AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My chest heaved. “Yeah, you… You did do that. But I did, too.”
She folded her hands together, twisted her fingers, and then shook her hands as if she had just burned them on the stove. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Take a deep breath,” I instructed. “Sit down. Let me hold you.”
“Hold me? Why?”
She was already crying. And I already hated the sight of it. I grabbed her hands and pulled her toward me, yanking her into my lap on the couch. She curled in my arms like one of those rolling bugs after they get poked. With her face buried in my neck, I smoothed my hands over her back and focused on her energy.
The tumultuous pain that resided in her stung me. It dwelled in me, too, the horrifying crescendo of all those insecure things we feared coming to life. We nearly lost each other—twice.
We couldn’t let that happen again.
“Lottie, sweet cherry,” I whispered while stroking her head. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I treated you like a means to an end.”
“You were just doing what you had to do.”
I shook my head. “No, I was acting selfishly.”
“So was I.”
“It was hot to see you take what you wanted from me.”
She hiccupped, her fingers digging into my shoulders. “Yeah?”
“I love seeing my little cherry chase after me.”
“Is that what you wanted me to do this whole time?” She peered up at me, tears glistening on her lashes. “Were you playing hard to get or something?”
I swept my thumbs under her eyes. “No, I was being a dick.”
“I mean…”
“Shush, let me have this one.”
She grinned sheepishly. “Okay.”
I bowed toward her until our foreheads touched. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I’m sorry I relied on you so much. I’m sorry I didn’t try to keep you around.”
“I thought I served my purpose with you.”
“What are you talking about?”
She shrugged and chuckled, then choked on a sob. “I thought I… wasn’t… useful to you anymore once we got Henry.”
“Charlotte, why the hell would you ever think that?”
“I don’t know. My head is messed up.”
I traced her chin. “Lottie, your head is perfect. I’m the one who messed up. I should have told you how I felt about you from the start. But I just…”
I closed my eyes.
It hurt to be so vulnerable with her.
“I thought you and I would end up like Marina. And that you would leave. And that it would slice me to pieces because my son literally loves you,” I explained. “I didn’t want him to get hurt either.”
She nodded. “I understand that.”
