Page 83 of Accidentally in Love

“Last night when I told you I loved you!”

She reared back at that, but then she put her book down on the coffee table. “Do you mean when you said, ‘I love you,’ and then came inside me? I didn’t think you meant it.”

“Why wouldn’t I mean it?” I snapped.

Why was she being so difficult? Of course, I fucking meant that. I wouldn’t have said it if I hadn’t.

“Because it was a heat of the moment thing!” she exclaimed and glared at me. “It’s not like I’m what you want. I know you only married me because you wanted to do the right thing. You don’t have to lie to me!”

She shoved the blanket off her lap and sat up on the couch.

“Why do you think it’s not true?” I asked through gritted teeth.

She stared into the flames of the fire but wouldn’t look at me. “When we first hooked up, you told me you weren’t the type of man who fell in love. And it’s not like we’ve been exclusive.”

Ouch. That was like a knife to my gut. My heart ached in my chest at hearing the words I knew were true. I had been exclusive to her, not on purpose. Still, once Avery dug her way into my heart, I never imagined being with anyone else.

“Avery, I didn’t think I would ever find someone I could open my heart to again. And it’s not like you ever told me you wanted more. You constantly went on dates, and when they were losers, you used me for sex.”

She turned to me, her eyes shiny with tears, and I felt like the world’s biggest asshole. “I said that to reassure you because you told me that was all you could ever give me! You said you were there for a ‘good time, not a long time.’ I was only one of the many women you took to your bed. I know I didn’t matter to you.”

What the fuck? How could she not see that everything I did was because I loved her? Why did she think she didn’t matter to me? She was the only person who would matter to me for the rest of my life.

“Baby…” I said, but she shook her head as more tears fell from her eyes. The ache in my chest tightened at seeing her cry. At the fact I made her cry.

“I think we should get an annulment. This marriage isn’t gonna work out,” she blubbered.

My heart plummeted into my stomach at her words. I was trying so desperately to find the words again, to make her understand she was my world. I couldn’t do that if she wanted an annulment. This wasn’t how I expected our marriage to begin.

“What?” I asked and stared at her, my thoughts swirling around in my head in utter confusion.

“I’m never gonna be good enough for you,” she sobbed.

I tugged on her wrist. “C’mere, let’s talk about this.”

She shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about. You don’t love me. That’s why I said ‘no’ when you first asked me to marry you. You’re a good man, Nolan, and I thought maybe Peanut and I could win you over. I want so badly to have a family, and I thought we could have something real together, but I can’t be married to someone who will never love me in return.”

Before I could stop her, she rushed up the stairs. I watched her go in silence as I mulled over her words. I held my head in my hands as I contemplated the argument. I never wanted to hurt her or for the tears in her eyes to be from something I had done.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, and that’s when something finally clicked about what she said during the argument.

I can’t be married to someone who will never love me in return.

Oh, fuck!

She loved me, but I was such a closed-off asshole that I never saw it. Never thought for a second that Avery could ever love me the way I loved her.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as I thought about what to say to fix this. I had to do something now before she walked away from our marriage. Before she walked away from me.

I got up from the couch and climbed the steps. What I saw in the bedroom made my heart squeeze in my chest. My pregnant wife was crying her eyes out on the bed because she thought I didn’t love her. In truth, I loved her with all my heart, but I was allergic to talking about my feelings.

I sat on the bed next to her and reached out to stroke her hair. “Avery? Listen to me, okay?”

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“You know why I said I didn’t want to get attached?” I asked and tilted her chin up so she’d look at me.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes.