“So, tell me.”
I turn my body and fold my knees so I’m curled on the couch, facing her. “He saw her.”
“Obviously.” She rolls her eyes. “I saw him walk out. What did he say?”
It’s not what he said that has my mind reeling. It’s how he looked.
It was easier to picture Liam choosing football over us than to picture him looking at me in disgust. I could see it on his face, the moment it clicked for him. It was in the way his jawlocked, the way his hands dragged through his hair. It wasn’t indifference. It was loss. Two years of it.
“Well … he was genuinely shocked.” I rub my thumb along the rim of the glass. “I’ve replayed that conversation a hundred times in my head, and it was genuine hurt. And he looked … ” I hesitate, searching for the right word. “He looked like someone had just told him he’d missed the most important game of his life. He got really angry when I told him that Aaron had told me he wanted nothing to do with the baby or me, and that football was more important.”
“I knew it … ” she mumbles.
“What did you know?”
She shakes her head. “I just had a gut feeling that Aaron wasn’t being completely honest with you about reaching Liam.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Alie, you didn’t want to hear it, and I get it. At the time, you were totally overwhelmed by the idea of having a baby, and I think it was easier for you to think Liam was the bad guy rather than considering the possibility that Aaron wasn’t telling you the truth.”
She’s not wrong. I was on a roller coaster of highs and lows in the beginning of my pregnancy. Aaron was my ally and best friend. I wouldn’t have thought—and still can’t imagine why—he would lie to me about this.
But I think … he actually might have.
“Well, now I feel horrible. Like I want to crawl into a hole. I feel confused. I feel nervous about what this means for Seraphina.”
She nods. “Understandable. This is a lot.”
“You should have seen him when he asked me if she was his.” I put my hand on my heart. “I think it broke something in me. He looked shattered. And that’s why I think he’s telling me the truth. You can’t fake raw emotion like that.”
“Not unless you’re an amazing actor, which he isn’t. He can’t even look at you across the room without it being obvious he wants you.”
“I don’t think he’ll want anything to do withmeafter today. And I have no idea what he wants with Sera.”
I start to cry again—exhausted tears like they’ve been waiting years to fall.
Presley scoots closer to me and takes my glass from my hand and sets it on the table, then wraps me in a hug.
“You should have been the one to tell him,” she whispers.
“I know.”
“I understand why you didn’t at the time. You were fresh out of college, scared, and you thought he was a player with another baby on the way with another woman. You were an emotional wreck, who was also worried about what your parents would say and if the media would find out and make a big deal about the Grants’ daughter having a love child. It was a rough pregnancy for you. You trusted your best friend when he said he would have your back. He promised to take care of the hard part for you, but the responsibility fell on you.” She lets me go, but stays close, resting her hand on my leg.
“Don’t you think I know that? God, Pres, you’re making me feel even worse.”
“You’re upset because I’m right. And I know you, and I know you’ll beat yourself up over this for a long time.”
I press the heel of my hand to my sternum, like I can physically hold the ache in place. “I’m scared that this can’t be fixed.”
“What can’t be fixed?”
“My mistake. I took away time with his daughter. She lost time with her father. He’ll never trust me, and it will affect his relationship with Seraphina. How does he get over this? He’s missed so much.”
“Is it just Seraphina you’re worried about?”
“Of course it is. I have to coparent with him. And I don’t want him to treat her differently because he resents me.”
