Page 159 of Contentious

“Are you, though?”

He glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“You probably don’t want to talk about this.”

“About what?”

“What happened between us and why.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that.”

“You can say whatever you want to me, MK. Whatever it is, I certainly have it coming.”

“The only thing I want to say is this… When we were together, it seemed like we had a nice thing going and that you were enjoying it as much as I was.”

“I was. I did. Enjoy it.” As she looked into his eyes, Griffin’s heart began to race, and a bead of sweat rolled down his back. More than once, he’d felt as if she could see right through him, which had often made him uncomfortable. The worst thing in the world to a commitment-phobe like him was being truly seen by someone.

“I was so confused when you went silent on me. But when I thought about it, really thought about it… I began to understand why you did that.”

He so did not want to ask… “What did you understand?”

“That someone who’d been dragged through the mess with your parents, who sees every day how something like this can end so horribly… Of course you’d run when it started getting real. Once I put those pieces together, I found some closure that I truly needed, especially after I realized I was pregnant.”

Listening to her explain how she’d made sense of his cowardly actions filled him with the kind of shame he’d rarely experienced in his gilded life. “I’ll always be sorry that I hurt you that way. If it’s any consolation, I was a mess for months after the last time I saw you. That was the only time in my career that my father got in my face about getting my shit together at work or finding another job.”

“It never occurred to me that you might’ve suffered over it, too.”

“I did. I really, really did.”

“Good,” she said with a wicked smile.

Griffin laughed so hard that the baby startled. “Oh, sorry, sweetheart. Your mommy is being funny.”

The baby made a perturbed face in her sleep that was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Just when he thought he’d seen all her expressions, she dazzled him with more.

“When you told me about her, I didn’t want to come here.”

“I’m sure she came as a massive shock to you, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It was hard to know how best to inform you.”

“It wasn’t because of her that I didn’t want to come.”

“Oh.”

“I was ashamed to face you after the gutless way I left.”

“Well, I’m glad you came, because Hadley needs her daddy, and I think maybe you need her, too.”

“I do. I didn’t know I needed her until she arrived, and now that she’s here…”

“I get it. Trust me.”

“She’s everything.” He noticed McKenna wiping away a tear. “What’s wrong?” he asked, alarmed.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I told you about her. I thought you might pretend like she didn’t exist. I never suspected you might fall madly in love with her.”

“No one is more surprised by that than I am.”