Page 152 of Stay Wild Darlin’

The door shut behind her, and it felt like it echoed through my goddamn bones.

She left.

She walked out—because of this. Because of Brooke.

I stood there, frozen, staring at the space she’d occupied. I could still feel her handprint on my arm where she’d pulled away. I could still see the way her eyes dimmed when Brooke said He always comes back to me like it was a goddamn chant.

I turned back to the table, where Brooke sat with that smug little smirk like she hadn’t taken a goddamn axe to everything I’d spent the last year building.

“You proud of yourself right now?”

Brooke raised an eyebrow. “I told the truth.”

“No, you told your version of it,” I snapped. “You moved to Lindley on your own. You took a job at that bar because you didn’t want help. Getting off birth control without telling isn’t love. That’s manipulation.”

Her expression flickered for a second before she shrugged. “I thought we were endgame.”

I stood across from her, but every inch of me wanted to be anywhere else. “You left. You dropped Cora off and vanished for ten goddamn months. Suddenly you think you can show up and stake a claim because you were here first?”

“She’s my daughter,” Brooke hissed. “Mine.”

“You don’t have any rights to her. I have them all. You gave that up the minute you walked away. The minute you dropped her off like she was some inconvenience you couldn’t handle.” I stood and leaned both hands on the table, breathing hard. “She doesn’t even know you, and in the thirty minutes you’ve been here, you haven’t asked about her once. Not how she’s been. Not what she loves. Not her favorite book, her schedule, if she’s talking in full sentences, if she likes bananas, or if she cries when the bath water’s too cold.”

She looked down, but I wasn’t finished.

“So shut the fuck up and tell me what you want. Be honest. Actually honest. Because whatever game you’re playing—whatever version of reality you think you’re owed—it’s bullshit.” My voice cracked then, not with weakness but rage. “You turned my entire life upside down. You left me with a baby and a maybe. You made me think I was going to raise her alone, and then you show up like some fucked-up ghost from a past I’ve been trying to forget and try to mark your territory?”

I took one step back because even being near her made my skin itch. “Don’t tell me she’s yours. Not when you haven’t earned a single fucking day of her life.” I stared at her, my voice shredded down to bone. “What. Do. You. Want.”

Beau was at my side instantly and gripped my shoulders. He knew I’d never lay a hand on her, but I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t flip this whole fucking table, smash a hole in the wall, or scream until my throat bled.

Brooke finally broke eye contact, jaw tightening like she knew what was coming. “I need money. I saw you win the big championship.”

I blinked once.

Then laughed even though none of this was funny.

“I fucking knew it,” I snapped, turning to Beau. “Of course she wants money.”

I turned away from her, hands on my head, trying to breathe. Trying not to let the red in my vision take over. I walked toward the living room, because if I stayed by that table, I was going to break something.

Money. That’s what this was. Not my daughter. Not guilt. Not an apology. Not any ounce of redemption.

She wanted a payday.

Behind me, I heard Fable’s voice. “What do you need money for, Brooke?”

“The guy I was with . . .”

“The one who was with you when you dropped Cora off?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah. Him. We went up to Montana for a bit. He— he got into some trouble. Owed people. We were staying with some friends, but that dried up quick. And now, we need money.”

My stomach twisted.

She didn’t even realize what she was saying.

Brooke glanced down, picking at the hem of her sleeve. “He said I deserve to be a mom. That I gave birth to her, and that’s all that matters. Said if I filed for custody, even partial, you’d have to pay child support. We could use that money to get out of the hole we’re in.”