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I cry harder, unable to help myself.
“It’s not just you. I don’t want to be with Brody either,” Hayden says, emotionless, like he didn’t just end an engagement, relationship, and friendship all in one go. “I’m not gay or bi, and I don’t want to share, and I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore. I’m done.” He takes a step back, and I swear it feels like he’s taking my battered heart with him. “I’ll be by Monday while you’re at work to move my stuff out.”
He turns on his heel and starts walking toward the door, and I gasp for air, trying to catch my breath. This can’t be happening. It doesn’t make any sense. Hayden said he loved me. So why is he leaving?
“Hayden,” I cry out, jumping off the couch and running after him. “Please don’t do this.” I pull on his hand, trying to stop him, but he won’t even look at me.
“Hayden, please!” I speed up and swivel around in front of the elevator so he can’t leave. “Tell me how to fix this, and I will.” I’m aware of how pathetic I sound, but I can’t stop myself. My parents walked away, and my husband and grandma left me. I gave Hayden my heart because he promised to be careful with it. This is exactly what I was terrified of—giving what was left of my heart away and being left with a hole in my chest.
Only now he’s not just leaving me, he’s leaving Brody and… “The kids,” I blurt out. “They love you so much. You can’t leave them. You can’t leave us. Please, tell me how to fix this.”
When he still won’t look at me, I step toward him and jerk his chin, forcing him to make eye contact. His eyes are bloodshot, like he’s trying with everything in him not to cry.
“There’s nothing you can say or do to make me change my mind. Now, please move.” His words are spoken like a robot, and I’m momentarily stunned speechless.
I glance back at Brody, who’s still sitting on the couch, frozen in his spot. “Brody!” I yell, and his eyes connect with mine. “Do something! Make him stay, please.”
His face falls, finally showing emotion, and he stands and walks toward us. I release a harsh breath, thinking he’ll talk some sense into Hayden, but instead, he wraps his arms around me and moves me to the side so Hayden can leave.
As he presses the button and then steps inside, I scream and cry, begging Brody to stop him, to fix this, but he keeps holding me while Hayden walks out of our life.
When the door is closed, I push away from him, stumbling backward. “Why didn’t you stop him?” I yell. “You should’ve made him stay!” He tries to approach me, but I shake my head, wrapping my arms around myself in a protective manner. “You guys promised,” I sob. “You promised to love me forever, and now he’s gone, and you just let him walk away.”
Brody’s staring at me with tear-filled eyes when I hear the soft voice of my son. “Mom,” Miles whispers. “What’s wrong?”
This seems to wake Brody up because his eyes snap toward Miles, who’s standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“It’s okay, buddy,” Brody says, his voice trying to be soothing but failing.
“No, it’s not,” Miles argues. “You and Hayden said you’d make my mom happy, but she’s crying. That’s not happy.”
Oh, God. Another sob wracks my body before I can get control of myself. “Miles, it’s okay,” I tell him, forcing myself to get control of my emotions. Before anything else, I’m a mom.
“Why are you crying?” Miles asks. “Is it because Hayden left?”
Dammit, he must’ve been standing there when Hayden and I were at the door. Who knows how much he heard.
“Sometimes people have bad days,” I say, trying to explain. “Hayden is having a bad day, so he left, and that made me sad, but I’m okay.”
“Is he coming back?” Miles asks.
“Of course, he is,” I say.
“Bree,” Brody says softly, obviously disagreeing with my answer.
“He is,” I tell Brody, glaring at him. “He’ll be back.”
I refuse to believe this is the end. I don’t know what’s going on with Hayden, but I’m going to find out and then fix it. Because despite the way he was acting tonight, I know damn well he loves me and Brody and my kids. Feelings don’t just flip on and off like a damn light switch. Something happened, and I’m going to figure out what.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
BRODY
It’s crazy how quickly things can change. One minute, I was on top of the world with the entire future ahead of me. I was engaged to the woman of my dreams, planning my life with her and my best friend, and the next, Hayden is walking out the door, taking our hearts and plans for the future with him.
