Page 89 of Surviving Lies

The power of those words had my face in my hands to cover up the emotion. And at that exact moment, I heard movement on the couch from both of them. Lanie was by my side, on the floor by my feet, her arms around me. And Xander stood above, looming. I peeked up and saw an unexpected but sincere look on his face.

“Hey, man,” he said. “That’s good to hear.” His smile was genuine. “If that’s true, I have to believe this can work out.” His eyes bounced from me to Lanie, looking for the answer.

“You do know this is Becca Reynolds we’re talking about, right?” I offered, my frustration with myself coming through. “She won’t even answer a call or a text. There’s no way she’ll consider seeing me to hear me out.” I abruptly stood and started pacing around the room. “What the fuck am I gonna do?”

“Tell me the whole story, Ty. Who’s the mother? When did this happen?” Lanie asked.

So I told them.

“Ty,” Lanie said as I walked toward the front door, “I’ll talk to her. I’m confident I can get her to talk to you. The rest will be up to you. But I think if we can get her to hear you out, you guys will have a chance. She might need some time, though.”

Xander walked beside her, both of them being more than supportive about everything. I wasn’t expecting any of this. I was walking away with a positive outlook and a smile on my face after talking to them both.

“Yeah, if she gives you the time to tell her what you told us, she might come around. And hey, congratulations on being a dad, man. You sound like you’re a good one, too. Good job. It’s not easy being a good father.”

I stopped at the front door and turned to both of them. Two people whose fathers had failed them. His father: a low-life, abusive man now in jail for his wrongdoings. Her father: a coward who allowed horrible things to happen to his daughter. Yet Xander and Lanie were two of the strongest, most giving people I knew. It was a testament to their character. I also thought they were examples of people who were determined to not be like their fathers.

Lanie reached up and hugged me, my hug back tight because I was so thankful for how they’d helped me. When she finally let go, Xander’s hand gripped mine and the bro hug followed. He held on for a second longer than I expected, which felt nice.

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure about coming over today, but I’m glad I did.” I started down the path to my car as I continued talking to Lanie. “You’ll let me know once you’ve talked to her?”

“I will,” she said.

Nodding, I got in my car.

Driving away, I felt better than I had in months. I put the music on loud. I rolled the window down. And I felt like life just might be on the right track once again.

Chapter 26

Becca

Jesus Christ. I couldn’t believe that sick motherfucker got out of jail. Last year, Max ruined his fair share of nights for Lanie and I. Last night, he did it again. She and Xander freaked out, and Xander raced to our apartment to scoop her away. She was going to be living with him now. I mean, I get it, Xander’s a bit paranoid when it comes to Max. But Max is under house arrest. The guy is wearing an ankle monitor, so he won’t be able to get anywhere near Lanie. I was feeling like the moving out into Xander’s room was a bit overkill.

I lost my roommate.

And during all of that, Mr. Shithead was fucking outside stalking me. He had the audacity to be sitting in his car, just watching my apartment. Did he really think I would talk to him if I saw him?

But of course, my heart fucking betrayed me when I did see him. It hurt. Bad. Like, ached for him. I wanted to run to him in his car when I saw Xander about to punch him in the face. I wanted to make sure he was OK. Then I wanted to yell and scream at him. And punch him myself. When our eyes connected, I still felt our connection. I felt the pull between us, begging me to go to him, to fall back into his arms. To forgive and forget so we could go back to the way things were.

But things will never be the same, ever again.

He has a child with another woman.

That he never told me about.

How does one get over that?

Ava and Macie were gone by the time I woke up. And with Lanie now living at Xander’s, there was no one to help keep me from going crazy.

Of course, I did what any insane young college girl would do at a time like this.

I texted the long-term booty call guy who’s also been a douche lately. But he was good for one thing: mindless sex to distract me.

Me:

Hey can we get together today

The three dots popped up immediately.

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