Page 96 of Selfless

She stands. “Don’t do this. Please,” she begs. “This is what he wants. To break us apart.”

I cup her face in my hands and soften my voice. “Nothing is happening to us. I still love you. I still want you. And we’re having a baby together. But he doesn’t get to walk away after what he has done to you.”

She opens her mouth, but I don’t give her the chance to speak. “I’m calling him one way or the other. Either you give me his number or I call Vicki.”

She narrows her eyes at the mention of her name. “Why would you call her?”

“Because they sound like they’re best friends now. And I bet my ass that she has it.”

She takes a step back and hangs her head. “She told me he’s here in town.”

“He’s been here all this time?”

Shaking her head, she says, “I guess he has some business here and just comes and goes. But he’s here until Friday.”

I had called Milton and told him to come pick Ashlyn up. She protested the entire time, but she ended up going with him and back to our apartment while I took a cab ride to Brooklyn.

I should be nervous. I’m about to come face to face with a man who is also in love with her and has been her best friend for three years now. I mean, he does know her better than I do. He’s had more time with her. But all I feel is hatred toward him.

I knock on the door, and it opens seconds later. The same man I saw half-dressed in her apartment weeks ago now stands in front of me, once again only half-dressed. A pair of jeans hangs on his hips, the button undone, no shirt, and a glass of something clear in his hand.

“Hello again.”

He had been staring at me as if he recognized me but couldn’t figure out from where. At the sound of my voice, his eyes narrowed with recognition.

“What the fuck …?”

I walk in, knocking my shoulder into his. He slams the door behind me. “Let me guess. You’ve come to kick my ass?” he asks with a chuckle as if that’s impossible.

I spin around to face him. “No. I’m not gonna kick a dog when it’s down.”

He snorts. “Down? Listen, buddy, I don’t know what Ashlyn’s told you but …”

“She is pregnant,” I say interrupting him.

I watch as his face turns from surprise to satisfaction. He even fucking smiles, and I have to fist my hands down by my side. I was telling the truth when I said I wasn’t here to kick his ass. He’s not worth that.

“So you came to tell me you gave up?” he asks with a smirk on his face. “You walked away again?”

“Why would I walk away from my child?” I’m not gonna tell him that I would have stayed with her even if it was his.

He takes a step toward me. “You’re lying.”

“I have nothing to lose.” I place my hands out wide. “I have the girl after all.”

“You fucking bastard,” he snaps. “I’m not leaving her. I won’t stop until I have her.”“You think she wants you?” I ask with a laugh, and that just pisses him off more. “She knows that you switched her birth control pills.” His eyes widen. “She knows you tried to trap her.” I look him up and down with disgust. “You are a sorry excuse for a man.”

I start to walk toward the door when his words stop me. “You don’t know what it was like.” I turn to face him. “Man after man,” he growls. “To watch her come crawling back to me but not give me all of her.” I hate that he makes it sound as if she needed him. “She fucking used me …”“You sound like a fucking chick.”

“I love her!” he shouts. “When she told me over Christmas break that she was going to move to New York after school, I didn’t believe her. Thought she would change her mind, but as time went on, I realized I was gonna lose her. I needed a reason to make her stay. She just needed to believe we were meant to be together.”“You’re delusional.”

“I needed to her to see that she had feelings for me,” he snaps.I shake my head. “You were supposed to be her best friend. But you’re nothing but a fraud.”

“I don’t expect you to understand. You walked away as if she meant nothing to you,” he shouts.

“I made a mistake,” I snap. “But I guarantee I won’t make that mistake twice. If she told me today she wanted you, I would fight for her like a fucking man.”

He takes a step toward me. “You think you have everyone fooled?”

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