Page 72 of Inked Devotion

“I should go.”

“Brenna,” he said, clearly exasperated.

“What?” I barked, my emotions going out of control.

The others were looking at us now, and I knew they probably wanted to say something, but I didn’t have the time nor the inclination to deal with it. All I did was screw things up. I was pregnant, having a fucking baby, and I couldn’t have a fucking conversation because I was too afraid of what he was going to say. I didn’t deserve any happiness that was going to come from him because I was the one that kept screwing things up. I was going to hurt him. I knew it.

I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Brenna, we need to talk.”

“I should go.”

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, his tone changing on a dime. He wasn’t angry with me. No, he was worried. Worried because he loved me? Or he thought he had to?

Why couldn’t I think clearly?

“I should go. I’m just making things worse.”

I moved forward, and he followed me, muttering over his shoulder to Archer about something. I knew Archer would tell the others that I needed space or something, and I didn’t care.

I couldn’t think, not at a bar surrounded by people that I loved, and certainly not with a man that I didn’t want to love.

Was that it? Did I not want to love him?

That couldn’t be it. Was I falling in love with Benjamin Montgomery?

Of course I was. How could I not? What if he figured out that he didn’t love me?

I wiped away a tear, pissed off at myself, as I picked up my phone.

“What are you doing?” he asked, coming to my side.

“Archer drove me, so I’m getting a ride share so I can get home.”

“You’re not getting a fucking ride share. Not now, and certainly not in the rain. I’ll take you home.”

“I’m fine. You don’t need to drop everything and do everything for me. I can do this.”

“I’m sure you can. You’ve always been able to do everything on your own, but you don’t have to do this on your own.”

“What? Have a baby?”

“That’s not what I fucking meant. And you know you’re not doing it on your own. Youandme.”

“I should just go and breathe, I need to breathe,” I said, after a minute.

“Everything okay out here?” Beckett asked, and I wanted to scream. This is the exact wrong time for this. I was still so angry with Beckett for the way that he had gotten in Benjamin’s face before. Beckett had no right to try to stand up for me the way he had. Every time that things got complicated between us, between Benjamin and me, Beckett was there, trying to be my best friend and Benjamin’s twin at the same time. It just made everything so weird and challenging.

“I can handle this, Beckett. You should go inside,” Benjamin growled, his gaze on mine.

“Brenna?” Beckett asked.

I cursed. “Go inside. Benjamin and I are having a discussion. You don’t need to be part of this.”

I knew I was being a bitch, but things were touchy just then, and I didn’t know what to do. This was my fault, and I needed to fix it.

Only there wasn’t going to be any fixing this if we didn’t talk.

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