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What the heck had happened earlier tonight?
“The last few weeks with you have been amazing, bab—Samantha.” His hazel eyes held none of their usual warmth, and when he corrected himself, it caused the first crack in my heart.
“I thought I wanted this. But tonight, I was forced to face reality. I’m not a forever kind of guy. And you deserve that.”
“What?” I blinked rapidly to fight back my tears, confused and heartbroken.
His lips curled into a sad, brittle smile, and he shifted his gaze to stare above my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Too late,” I whispered, losing the battle to remain impassive. My eyes filled to the brim, then spilled over, sending big tears rolling down my face.
“It’s late, so I will sleep in the guest room. But I’ll be on a plane first thing tomorrow morning. Feel free to use the house as long as you’d like.”
Before I could digest everything he’d said, he pushed to his feet and stepped over to be next to me. He bent down and brushed a kiss over the top of my head. “If there was anyone who could make me a forever kind of guy, it would be you,” he murmured wearily. Then he was gone.
I was numb with shock, but I knew it wouldn’t take long for the emotion building inside me to surface. However, I didn’t want James to find me a blubbering mess on his couch. I would’ve called Landon for a ride, except I didn’t want to wake Zoe. Also, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that my brother wouldn’t kill James. So I resolved to get through one last night here, then leave in the morning.
Quickly and quietly, I made my way to the primary bedroom and crawled into bed. I was glad James had taken a different room. It might have been putting salt in my wounds, but I wanted to be wrapped up in James’s scent as I cried myself to sleep.
I tossed and turned at first, but after I finally drifted off, I was enveloped in a warm cocoon. It made me feel safe and at peace.
In the morning, I woke up alone, but a part of me was convinced that James had offered me comfort through the night. It seemed like a fanciful notion, and I wrote it off as a wishful dream. But as I sat up and scooted over to climb off the bed, I glanced at the pillow next to mine and saw a slight indent.
However, the bed on his side was cold, so I chalked it up to my swollen eyes playing tricks on me. James and I were done.
* * *
I hadn’t beenable to think clearly ever since James had said the words that had felt as though each one was a direct hit to my heart. Our relationship had moved quickly, but I never thought—not even once—that things would end just as fast. I didn’t understand what happened to make him do a complete one-eighty. One minute, he treated me as though I was the most important person in his life…and then next, he was breaking up with me.
None of it made sense, no matter how many times I went over what happened. And it kept playing in my head. Over and over again. Day and night since I’d barely been able to sleep.
I was a total wreck, and no amount of ice cream had helped ease the pain of losing the man I had fallen head over heels for.
“I just don’t understand.” I sniffled into the sundae Zoe had made for me. “I thought he wanted to build a future with me. Not end things before we really had the chance to get started.”
Zoe patted my hand. “I’m so sorry, Samantha. I wish I knew what to say, but I’m surprised too since you guys looked so happy together at poker night.”
“Because we were. Or at least I thought so at the time.” My gaze dropped to her belly, and my sniffle turned into a sob as I thought about the babies I imagined we’d have together. Yet another assumption I’d made…but a fair one since James hadn’t used a condom any of the times he’d taken me. Which made our breakup even harder to understand because we’d had sex only hours before he’d dropped the hammer on me. Those weren’t the actions of a guy planning to end things with the woman he was dating.
And now that I considered it, my brother’s reaction to one of his friends breaking my heart didn’t line up either. I thought Zoe would have to stop him from going after James. But while he’d been sympathetic, he’d taken it with surprising calm. Something wasn’t right.
Narrowing my eyes, I called, “Hey, Landon! Your wife needs you.”
Zoe’s brows drew together as she mumbled, “Huh?”
Holding one finger up, I set my half-eaten ice cream on the table next to me while I waited for my brother to come running. It wasn’t long before he hurried into the living room with a panicked expression. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing. I’m perfectly fine,” Zoe replied.
Landon’s head swung toward me. “Then why did you yell like that?”
“Because I knew it was the fastest way to get you in here”—I stood and crossed my arms over my chest—“and I have a vitally important question for you.”
“Okay,” he replied, his tone wary.
“About James.”
“Shit,” he muttered, taking a step back.
