Page 33 of His Bittersweet Regret

Unfortunately, bad dreams awaited me on the other side of my closed lids. Sometimes, they were simple flashbacks to Marsh leaving me. Others were worries about the baby and what might happen during childbirth. Then, there were the dreams about Marsh with someone else, laughing at me walking our child to school because, for some reason, I still don’t have a car in the future.

Speaking of which, that was the other reason I chose to live in this apartment complex. I needed a car. The walking, and damage done to my body and my soul as a result, were too much for me. It was getting hotter too. Beth had been gone to some nursing seminar while all the drama unfolded this week, but she was due back tomorrow and promised to take me car shopping the minute she got back.

Tomorrow, I would splurge on a cab to and from work. There was no getting around that with my feet in the condition they were in. It took me a minute to tune back in to the fact that Marsh had been speaking while I was lost to my thoughts.

“… want to leave that kind of cash sitting around here, or hear that you’re walking to the bank with it.”

“What?” I asked as I worked my way out of my exhausted daze. “What are you talking about me walking around with cash for?”

“Told you she wasn’t paying attention to your dumbass. She’s tired. Why don’t you just leave?” Ryker taunted his brother.

“Because this is important.” Marsh snapped his fingers in my face, and I stepped back away from him immediately.

“Rude!”

“Listen then! I’m trying to find out what you want me to do about your half of the savings account we had? I didn’t even realize that I had all that money because it was supposed to be for us to buy a house. That wasn’t happening, so it wasn’t on my mind.”

As if I needed another punch to the gut? He had to go and remind me that we were never going to buy a house together after all.

“As far as I’m concerned, you used it to pay the rent in your absence.”

“Nope. Both of our names were on that lease, which meant that I was responsible for half of the rent anyway until the lease was up.”

“Whatever, Marsh. I’m exhausted. There’s nothing left in the tank. I really need to get some sleep which means you need to go.”

“Where are you sleeping?”

I pointed to the couch with the bedding still on it.

“You can’t sleep there,” he told me.

“For once, we agree,” Ry chimed in.

“Well, it’s all I have and I’d like to get to it.” I moved, slowly and painfully to the door, unable to hide the wince and grunt of pain that gave it away as I moved.

“Come on, you’re coming back to my place for the night until we can figure something else out.”

“I’m not going back to your place and sleeping in the filthy bed where you’ve fucked other women,” I snarled at him so viciously that even I was a little frightened of myself.

“I never slept with any women there.”

“Yeah right,” I huffed.

“There’s no way in hell I would bring anyone back to the twin’s place, even if I did sleep with any of the women I went out on dates with.”

“First of all, I would never be inclined to step a toe into a place where your twin brothers live. Ever. Not even if it would save my own life to do so,” I informed him. In my eyes, they were to blame the most because of the years of harping on their brother to leave me. “Second, I don’t believe you are seriously sitting here trying to make out like you never slept with your dates when I saw first-hand that you absolutely did. Unless you are going to try to tell me you and Monica were just working on laundry day together, but it was totally plutonic?”

“Monica was the only woman I slept with while we were apart.”

“We’re still apart,” I threw in, but he ignored me and kept going.

“And I only did that when I thought you had gotten knocked up by some lousy piece of shit who left you high and dry afterward.”

Ryker winced before I ever got the words out of my mouth. “Well, that part was a fact. I did get knocked up by some lousy piece of shit who left me high and dry afterward. So, I guess you were right to sleep with Monica on my behalf then.”

“God! You’re so frustrating!”

“Why are you here, then? You already left me. Maybe you should continue to stay gone.”

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