Page 66 of Second Chance Ex
She looks up at me again, her eyes a little less clouded with sleep. She shakes her head, but her voice is small and telling when she mutters, “Nothing.”
“Prue?” I press.
Her gaze dips from my eyes down to my lips, then averts all the way down to my shoes and stays there, like she can’t bear to even look at me. But I’m not going anywhere. She’s going to have to slam the door in my face, but even then, I’m more than twice her size, so good luck with that, baby.
“I know about Maddy…” I say after a moment, my words gentle and reluctant.
She snaps her head up then, her eyes wide as they bore into mine. And I see a flicker of anger flash deep within the inky depths of her gaze. And no, I don’t like hurting her, but man I love seeing that she still has a little fight left in her.
“You wanna know what happened yesterday, Joey?” She arches a brow, her eyes darkening. “I realized that you and I canneverbe together.”
Okay, I wasn’t expecting her to be quite so bluntly forthcoming, yet here we are. I take a step closer, knowing that right now, despite her hurt, anger and pain, she needs to be held. “Baby?—”
“No!” She pushes me hard in my chest with all her might. I don’t budge, but I do respect her space and take a step back. “You can’t call me that anymore. I’m not your baby. I’m never going to be your baby again, Joey.”
My gaze bounces between her eyes. She’s so fired up. Frankly, I can’t remember a time I’ve ever seen her like this.
“What we had is broken. And it’s still broken. It’ll always be fucking broken.” She scoffs derisively. “A broken vase can be glued back together, but guess what? In the end, it’s still broken. I can’t keep pretending with you, because we can never get back to what we were. And it’s stupid to think we can when there’s such a pivotal part of us that’s missing. Glue won’t fix me, Joey. Not even temporarily.”
I shake my head at her words, because I don’t agree with what she’s saying. “You’re wrong, Prue. Yeah, we ended because shit fell apart. But we never oncestopped loving each other. It wasn’t our love that was broken. And I still love you. And you still love me. And you’re fucking lying if you say otherwise.”
She presses her lips together between her teeth, tears gleaming in her eyes.
“Look at me right now, Prue,” I demand. “Look me in my eyes and tell me you don’t love me. And I will walk away. It’ll hurt like fucking hell, but I willwalk away.”
Prue hesitates before meeting my eyes, staring at me for a long moment, saying nothing, just staring. And I can see the truth in her gaze. Just as I suspected.
I soften, ducking down a little to look deep into her eyes. “I know you’re still hurting after what happened,” I whisper, my own emotion getting the better of me, tears burning the backs of my eyes. “I am too, baby. I still hurt, every goddamn day. And I’m probably gonna hurt for the rest of my life, but it’s you, you’re the only thing in my life that eases that pain, Prue. My life is shit without you in it. You make everything better. And I need you. Ineedyou, and I know you need me too, and that’s okay. It’s okay to need each other.”Please, baby. Please don’t give up on me, on us.
Prue’s chin dips to her chest, and I know she’s just trying to hide her tears, swiping at them with the yellow cuff of her pajama shirt. And all I want is to wrap my arms around her, never let her go. But I don’t. I wait.
“Joey, I know you love me and yes, I do love you, more than anything.” She looks up at me then, her eyes heartbreakingly red-rimmed, bloodshot and racked with agony. “But I can’t?—”
I go to object, but she cuts me off the moment I open my mouth.
“I can’t be the woman you need. The woman any man needs. I’m broken. And I can never be repaired. I’m never going to get better, or be fixed, and I hate that.” She sniffles, a small sob escaping her that she covers with her hand. “And I just don’t want to wake up in ten years, and see the look of disappointment in your eyes that I couldn’t give you the one thing a woman should be able to give the man she loves.”
“No, Prue!” This time I do wrap my arms around her because no. What she’s saying is bullshit. She’s in her head again, and I need to save her from those dark thoughts. I press my lips to the top of her head. “Don’t say that, baby. Don’t. You are perfect. All I want is you. All I’ve ever wanted is you.Please.”
Despite my broken pleas, despite how tight I hold on to her, despite my own tears and sobs, Prue shakes her head, shrugging out of my arms. And again, she pushes me in my chest. Angry, and inconsolable, and broken, and everything in between. She pushes me again and again, punching me and slapping me. And I stand there and take it. I’ll take all she wants to give me because at least it means she’s feeling something.
“Just leave, Joey!” she cries, pushing me again, this time causing me to stagger back a step. “Leave! Get out of my life. Just go!”
I sniffle back my own tears, my emotion shuddering through me, and I hold my hands up in surrender, taking another step back, watching helplessly as Prue collapses against the doorframe and slides down, landing in a heap on the floor right there in the entry.
“Just go,” she says through a racking sob.
The last thing I want to do is go when she’s literally in a heap of broken pieces on the floor, but I need to go because it’s what she wants. So, with one last look at my girl—because no matter what, she will always bemygirl—I turn and leave.
Ican’t stop grinning as I drive through the pristine streets of one of the most exclusive estates in Granite Bay, past the sprawling houses hidden behind big gates and mature trees.
“Where are we?” Prue asks, eyes glancing furtively out both sides of the truck. “I thought the clinic was in town.”
“It is.” I bite back my smile, reaching over the center console to grab hold of her hand. I bring it to my leg, resting it over my thigh, intertwining my fingers through hers. “I just wanted to show you something.”
Prue looks at me, and despite her curious smile, she doesn’t ask anything.
I’ve been lucky enough to have her here in town for the weekend. She came to the game yesterday, sat up in the box with some of the other girlfriends and wives. We went out for dinner afterwards. And she’s staying an extra few days before going backto school so we can get our first ultrasound. She’s approximately eleven and a half weeks, and our doctor said we should be able to find out the sex today, so long as the baby cooperates. We’ve organized a small dinner with our closest friends at Prue’s folks’ house down in Rosewood tonight to let everyone know our big news.
