Page 67 of End Game
“Of course I care,” he draws, his brows pulling together. “I’m not a complete asshole, Layla.”
I give him a look, one that questions that statement, and he absorbs it completely. His shoulder leans against the wall and he scoops up a deep, weighted breath. “I’m trying to do what’s right here.”
“I don’t want you to dowhat’s right. I don’t want you coming all the way down here, which, by the way, was totally unnecessary, and asking me how I am like I’m some kind of rabid monkey. I’m a grown woman, Branch. I’m intelligent. I’m capable. I can handle all of this and Iwillhandle all of this. If it’s too much for you to deal with, I get it. I’m not asking you to.”
I fight the wetness welling up in my eyes, determined to not let him see me cry. He sees the break and starts to move off the doorframe but stops when I take a step back.
“This whole thing just threw me for a loop,” he says. “I just, uh, I need you to have a little patience.”
“Oh, because this is about you, right?” I scoff, turning my back to him.
The need for a hug overwhelms me, the need for someone to tell me this is going to be okay. I don’t even try to dismiss the part of my brain that screams for him to come to me and just be here, tell me he’ll be here, because it’s too loud to ignore.
As the tears I’ve been struggling to keep at bay begin their journey down my cheeks, I let myself just feel the emotions as they come my way. My back vibrates as the tears fall harder and despite knowing he’s in the same room as me, I still feel so alone.
“Can I get you something?” he asks quietly. “A drink or a towel or something?”
“No,” I sniffle, sucking up snot that’s dripped to my lip.
“Look, Layla, I’m trying to figure out what to do. I’m not . . . this kind of a guy.”
I spin around to face him with my puppy eyes and dark circles and tear-stained cheeks. If I weren’t going to get as big as a house in the next nine months and have chipmunk cheeks and an even rounder ass, I’d be embarrassed for him to see me like this. But now? It’s the least of my worries.
“Bet you’re regretting all of this, huh?” I ask, sniffling again.
He looks at the ceiling and sighs. “I had one of the best weekends of my life. It’s almost comical how many times I’ve thought about how easy it was to be with you and how much we laughed and how . . . how I could just put my guard down. Guess I put it down a little too far, huh?”
“Well, you know I was just waiting for it to drop far enough so I could trick you into having a baby.” I stop myself. “I mean, it might not even be yours, so we should really watch how we say this, huh?”
“Layla . . .”
His words from last night, the disdain on his face when I told him the news, propel into me. When I look at him again, I don’t see the handsome, sexy guy I hoped to see again. I see the guy who thinks the worst of me.
“Your five minutes are up,” I say, willing my bottom lip not to tremble.
“We haven’t worked anything out.”
“You can have your attorney send me a?—”
“Layla. Stop,” he pleads.
“I want you to leave. I need to be alone,” I lie, needing the opposite so much more. “I have a lot to figure out, and I came up here to do that, and I can’t do it with you looking at me accusingly.”
“I need you to cut me some slack.”
“Cutyousome slack?” I almost shout. “You act like I’m repulsive for having the nerve to get pregnant by you. You do realize I didn’t choose this, right? You do realize this wouldn’tbemy choice, right? Because as amazing as you think you are and as good of a time as we had together, if I had known this is the man you really are, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near you.”
I breeze by him and tug the door open. The fire in my eyes must shock him because he steps slowly to the front door. “Get out, Branch.”
He stops inches away from me and squares his broad, thick shoulders to mine. There’s a defiance in his narrowed gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ve said that a couple of times.”
“I mean it.”
I put my hand on my hip and smile. “What are you sorry for?”
There’s no response, just a look that probably gets him out of most things he doesn’t want to say or do in his life.
