Page 81 of Chasing After Forever

“The baby might not even be mine,” I said, scrubbing a hand over the back of my neck, trying to reason with her, feeling stupid and shitty for even saying it aloud.

“What’s the probability of that, Liam? Aria seemed pretty damn sure that baby is yours.” Macy shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “We need to be realistic here. You have different priorities now. You don’t need another complication in your life. And neither do I.” She opened the door and I reached out, grabbing for her arm.

She looked over her shoulder, shrugging me off and moving her arm out of my grip.

“Don’t make this even harder than it already is, Liam.”

A cop whistled at me, waving his arms and shouting loudly. “Buddy, you got to move along!”

“Alright, alright,” I said, climbing out of the car and hoisting Macy’s luggage from the trunk. Our fingertips brushed as I handed her the suitcase, a tingle of electricity flying up my arm as I locked my gaze on her.

“Goodbye, Liam.”

Macy turned and walked into the airport, never even looking back. I stood stock-still, rooted to the spot, watching her walk away until I could no longer see her. My heart hurt like it’d never hurt before.

In that moment, I knew I’d somehow managed to fuck up the best thing that ever happened to me and I had no idea how I could possibly fix this.

25

MACY

Everly picked me up at the airport, gripping me in a tight, fierce embrace as soon as she hopped out of the car.

“That bastard. I’m gonna kill him,” she said through gritted teeth, her cheeks flushed with anger.

“You’re going to have to fly to Malibu to do that,” I said, chucking my suitcase into the trunk of her Honda. “I’m not sure if—or when—Liam’s ever coming back here.”

“What about the general store?” she asked, resting one hand on the hood of the car, brows raised. “What’s happening there?”

I shrugged. “I dunno know. We didn’t talk about it; it’s not my place or my problem.”

I climbed into the car, flipping the radio to my favorite country station. All I wanted to do was drown out the horror of this day and wallow in someone else’s bad luck for a minute, even if it was only in a song. I knew for a fact I could count on country music to scratch that itch for me.

“Really, Mace? You’re going to make me listen to this all the way back home?” Everly asked, checking over her shoulder before she whipped out into the stream of departing vehicles.

“Yep,” I nodded, leaning my head back on the seat. I fervently wished Everly would let me stew in silence.

Ha freaking ha.

“So—Liam has a baby mama? That’s really surprising. He doesn’t seem the type. I mean, sure, he’s cute and all. But a little bit nerdy. Not exactly a player or anything.”

I digested that comment for a minute, wondering if I should be offended that my sister just called my boyfriend—check that, ex-boyfriend—nerdy. I decided to let it roll because she wasn’t wrong.

“Yep, definitely a shock. And not a good one,” I said, staring down at my hands.

“Let me get this straight: the baby mama showed up at his beach house and broke the news? He had no idea before this morning?”

“Nope.” I shook my head, the entire scene running back through my mind. I desperately wished Everly would drop this, but knowing my sister, there was zero chance of that happening.

“And neither of you think that’s sus? Liam’s sure he’s the dad?” She glanced over at me, frowning.

“He did ask for a paternity test.”

“Okay, good. So he’s no fool.”

“Certainly not.”

“How long’s that gonna take?”

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