What’s so special about Angela that he chooses her over and over again over me?
Hot tears prickle my eyes, and I try my best not to cry. Never in my life have I cried so much as I have being pregnant with Buck. It’s ridiculous.
“Don’t cry, honey.” Rhett runs his palm over every inch of my skin he can touch. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not,” I lie.
“I know you better than anyone and I can tell when you’re crying.”
I hate that he knows every detail about me. The foods I love and hate. How I like my pillows situated. Which pants are my coziest. The shows I want to binge next.
“Why are you still planning on marrying her?” I ask in a tiny whisper. “I don’t understand.”
He’s silent for a long time, but not in an intimidating way like Dad. It’s as if he’s wondering the same thing. His palm has settled on my stomach again, stroking it reverently.
“You don’t even love her,” I accuse tearfully.
You loveme.
The thought comes out of nowhere but the second it enters my brain, I know it to be true. What’s frustrating is he can’t seem to see it. He’s still obsessed with his stupid perfect life.
Angela fits the mold.
I broke it.
“Honey,” he murmurs, like he might say more and confess what we both know to be true.
But the words never come.
“You should go. Your girlfriend wouldn’t like this.”
“Fuck off, Abby.”
I bark out a laugh. “Truth hurts.”
His mouth finds my ear and he whispers, “I’m trying to make sense of all this. Please don’t shut me out.”
“What’s there to figure out?”
You love me. I love you. We have a baby together.
Since he doesn’t answer my question, I do my best to fall back asleep which is difficult with him glued to me like he’s afraid I’ll vanish in his sleep. When I’m finally dozing off, I feel his lips press against mine.
“I don’t know anything except how happy I am when I’m here with you.”
The words are whispered and not meant for me to hear since he thinks I’m asleep, but I hear them anyway. Unfortunately, they’re not enough. They’re not a confession of love or that he’s going to leave my sister to be with me and Buck.
As his breaths even out, realization settles in the pit of my belly. I’m going to have to be the one to put up the walls. Rhett will go on to marry Angela and I’m only making things harder onhim. If I put an end to the sleepovers, the cuddling, the almost kisses, then maybe my heart can stop bleeding so damn much.
It’s going to hurt either way. Might as well choose the least painful.
Chapter 11
Rhett
My life makes zero sense these days. It’s as if someone took the really cool thing I designed, dropped it on the floor, and put it back together in a totally different way than before. It’s not worse, but it’s certainly not what I originally intended.
That’s the thing…
