She kissed my temple. “Try to calm down enough so I don’t have to worry about you driving at least. And text me tonight, even if you don’t feel like talking, so I know you’re okay.”
I dropped my head to her arm for a second to give myself a chance to inhale the tears back in. “I will,” I said when I looked up again. “I’m sorry, Leah. Thank you both for dinner.”
“Don’t be.” Leah came over to us, the same pull of sadness across her features as she met my eyes. “I think Morgan is right. There’s an explanation.”
I nodded and opened the door, rushing to my car and sucking in a few deep breaths before I drove off.
There was an explanation for it all. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.
THIRTY-ONE
TYLER
Isent the rest of the staff home for the night and took my time setting up for the morning, grateful for the silence. A meeting with my accountant this morning to go over my year-to-date financials had indicated the bakery was showing a strong and steady rise in profitability over the past months. I wasn’t sold on it being permanent yet, but all things were moving in the right direction, and with the social media help Olivia gave me, it seemed to be holding on.
Despite my grumbling, I’d finally spoken to the landlord about leasing the space next door. According to my accountant, it was doable. I’d been afraid to spend too much on marketing because I wasn’t sure I could handle the influx of traffic, but with a new space, we could spread out and staff up to meet any increased demand. It felt like the right move, just a scary-as-hell one.
Olivia was with Morgan tonight and I didn’t want to bother her, but she was the only one I wanted to talk to about this. Since I’d opened, recognizing any type of success had been difficult for me. My parents supported me and had a vague idea of what it took to run a bakery but never knew or understood every detail of my hopes and fears. But Olivia was that perfect mix of a cheerleader, mentor, and love of my life.
I was so in love with her that I could barely see straight lately, but my cowardly ass still couldn’t tell her.
A loud tapping on the back door pulled me out of my tortured musings. I jogged over to answer and found Olivia. Her red, swollen eyes narrowed to slits and set off a terrifying panic.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?” I pulled her inside and shut the door. “Is it the baby? Talk to me,” I begged as I clutched her shoulders.
She didn’t answer as she dug in her bag and pulled out her phone, shoving it in my face.
My jaw dropped when I saw the dopey profile Eli had set up for me on that damn dating app on her screen.
“Explain this to me. And before you ask why I have this, I opened an account for a friend years ago to help spy on her boyfriend and kept it because I like laughing at it. Morgan needed to look at it for a story, and wouldn’t you know, you’re aneligible manwho lives in my area. Who was just active last week.” Her words were clipped and quick, murder in her eyes as she glowered at me.
“Okay,” I started and held my hands up. “First of all, I need you to calm down. I haveneverbeen active on that app. Eli convinced me to join after I spent the night with you and didn’t know what the hell to do with myself since we didn’t talk for weeks after. I never messaged anyone or responded when they messaged me. Since the article and all the publicity, I keep getting notifications and every time I try to delete the damn thing, something distracts me.”
I rested my hand on the counter, my own rage now surging in my chest. “When exactly would I find the time to date? If I’m not here, I’m with you. After all this time, you just assumed the worst?”
The white-hot anger in her features faded and her shoulders slumped.
“Haven’t I done everything I’m supposed to do?”
She flinched, her eyes wide as if I’d gut-punched her in the stomach. “Supposedto do? My God, I was right.”
She turned away, her shoulders shaking for a moment before she came back around with fat tears streaming down her cheeks. “I believe you. I’ve been with you enough that I could safely assume you aren’t dating anyone.” She stepped up to me, her round stomach pressed up between us. “I love you, Tyler. I’ve loved you for probably my whole life, even when I was too young to understand it. I tortured you because I wanted your attention so much that even if it was bad, I craved it like some kind of drug. Pathetic, isn’t it?”
“Olivia, don’t. Come on, let’s talk—”
She swatted my hand away when I tried to cup her cheek.
“Then we grew up, and I made you hate me. But you hating me was better than having you reject me.” A humorless laugh slipped out of her and made my blood run cold. “And I was fine with it for the most part because I still had your attention regardless. Yes, I always knew you were attracted to me. But you don’t have to like who you’re attracted to, right? Or like them to have sex with them? Maybe we confused that over the past few months.”
“What?” I yelled, a different kind of panic rushing through me. Olivia never gave up on me. Even when it was to argue with me, she was never far or out of my reach. All she was saying now sounded too much like a goodbye speech, and I couldn’t handle that.
“How could you think that? None of that is true. If you could just listen—”
“Look, we can be parents together. I’d never keep you and the baby apart. Good dads are important, and I know you’ll be a great one. But this?” She motioned between us with her finger. “I can’t do this anymore. I thought by doing one favor for you, showing you that I wasn’t the raging bitch you always thought that I was, maybe it would make up for the awful way I’d always acted toward you, and maybe you’d eventually like me a little or we could be friends. I never expected to have the greatest night of my life, or…” She glanced at her stomach. “I don’t want you to think being with me is something that you’re supposed to do out of a silly obligation. I have no regrets. I just need all of you, and I’ll never have that. It’s about time that I acted like a big girl and accepted it.”
“Olivia, no!” My voice cracked as I reached for her again. “You have it all wrong. So, so wrong.” I dragged a hand down my face. It was the greatest night of my life too, for so many reasons. But I’d waited too long to tell her. “Please just let me—”
I groaned at another knock at the door, not wanting to move an inch as I held Olivia’s teary gaze. She nodded with her chin toward the door, and I kept my eyes on her as I trudged over to open it.
