Page 19 of Walk Off

When she didn’t answer, he went on. “It was because you were scared. I knew that. I could see it in your eyes when you told me we were over. When you said I wasn’t worthy. When you lied and said you didn’t love me. I thought you’d come around. I thought, ‘she'll call me in a week or so and we’ll be back together.’ But you didn’t call, and I was devastated all over again.”

She clutched her dress to her chest. Her heart was breaking, knowing what she’d done to him. Knowing that he’d thought she’d come back. If she stayed near him for one more minute, she was going to break down and tell him the real reason. And she wasn’t ready for that.

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head several times as she tried to get her dress on. She needed to get out of there fast. When the dress was on and she was mostly covered, she grabbed her shoes and beelined for the door. The last thing she heard before it slammed closed on her was Kyle saying her name. She ran down the hallway and didn’t stop even when she heard the door open and heard him say her name again.

Not willing to wait for the elevator, she took the stairs but after several flights, the tears finally let loose. She fell to the ground, breaking down right in the middle of the stairwell. Her cries echoed off the walls, but she didn’t care. All she knew was that once again, she’d made a mistake.

She was always making mistakes.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but when she heard a door open several floors above her, she panicked.

“Celia!” The voice belonged to Zara.

Celia’s body relaxed knowing it wasn’t Kyle. Zara was her friend and wouldn't judge her for what she’d done. At least not the sleeping with Kyle part. The having his baby and keeping it from him part was a different story.

“I’m down here.”

Footsteps sounded off the walls and in less than a minute, Zara was next to her. “Are you okay?” She sat down right beside her.

“Not really.” She looked at her friend. “How did you find me?”

“Kyle texted Heath and told him to send someone to be with you. I was standing next to him at the time so I came running.”

Why did the man have to be so damn good? Even after she’d run out on him for a second time, he was looking out for her.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on if you don’t want to.”

Celia scrubbed her hand down her face. “I slept with Kyle.”

Zara laughed. “Yeah, I think I figured that part out.”

“There’s more.” If she thought telling Zara was hard, she had no clue how she was going to tell Kyle. “I still love him. He’s why I don’t date.” God, just saying those words made her feel like a piece of shit.

Zara blinked at her several times. “I assumed it was something like that.

“I broke up with him, never told him I was pregnant, and I still love him.” She dropped her head into her hands.

Zara, who was never speechless, just stared at her, her expression unreadable.

“Go ahead and say it. I’m a piece of garbage.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.” She placed a hand on her leg. “Are you okay?”

That broke her. She’d done something horrible, something unforgivable, and her friend was asking if she was okay. It was no longer possible to hold in her emotions, some of which she’d been holding in for years.

“No,” she choked out, shaking her head, “I’m not okay.” She let the tears fall as she replayed all that had happened in the last eight years over and over in her head. From being in love with Kyle, to finding out she was pregnant, to lying to him and letting him walk away. Those were just the tip of the iceberg. She’d had to tell both Ruby and her mom about the baby. Ruby had been supportive even though she’d been angry at Kyle which was Celia’s fault since she’d lied about telling him. Her mom, on the other hand, had been a bitch, which was pretty typical. Ruby changed her whole life for Celia after that. They’d moved in together and she’d helped her through her pregnancy and the birth of Jasmine. She’d done everything she could to make sure Celia had a good life, even watching Jasmine so Celia could finish college.

She owed her sister everything and how she’d repaid her was by lying.

When she’d finally told her the truth, Ruby had been angry, but she’d never wavered in her love and support.

Celia didn’t deserve any of it.

“Who else knows?” Zara asked.

“That I’ve been in love with him this whole time or that I lied to him.”

“Honey, we all knew there was a reason you weren’t into dating. We might not have known it was Kyle Dulanay, but we sort of figured it was Jasmine’s father. Who knows about him being her father?”

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