Page 141 of The One for Me
“She left, and that was her choice.” She asked me to accept her decision, and that’s what I’m doing.
“It’s not as if you don’t know where she’s going.”
“So what? You want me to show up there and beg her. I have some fucking pride.” Something comes flying at my head, but I’m quick enough to bat it down. “What the fuck?”
“You need something to hit you upside the head, you fucking dumb shit.”
“This isn’t my fault.”
“Maybe not,” Jacob agrees. “I still think you’re both idiots. You love her. She loves you. She’s got a kid who loves you, and I’m pretty sure you love that kid. So, what’s the damn problem? Marry the girl.”
Oh, the kicker in that statement. “I told her I wanted to! She left anyway! You just watched her go. Do you not think I’m dying inside? I love her more than anything, and she left.”
“You told her you wanted to marry her?”
I glare at my shit-for-brains brother. “You were supposed to be the smart one.”
“Okay, asshole, let me rephrase that. Did you ask her to marry you or just let her in on the fact that it’s something you wanted to have happen?”
“I told her.”
“Not the same. I thought you were supposed to be the sweet brother with all the moves? Turns out, I got that trait.”
I roll my eyes and huff. “Jacob, I’m usually able to handle this, but today . . . I’m done.”
“Listen, I’m not trying to give you shit, I’m saying that it’s a very different thing to tell a girl you want to marry her and asking her to marry you.”
I don’t know how he thinks I would ask her that when it was clear what her answer would be.
“That would make me an idiot if I asked.”
“What the hell does that even mean? You’re an idiot now!”
“She didn’t want to marry me. Devney made up her mind once she got custody of Austin. We both knew how this was going to end. Sure, I wanted to think there was a chance I could sway her, but there wasn’t. I was a fool to think I should ask it of her, and I have no right to push her.”
In some ways, I don’t blame her. She’s in new territory and needs the support. I would be gone a lot, but I would’ve done what I could.
“You know? I think she’s right,” I tell Jacob with the defeat in my voice.
“What?”
“She was smart to walk away. All I can give her is a beautiful home without me in it. I’d be gone all the time, and she’d be in Tampa, raising Austin alone. It was never going to work. No matter how much we both wish it would’ve, we were starting at a disadvantage.”
Jacob is quiet for a minute, assessing me. “Something tells me that not even you believe that line of bullshit.”
“Spring training starts soon, and I have to start preparation for it. We’d have a few months, if that, before I was gone all the time. It’s better this way.”
“Yeah, totally better,” Jacob agrees. “I mean, why the hell would you want to take her down there? I see what you mean about breaking up now being better. It’s smart, man. Let her go. You know, I’ll be here for the next six months, I’ll take care of her.”
I shift, ready to pounce, but the asshole is grinning. “Fuck you.”
“Yeah, well, wake up, Sean. You’re a fool if you think this is the right move. I’ve always been on your side. You are who helped me through all the crap after the accident, and I owe you, so here’s me paying it back. Go get her. Marry her. Sit on her front step until she lets you in. Camp there if that’s what it takes. If you love her, figure it the fuck out. No one in this world knows you like Devney Maxwell, and she’s the one for you.”
“I know that.”
In every fiber of my being, I know she’s the only girl I’ll ever love. It doesn’t matter who I might meet down the line, they’ll pale in comparison. It would be cruel of me to even try, so I’ll stay the way I’ve always been. No other woman will ever touch my heart, they can’t anyway because she took it with her.
“Then stop this shit.”
