AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hope,” he interjected harshly.
Startled, I looked up at him.
Wondered if I looked as lost as he did.
“Hope,” he confessed softly. “I’m not breaking up with you. But I can’t give you what you need-”
At those words, I stood up and walked away from him.
I can’t give you what you need.
More words.
Meaningless words.
Passed over again.
“I’m not breaking up with you,” he stated again, his voice stronger. “Turn around. I need to see your face.”
“Why?” I barked, my voice guttural.
“To make sure you understand.” He growled. “I’m not good at this relationship stuff. It’s important I get this right.”
My head spun; my senses reeled.
I blinked back angry tears.
“Please.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Come back. Sit with me.”
I returned to the couch, looked at him impassively, my heart locked in the place I used to keep Pandora’s box.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he whispered. “This is not about you.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really? Because I’m here. I’m feeling a whole lot I’d rather not, and it certainly feels like it involves me.”
Was this even happening?
Work.
Coffee with Giovanni.
Ares leaving?
Cognitively, I couldn’t process it all.
He pushed both hands roughly into his hair. “I’m lost. I don’t know how else to say it. I’m not even half a man. I don’t feel capable of being what you need. What Sia needs. Fuck, what Brayleigh needs.”
“I need you,” I spat.
Bitter words stung the tip of my tongue, but I held back. I wanted to throw it in his face that Brayleigh didn’t need him. That she had a father and a stepmother who loved her. I wanted Brayleigh to have Ares, too. Leaving me meant he was leaving her, too. And my mother’s heart raged at the unfairness of it all.
“I need you, too,” he admitted. “Which makes it worse because I can’t trust myself to put her first.”
“Her? Sia?”
