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The next thing I know, my fist slams into the drywall in the hallway, needing an outlet because it’s too much to keep bottled up inside.
* * *
Holly
I startle at the loud booming sound in the hallway. By the time I get up and put on a robe, the front door slams shut. That’s when the tears I was trying to hold back come pouring out in a sob.
Slumping onto the edge of the bed, I bury my face in my hands.
He said he missed me, but he just missed the sex. That’s all this was and will ever be. I was stupid to think that just because I’m pregnant, he would suddenly change his mind. He won’t, though. I know that now, which is why I couldn’t tell him. One last time, that’s all I wanted, because I’m addicted to the way he makes me feel when we’re together.
It’s not real, though. Lust, not love. And I’m a fool for thinking he could actually care about me.
“Everything okay?” Brooke asks softly from the doorway.
“Fine.”
“You sure? There’s a big hole in the hall,” she remarks. “I don’t…I don’t think you’ll be getting your deposit back.”
All I can do is nod before I start bawling.
“Aww, I’m sorry,” Brooke says when she sits down beside me and wraps her arms around me. She doesn’t pull away as the tears pour out of me so hard I can barely catch my breath.
Isaac’s had one foot out the door the entire time since this all started. I knew he wouldn’t stick around, but it still hurts. Everyone I’ve ever loved has abandoned me. Everyone except for Lyla, who will be back any minute.
I think I was hoping she would catch us, that as messed up as that would be, at least it would be out in the open, one less obstacle keeping us apart. I’m so stupid because if she had, I would’ve lost her too.
I have to pull myself together before she gets back.
Pulling away from Brooke’s embrace, I stand up and search my dresser for a pair of underwear and pants.
“Did you tell him about the baby?” Brooke asks from where she’s still sitting on the bed.
I shake my head.
“Then what was he so pissed about?”
“I told him I’m done. We’re done,” I say as I get dressed. The sweatshirt is long enough to cover everything.
“Why in the world did you do that?” she asks.
“Because he doesn’t want me. I know he doesn’t want the baby. It’s better this way if…if nobody knows it’s his, especially Lyla.”
“You’re not going to tell her you’re pregnant with her half sibling?”
I shake my head again, gathering up the panties on the floor and searching the room for any other sign of what just happened. “She’s the only…only friend I have. I can’t lose her too,” I explain.
The tears try to come flooding back, but I just swipe them away.
“Holly, Lyla isn’t your only friend,” she says, standing up from the bed. “I’m your friend too, and I’m not going anywhere until you kick me out of the guest room to make it a nursery.”
The thought of a nursery, my baby – our baby – sleeping healthy and peacefully in their crib…well, that does make me happy.
“Your room is safe,” I assure Holly. “I’ll keep the crib and everything else in my room.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. There’s plenty of room in here.” That is unless Lyla is still staying here. I’m sure she’ll figure her situation out soon, though. She would be crazy to turn her back on Isaac, who has only ever tried to protect her. I would give anything for that kind of love.
