“Um…”
As the seconds pile up, my stomach starts to twist, but I keep it pushed down.
“...I guess, about why I wanted to go to bed.”
I sigh in relief. “That’s not really a lie. You just didn’t tell me.”
“But I should have.”
“I’m sure you had your reasons.”
Tek gives a single, solemn nod, and it looks like the weight of the world is on his back.
I want to reach out to touch his face and tell him that, with me, he’ll never have to worry about anything ever again. But goodintentions don’t count for shit. Not when there's a broken man in front of you and you don’t know if you really do have what it takes to protect him.
“I should have told you about her.”
“There’s plenty you don’t know about me.”
“Have you ever had a partner die beside you?”
His words hit me like a stab in the heart. “No, I’m… I’m sorry.”
“The bastard killed her. Ran straight into the side of the car and smashed her skull in.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again, but there’s a fire in Tek, an anger bubbling inside him.
He kneels in front of me, and I fall back—my bent arms supporting me.
He grips the front of the tank top in his fist and clings to the back of the sofa with his other hand like he wishes he could strangle someone. But I know it’s not me. I did nothing wrong. I’m just a vessel. Somewhere for him to direct his pain.
“She was pregnant and I didn’t even know!”
His tears run.
The veins in his neck pulse.
“Do you have any idea what that feels like? To lose the person you’re in love with and your child in the one goddamn sentence?”
I don’t answer.
I know he doesn’t want me to.
“She was everything. My mother hated her, but it only made me love her more… And it was my fault. I killed her!” He pounds his chest. “I fucking killed the only person I’ve ever loved until…”
…me?
Tek’s eyes bulge.
His chin quivers.
I exhale like I’ve been punched in the chest.
It’s clear he’s just as shocked by his slip up as I am.
Almost frantically he licks his lips, his eyes darting down to my right hand.
I quickly glance in the same direction, then raise my hand.
