Page 41 of Shattered Hearts

My tongue runs across the front of my teeth. “You were just flirting with me five minutes ago, asking if I wanted a second round with you.”

“Oh, come off it, Laynie. As if I would.”

“You did!”

Freddie shuffles his way out of the room, and I don’t blame him. My blood is beyond boiling right now. It might just be evaporating out of my pores with how hot I feel. I hear Scott growl, followed by something crashing on the floor.

My breath catches when Scott’s voice appears again, a little calmer this time, thankfully. “Look, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just—this is big news—”

“I know.”

“—and I…”

My heart hammers as I wait for Scott to continue. It feels like hours, each beat unsettling me more and more.

“I can’t do this, Laynie.”

My eye twitches. Heart skips a beat. Lungs fail to breathe for a second.

He can’t do this?

He can’t do this?

He can’t do this?

The words repeats through my mind at least a dozen times, to the point they barely feel like real words, and all meaning is lost.

Lungs inflating once again, I swallow loudly. “W—what do you mean?”

Another exhale comes through my ear, and I bristle at the sound, bracing for his next words that shatter me to my core. “I can’t do this, Laynie,” he echoes, slower this time. “With you.”

“You mean…?”

“Yeah,” Scott whispers.

Another cry wracks my body. Sadie is up a moment later, pulling me into a hug as my vision blurs.

“I’m sorry.” Sure. “I never planned to have kids.”

Biting my lip, I suck in a wobbly breath, my body shaking against my cousin.

“Are you sure you even want to keep it?”

“Yes,” I let out venomously, bile burning my throat. “I’m keeping it, Scott. I’m keeping it because it’s my baby.”

“All right.” His words are softer, almost more understanding as I continue to break apart. “Look, I don’t want to do this to you. I don’t want to leave you alone, but I have my life here, Laynie.”

“I get it,” I push out, even though I really don’t understand. How can someone just ignore their own child? How can they leave their baby in the hands of only the mum, or suggest that she terminates it just to make life easier?

Disgusting.

“I have everyone here. My work. My friends. My apartment—”

My eyes blink rapidly. Is he seriously wanting to keep an apartment over his own child?

My sniff is loud. “Right,” I whisper, my tone bitter. “But you don’t mind losing your child?”

“Laynie—”