Page 56 of The Forever Play

He cringes and covers his mouth, squeezing hard and shaking his head.

It’s hard to know what to think or believe, but I may as well get out the last of my explanation. “It made me realize that what we had obviously wasn’t that special to you.”

“Sienna, no. It?—”

I raise my hand to shut him up. “I realized in that moment that you weren’t the guy I fell in love with… and I didn’t want you being a father to our child. You’d moved onwhile I was back in Everett pining for you. You were living it up and spreading those wings just the way you wanted to.” Sudden tears take out my voice, so it ends up turning into a wobbly squeak. “I had to get out of there. And I had to never see you again.”

CHAPTER 22

ZANDER

I’m so gutted and ashamed, I can hardly stand up straight. I want to bolt from this conversation so badly. If she knew the whole truth about my freshman year, she’d never speak to me again.

But I can’t leave things like this.

“Sienna, I’m so sorry. I’msosorry I hurt you.” I’m seconds away from dropping to my knees and begging her forgiveness. “I wasn’t over you. I came back for you.”

“What?” Her head snaps in my direction. Her frown is deep with confusion.

“I was missing you so much.”

“Obviously.” Her dry retort burns me, and I take a step toward her.

“Iwas. I… all that shit left me empty, and I came back. And you were gone. You were…” My words trail off and I shake my head, scuffing the floor with my sneaker and mumbling, “I get why now. It just…” I let out a dry laugh. “You think I let you go so easily, but you left without warning. No goodbye. Nothing.”

Her blue gaze is bright and fiery.

“I’m not blaming you. I’m just…” Shaking my head, I look to the floor again, unable to stand her hot glare.

A somber silence fills the room, and then my watch starts beeping. Fuck! I really have to go.

But…

Looking up with a silent apology, I try to think of something to say, but Sienna’s still glaring at me.

“You need to go.”

“Yeah.” I nod, hating myself for turning toward the door.

I stop just before reaching for the handle and notice a square notepad and pen on the side table. Reaching for it, I quickly scribble down my number.

“Call me anytime and I’ll be there, okay?” Holding out the paper to her, I silently beg her to take it.

After a thick, uncomfortable beat, she pushes off the wall and walks toward me.

The paper shakes in the air between us before she snatches it from my fingers and reads the digits.

“Anything. Small, big, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be here for you and Zoey.”

She doesn’t nod, but she does tuck the note into her back pocket.

Her blue eyes graze over me once more, and I whisper a final apology before slipping out the door.

It’s not enough.

It’ll never be enough.

The scene she walked in on… what she saw me doing…

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