“Then why do I feel like I’m fighting another woman for basic respect in my own relationship?” I backed away from him, my chest heaving with sobs. “I shouldn’t have to compete for space in my own relationship.”
I turned and ran for the door, ignoring his desperate calls behind me. The second I got outside, the tears came harder. I got into my car and drove away from his house as fast as I could. But I only made it a mile before I had to pull over. My vision was completely blurred. I parked on a quiet side street, turned off the engine, and let the full weight of what had just happened crash over me.
I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel and cried. When I finally lifted my hand to brush the tears from my face, my ring finger felt unbearably light. The future I had planned with Reid was gone.
And I had no idea how I was supposed to put myself back together.
6
REID
Istood frozen in the open doorway while my brain refused to catch up with what had just happened. For several long seconds, I couldn’t move, then panic hit me, and I bolted out the door.
“Lila!” I shouted, running down the front steps.
I’d kicked my shoes off when I got home, and the yard was wet, but I didn’t care that my socks were getting drenched as I raced toward the street.
Lila had used my hesitation to her advantage. She’d already backed out of my driveway and was three houses down. There was no way I’d catch her on foot, so I sprinted toward the garage, frantically punching the code into the panel to get the door to open.
I threw myself into the car, started the engine, and backed out too fast, the tires squealing against the concrete. By the time I reached the street, her car was nowhere in sight. The road stretched empty in both directions under the streetlights.
“No, no, no,” I groaned, slamming my fist against the steering wheel.
I was gripping the ring so tightly that the setting for the diamond had pressed deep marks into my palm. The realization unsettled me because it should’ve still been where it belonged—on Lila’s finger.
Instead, I sat there in the middle of the quiet street, my car engine running, staring at the empty road where she had disappeared while her ring cut into my skin. My fingers refused to loosen their grip, but staying here wasn’t helping the situation at all.
Forcing myself to turn the wheel, I did a U-turn and drove back into my garage. Cutting the engine, I shut the garage door before I climbed out of my car. A couple of my neighbors had been in front of their houses, but there was only one person I wanted to see right now—Lila.
Walking back inside the house, I heaved a deep sigh when I realized the front door was still wide open. I slammed it closed, and the silence hit me immediately. Although Lila didn’t live here with me yet, my home felt wrong without her in it.
There were reminders of her all around the place. Her soft cream throw blanket was draped over the arm of the couch. One of her black hair ties sat on the edge of the coffee table. If I went upstairs to the primary suite, I would find her slippers tucked under the side of the bed she liked to sleep on. In the kitchen, a half-empty bottle of her favorite Pinot Noir was on the counter.
Everywhere I looked, small pieces of her were woven into my home. And I hadn’t realized I relied on them so much until it suddenly felt like they might disappear for good.
I sank down onto the couch and stared at the blank television screen, trying to make sense of how everything had unraveled so fast.
Lila knew I loved her. I told her all the time and showed her in every way I knew how. So why had this hurt her so badly that she had to end everything?
My phone felt as though it carried extra weight in my hand as I started texting.
Me
Baby, please answer.
I waited a full minute, staring at the screen, willing those three dots to appear. But there was no response.
Me
Can we talk?
I stared at the screen, desperate for her to reply.
Me
Please.
The panic in my chest grew with every silent second.
