he turns to look down at me still on the ground. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you everything, but I was scared. He had me right where he wanted me and I felt I had no choice. I agreed to public appearances, but that was it. I was not dating her. Period.”
It’s my turn to push to my feet.
“So you never looked back? It’s been seven years, Parker. You really want me to believe you haven’t been with her?” I step up to him. “I’ve seen you. Pictures, articles.” I close my eyes. “She’s beautiful, and there’s no way that you—”
“I’ve never touched her.” His voice rumbles out, hoarse and strained. “Never. I’ve never kissed her. Held her hand. Nothing. I was very clear from the beginning. I had no interest in her. My heart was here. With you.”
His words shock me. Almost to the point of disbelief.
“But you…you never came back.” My eyes leak as I blink away the moisture. “You forgot me. Us.”
He takes my hands in his as they tremble. “At first, I was on the road. Tori was nowhere in sight and I thought maybe I was getting out of it. But she showed up in Tulsa. It had been about a month since I signed with Jet. Apparently, we were photographed even though I did everything I could to avoid her.”
I know what picture he’s referring to. The one that shattered my heart into a billion pieces. She was smiling next to him. Her hand resting on his chest.
“I had no idea that picture was in the media.” His rough thumbs caress the skin on my hand. “I had been riding like shit and trying to avoid Jet and her as much as possible. I had stopped sending postcards because I felt like a fraud if I kept writing while keeping something so important from you.”
The sun finally ascends over the ridges. The sunlight glistens against his hazel eyes.
“At that point, I had been on the road for three months. My last stop was in Wyoming, but I had made up my mind. NDA or not, I was coming back to tell you. I couldn’t live without you. Iwouldn’t.”
I can no longer stop the tears from streaming from my eyes.
“By the time Wyoming was over, I learned it had already been a couple of months since that picture leaked.” He leans his forehead down to mine. “I came back for you, Firefly. But when I got here…you were…” He trails off.
Oh, God.
“I was pregnant,” I whisper, tears pouring slow and steady.
He leans back, the simple move like he is putting miles between us, not inches. “With Rhodes’s baby.”
Chapter twenty-four
Parker
Just saying his name has my pulse rising.
Laiken’s hands come up to cover her face, a sob ripping from her throat before she drops them back down to her sides.
“When I got to town, Cooper told me.” I look away because deep down, it still fucking hurts. “I was so angry at myself. So angry with you. With him.”
“I’m so sorry.” Laiken wraps her arms around her waist. “I was so heartbroken. I just wanted to not feel the pain anymore.” Her hand presses to her chest. “I didn’t want to love you while you loved her.”
My hand reaches out, cupping the nape of her neck as I tug her gently into my chest.
“I’ve never loved anyone but you. It’s always been you, Firefly,” I say against her hair.
Her tears meet my shirt as we stand in the middle of the pasture, our emotions raw.
“I won’t lie and say it didn’t damn near kill me to know you were having a baby. Especially with him,” I admit. “I was a wreck. But I knew it was my own fault. I pushed you away. I had already made my bed, and I can be man enough to lie in it.”
She cries harder, so I hug her tighter.
“Why did you wait so long?” Her voice is muffled against my shirt.
She lifts her head, her red-rimmed eyes so full of sadness.
“I thought you were creating a life with someone else,” I choke out. “You were having his baby.”
