“I know.”
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel, that familiar heaviness settling in his chest and spreading down into his gut.You have to tell her...
But he couldn’t.Not right now, not with everything else going on.He needed to wait until things calmed down and Willow wasn’t in any more danger.
It also couldn’t happen while she was staying here.Because if she ended up leaving, he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe.There was no way he would let that happen.
“Anything from your dad?”she asked, thankfully changing the subject.“Rufus is still behaving himself?”
“No news is good news.”After what they’d uncovered so far.
“I can’t wait to see him.I feel like an anxious mom.”
He smiled.“He’s definitely your baby.That is one lucky dog, and he adores you.”Tripp could relate.
She was quiet a moment.“My mom said the last of my stuff finally arrived from New York.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes.I don’t even know if I’ll even keep any of it.Just glad that part of my life is finally all finished and I don’t have to have contact with my ex ever again.”
“Why’d you guys break up?”He asked before he could stop himself.“If you don’t mind me asking.”
“No, I don’t mind, it doesn’t upset me anymore.Just makes me sad that I wasted so much time on a relationship that had died at least a year before it finally ended.”
She’d stayed for a year in a dead relationship where she didn’t feel loved?Jesus, he hated thinking about it.She deserved so much better.Deserved to be happy, and to be with someone who loved and appreciated her.
Like him.
He waited, hoping she would keep talking.To distract him from his feelings and thoughts as much as to relieve his curiosity about the dipshit she’d finally dumped.
“The short answer is, we fell out of love with each other.Him first.Which I still find incredibly ironic, since he came on hard and fast in the beginning to win me over.”
“In what way?”
“He love bombed me for months when we first got together.Big romantic gestures, constantly showering me with attention and compliments.What woman wouldn’t love that, right?I didn’t realize back then that it was a big red flag.But then...I dunno, he gradually got bored and lost interest in me.”
Tripp couldn’t imagine it.Bored with Willow?You gotta be fucking kidding.He’d give anything for her to love him back.For the chance to share his life with her.Be there for her.Make her feel secure and valued.Loved.
Anything but tell her the truth, right?
“He wasn’t interested in what I was doing at work or for hobbies.Wasn’t interested in what I thought.What I felt.He didn’t find my sense of humor funny anymore.Didn’t much seem to like anything about me toward the end to be honest.We were living like roommates for that last year.And somewhere along the line, I decided I didn’t like him much anymore either.”
What a fucking loser.How could he have treated her like that?“He didn’t deserve you.”Obviously didn’t appreciate how amazing, kind, and talented she was.“I’m glad you realized that.”
She gave him a soft smile that made his heart squeeze.“Thanks.That’s sweet.”
“It’s the truth.”If she were his, he would treasure her.Worship her, in bed and out.
Which made the looming problem of what he had to tell her that much harder.
He parked in front of the house and got out as his dad appeared on the front porch with Rufus, who was wagging his tail.“Hi, guys.”
“Was he good?”Willow asked.
“He was a very good boy.Weren’t you, Rufus?”He petted the dog’s head.“A bit skittish for the first couple hours, then decided I wasn’t so bad.And he loved his walk.”
“Thank you so much for watching him.”She hurried up the porch steps to kneel down and greet the dog, getting a wet kiss on her nose.
