Page 49 of Silver Fox Firefighters Next Door

There it was again, the plummeting feeling of my heart crashing back to reality. Of course, it wasn’t the guys. They were probably packing. Or they were already gone.

“Do you want to talk to him? If not, I’ll send him away.” She looked like she was eager to do just that.

I forced myself out of bed and tied my hair up in a bun. “No, it’s fine. I’ll talk to him.”

She stepped out of the way and watched me go to the door and open it. She watched even closer as I gestured for Mark to come inside. “Do you need me here, Eve? I can stay right here if you need.”

I looked at Mark and saw the way his shoulders slumped as if he had the weight of the world on them. “No. It’s okay, Vera. Thank you, though.”

“I’m running out to buy more ice cream then.” She glared at Mark. “If you make my best friend cry, I’ll end you.”

He shuddered before all but collapsing on the couch. “I’m not going to be a problem.”

I nodded to Vera and waited until she left to sit across from Mark. Staring at him, I felt nothing but sadness and a sense of relief. What we’d had was good and it might’ve even lasted for a lifetime. I was sad for that life but I was also so relieved to be free from it. For the first time, I could admit to myself that while I’d loved Mark, I’d loved how comfortable and safe our relationship was even more. For a kid whose parents didn’t want her, the relationship with Mark had soothed those old wounds. I’d felt safe and secure. My time with the guys had shown me I could feel wild things for someone without them filling any holes in my life. I didn’t need Aiden, Tate, or Nash. I wanted them for who they were.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Mark forced a smile and pointed to his own forehead while nodding at mine. “You always get a little wrinkle there when you’re deep in thought.”

CHAPTER 40

Eve

I pulled my legs under me and crossed my arms over my chest, physically blocking his little reminder of how well he knew me. “What are you doing here, Mark?”

He clasped his hands between his knees. “You’re really done with me, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Mark, even if I wasn’t, you’re a married man. You have a wife at home.”

“She’s pregnant.” He looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “She told me she was pregnant and I panicked. You were supposed to be there. You were supposed to be the wife I had my first child with. I fucked it all up so badly, Evie. I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

Like a final nail being rammed into the coffin of our time together, that information hurt. I was supposed to be that woman, telling him she’s pregnant. That life was over, though. “You need to go home.”

“I panicked when you left the city to come back here.” He shook his head and wiped his eyes. “I can see it so clearly now. I know your Granddad hates me. I know he would’ve preferred seeing you with someone here. I figured it was only a matter of time before he got what he wanted. So, I went out and I got drunk and I met my wife. Her family loves me. She loves me. She thinks I’m at a work conference right now.”

My stomach soured. “God, Mark, that’s not the man I thought you were. The reason you married her doesn’t matter. You married her and you made a commitment. Grow up and be a good man. For her and for the kid you have on the way. You have a family at home and you’re here, chasing a past you tossed away. You’re being stupid.”

After a few stunned moments of silence, he let out a laugh. “You have no idea how much I cared about you, Evie. I still care about you. Seeing the disgust on your face right now is hard. How did I get so lost along the way that I made you hate me? You used to look at me with hearts in your eyes, like I was your whole world. Being with you is intoxicating, Eve. Those guys who threatened me yesterday know it, too. You can make a man feel ten feet tall with a single glance. I always felt like I could take on the world with you.”

Standing up and putting even more distance between us, I scowled at him. “Do you hear yourself? You’re not chasing me, Mark, you’re chasing the feeling of being the biggest man in the room. Everything you just said was about yourself. Is this your midlife crisis? Your wife tells you she’s pregnant and you freak out because you feel scared? I was pissed off before but now I’m ready to punch your lights out. You’re not here for me. You’re here for yourself. I’m not your power source, asshole. I don’t exist to boost your ego.”

He stood up, too. “That’s not what this is.”

“Yes, it is. You don’t love me, Mark. You just need me. Let’s just get to the bottom of this so you can go back home to your pregnant wife.” I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. “I don’t love you anymore. I don’t want to be with you. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want anything to do with you. I will never look at you like you’re my entire world again, Mark, because you’ll never be my entire world again. When you first told me you were engaged, I was devastated. I was crushed. But I got better. If you needed any further clarification that what we had is long over, I’ll tell you I fell in love with someone else.

“I would love it if you left Harmony Valley and never came back. Face your fears and talk to your wife about them. Get therapy or something. I don’t know. All I know is that you need to go home and be a Dad to the baby your wife is carrying for you.”

“The guys you walked away from? You’re in love with one of them?” Mark saw the murderous look on my face and held up his hands. “I heard you, Eve. I’m leaving. It’s clear that this is over for you. No matter what I want, it’s too late. I just want to know the man who gets to spend his life getting all of your sweet glances.”

If he didn’t leave soon, I was going to vomit all over him. “I’m in love with all three of them. Not that it matters. I’m in the middle of a heartbreak that’s making the one I felt over you feel like a bad day.”

“All three of them?” His face twisted. “What—”

Vera strolled back inside with no ice cream and her hands on her hips. “Say something bad about my best friend and how she chooses to love. I dare you.”

“This town is fucked, Evie. You know that, right?” He moved around Vera, towards the door. “You’re better than that.”

Vera’s arm flicked out faster than I could track it and her hand connected with the back of Mark’s head with a solid thump. “Get fucked, cheater. You better leave town or I’ll sic my brothers on you. There’s a whole hoard of them waiting in the wings to get physical with some yellow-bellied prick.”

The door slammed behind Mark but I didn’t even make it that long before I was laughing so hard tears leaked down my cheeks. “Yellow-bellied?”

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