I shake my head. “No. You can’t either?”
She sighs and rubs her stomach. “Baby is squirming a lot. Can’t seem to get comfortable, so mommy can’t be comfortable either I guess.”
“That sucks,” I reply, but the pang in my chest I’m feeling goes a lot deeper than my words. What if I don’t get to have that now? A kid of my own - a cousin for Rosie’s baby? I only ever imagined a future like that with Rylee.
She pats the cushion next to her and I sit. We watch the movie in silence for several minutes, but I know my sister better than to think she’s going to keep her thoughts to herself for long.
“So… you want to talk about it?” she asks at last.
“Talk about what?” I feign ignorance.
“Rylee.” She looks over at me. “The whole family has been dancing around the topic, but we can see how miserable you are.”
“You saw the article,” I grumble.
“Yeah, and I also saw the retraction.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t change that she wrote what she did. Even if she didn’t mean to publish it, and even if it got edited, those thoughts still originally came from her.”
She scoffs. “Is that really what’s going on? Admit it. You miss her. A lot.”
I don’t want to admit that she’s right, but I know it’s no use. My sisters have always been able to see right through me.
“Sure, I miss her,” I confess. “I thought she was it for me, but now I’m not so sure.”
Rosie reaches over and takes my hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Zander, I know how badly you’ve always wanted a family. You’ve seen Lauren, Paige, and I in our relationships, and of course Mom and Dad. You’ve learned to be a caretaker, and you’re a good man, and I know you’ll be a great husband and father someday, but that all takes work!”
I’m taken aback by her sudden switch in tone.
"You think I don't know that? I've put in the work. I fought to win her. To not lose her when I messed up."
"You did. But then you stopped."
I look at her in shock
"What? Did you think once the relationship was solidified that it would be easy?"
“What are you talking about?” I demand to know. “All you guys have seemingly picture-perfect relationships.”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you honestly think that I don’t mess up? That I don’t make mistakes? That sometimes Kyle needs to fight for me more than I fight for him, or vice-versa?” Her voice grows firmer as she speaks. “It takes work on both sides, and you might feel like you’ve been doing it all and deserve more from her, but it’s obvious that’s exactly what she’s doing. But you still have to meet her the rest of the way there.”
I run a hand through my hair and shake my head. “I don’t know, Rosie. It might be too late.”
She lets out a frustrated huff of breath. “Do you know how lucky you are to have found the love you have with Rylee? It’s not one that comes around all that often. If you love Rylee, you need to give her the chance to prove she loves you back and give her a second chance. We all know you’ll regret it if you don’t.”
Damn… she sees right through me.
And, honestly, she’s right. I know she’s right. Rylee is putting in the work. She’s facing her issues and taking care of things. Hell, she’s in fucking Ireland! Hanging with her Dad! That’s a big fucking deal.
Still, she needs to be the one to fix this. If she wants to be with me, I need her to show me.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell Rosie, just to make her feel better. “I just need time.”
She gives me a long look before nodding. “Okay, that’s fair, but don’t think for too long. Eventually she’ll come to the realization that it’s time to move on and you’ll be too late.”
Rosie rests her head on my shoulder and we sit in silence as we watch her movie, but I’m notreally paying attention. I’m thinking of Rylee and figuring out if there’s still a way to make things right between us.
