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Rigid, I stand staring in my rage.
“Williams,” Finn demands. “Talk to me.”
I shrug, swallowing down the hurt. He shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t have come. I don’t want him around this place.
“Go back to Hardin, Finn. Go back to your family,” and leave what’s left of mine alone…
He bursts out laughing, but it’s mostly coated in his own disbelief. “You want me to leave? After I’ve come all this way?”
Finn reaches for me, but I shake him off and his jawbone becomes lethal.
Another beat and then. “Is that what you want?”
That’s what I said, didn’t I?
He doesn’t move right away, and I know it’s because that thing inside him is fighting to understand what’s happened, what’s shifted between us in a matter of minutes.
I stay silent, battling my own war that’s on the brink of oblivion.
“I came…I wanted to surprise you…” he reasons, trying to explain when he doesn’t need to.
My lips crack, but no words tumble out because a thick ball of saliva has blocked my throat. He said he came to surprise me, but he was the only one left ambushed.
Finn may be the one out of reach, but I’m the one who’s different.
thirteen
Finn
Iwanttoknowmy child. I’m all in.
Dad was right. It is my choice, and I choose my kid.
My mind has been made and there’s no going back. It’s on a one-track symphony. I’ve missed enough time and I won’t waste more just because I’m upset with their mother.
I can’t go back, but you better be damn sure I’ll be moving forward.
“I want it,” I wheeze, heartbeat all frazzled nerves and erratic hysteria. “I’m all in. I want to be in my child’s life.”
“You sure?” Hailey asks, arching a questioning brow.
“I’m sure.” I rasp, never more certain of anything in my life. I want this. This child deserves to know both of their parents.
Unapologetically, she’s already taken years from me, don’t take more, I plead silently.
She clears her throat, hugging herself, and I can tell she’s still not convinced.
“Hailey, this kid is as much mine as it is yours,” I demand. I take a step back, stretching a pointed finger to the ground, emphasizing the seriousness of my actions, of my commitment. “I’m here, atyourdoorstep, telling you…I want in,” I gasp.
Her lashes flick up at me. “…You want a lot of things.”
I grunt, both hands finding the back of my neck in aggravation. How pathetic I must look standing here on her porch, pacing back and forth like a bull trapped in its pen while she only watches.
My footwork comes to a screeching halt. “I don’t expect apologies, Hailey. You did what made you happy at the expense of my emotions. I don’t know why, but you did—”
She opens her mouth, but I shoot her a glare and it snaps right back closed. I’m. Not. Done. It fumes.
“I won’t respect your choice in the decision, but I understand it’s what happened, and I can’t change that. I can, however, do something you never did and be honest.” My nostrils flare at the reminder of her deceit. “You owe methatmuch.”
