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I throw the wrench on the ground as I step toward him, mirroring his stance. “Telling her about Mel being pregnant,” I bite out through gritted teeth.
“She deserves to know,” Tommy spits back at me.
“It’s not my fucking kid!” I shout back at him. “Did you ever stop to consider that before you decided to open your big fucking mouth?”
A look of genuine shock crosses Tommy’s face. “What?”
I stare back at him, breathing heavily. “Yeah,” I eventually say.
“But I heard, I…”
“You heard half a story, Tommy,” I tell him. “From a woman who is well versed in spinning epic amounts of bullshit.”
“Fuck,” Tommy says, half turning away as he scrubs a hand down his face. “Shit, Jack, I’m sorry, really, I am.”
I shake my head, unsure if I can really believe him. “Why’d you do it?” I ask. “Does me being with Lu really piss you off that much?”
Now it’s Tommy shaking his head. “No,” he says, turning back to face me. “The opposite,” he admits.
“Then why?” I ask, confused.
Tommy exhales, hands sliding into his pockets as he meets my stare. “That guy, Nate,” he starts, head nodding outside. “He and Lu were engaged once,” he says, even as I nod in acknowledgement. “He left her at the altar, Jack. Couldn’t even show up and admit what a spineless fucking shithead he was,” he adds. “Just texted his mom and then fucked off, breaking Lauren’s heart in the process.”
“Shit,” I mutter, my body sagging a little as his words sink in.
“Yeah,” Tommy says. “She was a wreck for months after it happened,” he says. “Even more so when she found out he’d been cheating on her too.”
All of the anger I’ve been directing at Lu disappears in an instant, replaced by a burning rage that is directed squarely at that fucking arsehole of a man she used to call a fiancé. “I’m gonna fucking killing him,” I say.
Tommy chuckles a little. “Yeah, join the line buddy.”
I find myself pacing the shed a little as Tommy’s words and the events of today all start to sink in. I can feel him watching me, saying no more as he gives me the space to try and make sense of it all.
Eventually I stop. “So why has he shown up here again?” I ask, confused about this last part, about what I saw today. “Why the fuck was he proposing to her?”
Tommy shakes his head. “Because he’s a shithead,” he says. “And he can’t stand the thought of Lauren being happy, especially if it’s not with him.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, as I start my pacing again.
“She is, you know,” he says.
“What?”
“Happy,” he says. “With you,” he adds, gesturing toward me. “She’s different with you, Jack, we can all see it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
Tommy exhales. “With Nate, it was always just going through the motions, you know. As though she was settling for something that never quite fit. But with you, it’s like, I don’t know, you’re just so in sync, it’s impossible to imagine her with anyone else.”
“Oh, fuck,” I mumble, as I realize just how epically I might have fucked this all up. “I gotta go,” I say, practically running to the shed doors. “Thank you,” I add. “And stay away from my crusher!”
When I get back to Lu’s house, the place is quiet, empty, with no sign of Lu or where she might have gone. Grabbing a sheet of paper, I scrawl out a note for her, telling her where to find me and begging her to give me a chance to explain everything to her. To apologize for being a dick about this whole thing with Nate.
Then, I walk out the door, hoping like hell she sees it and comes and finds me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lauren
