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I swallow past the lump lodged in my throat. “I was hoping she’d base it off the love I show her.”
“She needs more than that.” Trent squeezes my shoulder. “You need more.”
“Look at me and Janelle,” Mitch says. “She is ten years younger than me, and we worked out just fine.”
“That’s because you met her when she was thirty-eight. Elena is in her twenties.” I rake my fingers through my hair. “Her fucking twenties. Do you remember what life was like then?”
“What wasyourlife like when you were in your twenties, hmm?” Trent levels me with a look. “Weren’t you the one raising a baby?”
“Yeah, and look at the stupid decisions I made back then.” I lower my voice. “I was an idiot who got his one-night stand pregnant and changed my life forever. I was forced to grow up. I can’t ask Elena to do that.”
“But Noah isn’t a baby anymore. Look at her.” Trent gestures upstairs. “Elena clearly likes spending time with her, otherwise she wouldn’t spend her Friday night baking cookies withthe neighbor’skid.”
“And what happens when she wants kids of her own?”
The room falls silent.
I let out a sardonic laugh. “I can’t raise another baby. I’m in a different stage of life. What’s the point in getting involved with her when she’ll want to have kids, and I can’t give that to her?”
“Does she want kids?” Jason asks.
I shrug. “If she doesn’t now, she will later on. And I won’t be the one to stop her from having everything she wants.”
“You didn’t even ask her? You always do that.” Trent shakes his head. “You assume what’s best for everyone without talking to them, or giving them a chance.”
“Your life isn’t over, man.” Mitch reaches into his pocket and pulls out his car keys. “I’d hate to see you realize that when it’s too late.”
“My life isn’t over, but hers is just beginning. We’re in two different places.” I shake my head. “It won’t work. And that’s the end of it.”
Trent claps me on the back. “You should talk to her.”
Jason lingers in the kitchen as the guys shuffle into the hallway. “You’re not going to talk to her, are you?”
I let out a long sigh. “There’s nothing to say. You should go to her house. You’d be great together.”
“And how will you feel if she chooses me?”
Can’t feel bad when you expect it.
Right?
16
Elena
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I grimace and turn the phone so Simone can see where I am. “I’m parked down the block. I’m not ready to go home yet.”
“Lenny, you have to face him at some point. You can’t avoid this forever.”
As if Grant knows we’re talking about him, a text pops up on the screen.
Grant:How are you feeling today?
I stifle a groan.“He just asked how I’m feeling. I have to tutor Noah.”
“Go over there and talk to him. You can’t keep pretending you have a headache.”
