Page 71 of Mending Scars

I tapped our bottles together. “To moving on.”

Ethan’s smile broadened. “To moving on.”

We both took a drink, then Ethan asked, “So does that mean we can all go out to dinner or something soon?”

I thought for a second before replying, “I’m not so sure about that yet.”

“Come on, Ry. Kaiya’s going to have the baby in a couple of months, and you’ve already gone through the worst part.”

He had a point. I hadn’t wanted to see Molly, but I’d gotten that confrontation over with, even though it was tense and awkward.

“I’ll talk to Kaiya about it and let you know. Her baby shower is in a few weeks—maybe you can bring Molly and Tristan to that.”

Ethan grinned broadly. “I’d really like that.”

I left the bar feeling better, but I couldn’t get the argument with Kaiya out of my mind. Even though she’d said her mom had texted her, which would have caused her to react the way she had, I had a sick feeling she was keeping something from me. My gut was usually right, just like with Molly.

Kaiya isn’t Molly. She wouldn’t do that.

The problem was that I wasn’t sure. Doubt lingered in the back of my mind.

Old habits die hard.

My past had made me distrusting of everyone, especially women. Kaiya had broken through most of my walls, but the way she’d been acting over the past few months was making me want to build them back up again.

By the time I got home, I had enough time to think and had made myself even more conflicted than I already was. But as soon as I saw Kaiya napping on the couch with her hand on her huge belly, the love I felt for her quickly eradicated the negative emotions I was feeling.

Brownie was cuddled up in between her legs, but started moving when I shut the door. Her tail wagged as she stood up and paced back and forth on the couch, looking for a way to get down. Then, she started whimpering and scratching at the cushions.

“Shh, mommy’s sleeping,” I whispered, picking her up.

After putting Brownie down on the floor, I grabbed the blanket from the top of the couch and draped it over Kaiya, who stirred but didn’t wake up.

As I turned around, I glimpsed Kaiya’s phone on the coffee table. My eyes darted back and forth between her and the device several times before I finally picked it up.

I swiped the screen, but it asked for a password.

Since when does Kaiya have a lock on her phone?

I stared at the locked screen, which had a picture of us from her birthday party as the background.

What is she hiding?

I put her phone back down on the table before directing my attention to Brownie, who was pawing at the bottom of my jeans.“You need to go outside?” Her ears perked up. “Let’s go outside.”

I needed to get out and clear my head. I thought I was over the whole Molly thing, but Kaiya’s mysterious calls and seeing Molly again triggered my doubt and caused a sick feeling of dread to settle in my gut. I’d been down this road before and Kaiya was acting the exact same way Molly had when we’d been together.

Brownie bounded to the door and circled in front of it happily. I took her leash off one of the key hooks on the wall and tried to get her to sit still long enough for me to attach it to her collar.

Once I did, I walked Brownie to the pet area. The thoughts swirled around in my head, creating a lethal mixture of paranoia and suspicion. The more I tried to block, defuse, and deny them, the more they screamed not to ignore them.

.When I went back to my apartment, Kaiya hadn’t moved from when I covered her. After I removed Brownie’s leash, she ran back over to the couch and attempted to get back on.

She hopped repeatedly, reminding me of a bouncing bunny as she kept trying to jump on the sofa. “Need help?” I chuckled.

I helped her get on, then she proceeded to slip beneath the blanket and curl up with Kaiya again. A smile curved up the right side of my mouth as I watched them.

My smile faded as the question I had from earlier resurfaced.

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