Page 66 of Please Save Me

She nodded, and I watched Rosie press some body part directly under her mother’s hand. I wondered if Rosie was excited to finally have an escape date before realizing she had no concept of time.

“I do love Sebastian, but I don’t think he really understands how relationships work.”

My brow furrowed. “Can you explain that one?”

“When he and I first started dating, he was genuinely confused about how I got pregnant because my fiancé was a woman.”

That should have confused me, but when he and I first met, he yelled at me for not wearing a condom—something about all men needing to carry them.

“...So he never had sex-ed?”

Mason’s lips pressed into a thin line. “No, I think he did; he’s just been very… sheltered? And, I don’t feel like he’d react well to knowing I still love him, but I didn’t want him to name the baby that he’s loved longer than anyone else in this house.”

I mulled the thought over, and I felt like Mason was right. Seb didn’t have experience with relationships, and that probably wasn’t an easy concept to grasp. Honestly, it was weirdly cute that someone as rough as Seb was so uneducated about stuff like this.

“He’s gonna find out eventually,” I reminded her. “I’d rather have him make a scene now than while you’re recovering from giving birth.”

She went silent.

“Mason, I–”

“Can we talk about this later?” she pleaded.

I took a deep breath before giving her what she wanted. At least I’d finally get my nap. But, in the back of my head, I was worried about how Seb was going to react to all of this.

Chapter 21

Sebastian

Years ago, the gym became a place to sculpt my body into one Mason might give the time of day. Recently, it was a place for me to avoid feeling anything other than sore muscles.

Each breath burned as I held onto the hundred-pound kettlebell with both hands. Sweat dripped from my face, darkening the foam mats below. But, even with the aches in my muscles, I couldn’t get Mason out of my mind.

I was losing her.

She had come home from France wanting to get married, and despite that being the one thing I wanted, I pushed her away. All because my fucking mom thought Mason wasn’t good enough for me.

All I wanted was for my family to not be ashamed of me. To not constantly compare me to Lucian. To admit that I had finally done enough to deserve their approval… at least, that’s what I thought I wanted until I actually convinced Mason to like me.

My grip tightened on the black handle to the point my knuckles turned white. Despite the protests from my muscles, I launched back into goblet squats with the weight. No matter how bad this hurt, nothing would ever compare with the searing pain in my chest.

For months, I had her wrapped around my finger. We talked every free moment we had, and I’d visit her as often as I could. I was her person. She wanted to spend every minute with me, and she even moved to America to be with me. And I pushed her away.

I always thought that regret regarding relationships was limited to those that ended. Mason and I were still dating, but I had been dethroned as first in her heart.

My legs started to shake as I forced myself to complete another rep. Unfortunately, my body won the war of making me stop. The second I went to squat back down, my legs quit, causing me to fall on my ass.

Thankfully, the kettlebell fell between my legs and didn’t crush my testicles. But the loud thud it produced caused everyone’s eyes to shift to me. My chest stung as I heaved in a shaky breath. I couldn’t fight the one lone tear that escaped me, but I hoped the sweat pouring from my skin was enough to hide it.

This washumiliating, a fact only made worse when I heard someone call my name.

I turned over my shoulder to see Sophia standing behind me. She wore an aqua-colored sports bra with leggings to match. The spandex fabric clung to her ample figure, leaving nothing to the imagination.

“You just fell, are you hurt?” she asked.

My mouth ran dry as she struggled to move the kettlebell. But after a moment and a few less-than-lady-like sounds, the weight was away from me, and Sophia knelt in its spot.

“Oh my gosh, you aredamp.” she exclaimed, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

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