Page 126 of Unspoken Words
“Yeah, you are.” I stood up and tracked Max’s whereabouts on the playground, spotting him under the slide. He was pretending to shoot with his Iron Man arm.
“How exactly is me wanting us to be family causing shit?”
“Because we already are a family. You’re my son’s mum, and I’m your son’s dad. We share Max, and that’s a family.” I ran my hand through my hair and looked down at her. “But it’s the only family we’ll ever be. Nothing more than that.”
“Yeah, because of Ellie fucking Mitchell.” She leaned back on her hands, her legs out straight, white jeans on the grass.
“Yes, because of Ellie. She owns my heart. Always has, always will.” I shook my head, annoyed. “But you already know this. You’ve always known it.”
Lilah tilted her head and looked to the sky. She closed her eyes, her long lashes fanning her cheekbones. “Maybe I do. But when Max came along, it was supposed to be different.Hewas supposed to own your heart instead. And me,” she opened her eyes, “I was supposed to own a piece of it too.”
I swallowed, my throat dry. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her or get into a fight, but we’d had this discussion before, a few times, and I suspected we were having it again because she felt like causing shit for the sake of causing shit. It was what she did—textbook Lilah—and I’d had enough. It needed to stop once and for all.
“Max and Ellie own my heart, but you never will. No matter what you do or say, that won’t change. Ever.”
She glared at me for the smallest of seconds then looked straight ahead, her jaw clicking from side to side.
“Wow, Connor, that’s—”
“But,” I said, interrupting her, “what you can and are entitled to own is my respect, and my friendship, if that’s what you want. But for that to happen, the bullshit stops here. No more games. No more agendas.”
She didn’t say anything, so I scanned the playground for Max again while she deliberated what I’d said. An older kid ran past him and knocked him over, and my heart jumped into my throat. I took a few steps, ready to race over there, but he jumped back up and brushed his cast down, firing it like a laser in the kid’s direction.
I smiled, my pulse calming, and turned back to Lilah. She’d moved onto her knees and was packing up our pizza boxes.
Sighing, I squatted down beside her to help. “You have so much to offer, you always have. You’re smart, beautiful, and severely dedicated—”
She scoffed.
“Youare. But for some reason I can’t figure out, you sabotage your own happiness, and you fuck with mine.”
She paused and looked at me, her dark eyes glassy. “I don’t mean to fuck with your happiness, Connor.”
“Yeah, well you have, and you do. And you’re trying to do it again.”
She blinked but didn’t say anything.
“I’m not gonna let it happen anymore. Enough is enough.”
“So does this mean you and Ellie are a thing again?”
I ripped some grass from the ground and tossed it aside. “No, but we’re gonna be. It’s only a matter of time.”
She stood up, pizza boxes in hand. “I suppose I should say congratulations then.”
“If I thought for one second you truly meant that, I’d say thank you.” I stood up beside her and took the boxes. She was acting like a child, and I didn’t fucking get it. “Why are you so bitter?”
“Because girls like Eloise Mitchell got everything in life,” she hissed. “The happy family. Good grades. A doting boyfriend. She was Little Miss Goody Two-shoes, and she had it all.”
“Yeah,had.Ellie didn’t get everything in life. You saw to that.”
“So did you. Last time I checked, I didn’t get myself pregnant.”
I sucked in a breath and let it out, trying to keep my shit calm. “I’m not saying you did. Clearly, I helped with that. The difference is you deliberately tried to destroy her life. I didn’t. And what’s worse is you’re still trying to destroy it now. Four years on. What the fuck, Lilah? Grow up. Move on. Be happy.” I waved at Max to come back over. I’d had enough and wanted to leave. “But what pisses me off the most is that you’re better than this immature, vindictive shit you pull.”
She spat out a laugh. “Am I?”
“Yeah, you are. I know you are, and so do you. But if you won’t be a better person for yourself, be better for Max. Set a good fucking example. He deserves it.”
