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“Why didn’t you then?”
“Caden started telling a few of the guys about the sonogram you two went to earlier that day. That’s part of the reason I started shit with him.”
He acted so smug, like he’d won and I had lost. I sat there wishing over and over that he would just disappear, walk away and let me step into his place.
“After the appointment, my instinct was to call you and tell you about it. But then I remembered I couldn’t.” Her eyes flickered with sadness. “How come you never said anything after…?” she trailed off.
“Remember the other night how I said I couldn’t stop myself from getting a dig in by telling him I kissed you while you two were still together in high school?” I glanced at her and continued when she nodded. “You know I’m not usually a fighter, but it felt good when he took a swing at me and I had an excuse to swing back.” I leaned forward, resting my forehead against hers, breathing in her coconut shampoo. “And then I got that call from you. You were hysterical, and I knew, I just knew something bad had happened, and I felt responsible. And I guess it never felt like the right time after we got the news that Caden died.”
“You couldn’t have done anything differently, Rhett. You need to stop blaming yourself for Caden’s mistakes. He’s the one who drove drunk, lost control, and crashed into a tree.” She choked over the words as unshed tears shone in her eyes.
“It was my mistake too.” Pulling back, I pointed to my chest, emotions causing my voice to crack. “I pushed him too far. If I hadn’t started that fight with him because I was jealous and pissed off, then he would have stayed at the bar, and someone would have taken his keys.”
“You don’t know that. He was spiraling out of control long before then, and you know it. I never told you this… but he pushed me before he drove off that night”
My jaw clenched. “What?” I seethed.
“There was no point in telling anyone after he was dead. But when I tried to stop him from leaving my apartment, he pushed me away—hard. I fell back on my butt in the grass. He called me a few names and implied that the baby probably wasn’t even his.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.
I pulled her to me, holding her tighter as she cried in my arms. I rubbed my hands up and down her back, soothing her with hushed words. As her tears faded and she stepped back from my embrace, I cupped her cheeks and pressed my lips to hers.
“I was such an idiot then. I should have made things right.”
“I should have given you time to consider everything when I found out Caden wanted to be involved with the baby. I was just scared, Rhett.” She lowered her head and tucked a lock of hair behind one ear before asking, “Can I see it again?”
“My tattoo?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, your cock.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “That can be arranged.”
She slapped at my chest as she bit her lip. “Turn around. I want to see it.”
“Why are you always so bossy?” I asked as I spun and propped one hip on the counter. My cock got instantly hard when her fingers ran along the small infinity symbol. She paused when her finger grazed over the date of Caden’s death and then again when she got to the second date, Brendan’s birth.
“How come I haven’t seen this?” She moved past me and grabbed one of the plates I set on the counter and piled it with eggs.
My dad and Sarah were the only ones who had seen it, and after their reactions, I was more careful.
“I got it in September, and I didn’t want people to make a big deal about it, so I’ve just been careful to keep it covered.”
After my dad saw it, he seemed to disapprove of me dating Sarah, like he somehow knew just from the tattoo I wasn’t over Bella. And Sarah became very disapproving of my relationship with Brendan after she saw it.
I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and followed her lead, scooping eggs onto a plate. She snatched her hot sauce and headed to the table. Frankly, I wasn’t sure why she did that to her eggs, but she had loved that combination since we were kids. If I remembered correctly, her mom did too. I followed behind her, my eyes glued to her ass. We sat down next to each other on one of the built-in benches and began to eat.
“Your mom knows…”
I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth. “Huh?”
She swallowed and batted her eyelashes. “Don’t be mad, but you know how she is. I confided in her about… almost everything last night. Including what happened the night Caden died.”
“Did you also tell her you planned to come out here tonight to seduce me?” I tilted my head and smirked as I took another bite.
“Actually, I’m pretty sure that washeridea.” She chuckled. “After you literally ran away from me at work earlier.”
“What?” I mean, I was pissed at what she’d said to Hattie and Savannah, but it was the lunch rush, it wasn’t like I could stand there and talk about personal shit.
“When you went to leave, I was coming to talk to you, and you literally ran out the door like the place was on fire. I told your mom when I got home, and she agreed I needed to take drastic measures to get through to you.”
