Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I’m a total asshole.
“I’m sorry, Corinne.”
“If you didn’t feel something for me, then why’d you worm your way back into my life after all of these years?”
“I didn’t worm my way into your life.” Taking a deep breath, I temper my tone. “We hooked up at a party. If I’d known you felt this way, I wouldn’t have slept with you again.”
And again and again.
“I thought I meant something to you.” Her mouth is trembling, and I dig deep for an explanation that will make her feel better, but there isn’t one. There’s only the harsh truth.
“We were never serious in high school. I didn’t think this was any different,” I say, silently pleading with her to stop crying. If there’s one thing that rips me apart, it’s a woman’s tears.
“It was serious for me!” Pointing her finger, she stalks toward me. “You broke my heart in high school, you jerk.” She jabs me in the chest, and I retreat a step. “But you were so caught up in yourself to notice.”
I grab her hand before she can do more damage with her finger and its razor sharp nail. “You’re right. I am a jerk. I didn’t realize, Corinne. If I had, I wouldn’t have hooked up with you.”
Her wet eyes pin me to the spot, like prey she’s about to devour in the eye of her pain. “Is there someone else?”
Parting my lips, I will the denial off my tongue, but the lie won’t form. Instead, I shake my head. But it’s too late. Glaring at me, she yanks her hand from mine. I hesitated too long, and now she knows the truth.
There is someone else, only that someone else doesn’t know it yet. What a twisted circle of heartbreak I’ve managed to create here.
“Who is she?” Venom drips from her tone, and something dark flashes in her brown eyes. I revisit my earlier thought that she’s sweet and vulnerable.
Because Corinne doesn’t look like either right now. If she were a cat, she’d have her claws out, her teeth bared as she hisses her warning. Instead of answering her, I cross to the door and open it. Arguing isn’t going to help either of us.
“I think you should go,” I say, trying to soften my tone. But as I ask her to leave my house—to leave my life—I know nothing will soften the blow to her heart.
Shit.
How many times have I ended up in this exact spot? Letting a girl down gently is never easy, but usually they leave more angry than hurt because I don’t make promises I can’t keep.
So where did I go wrong with Corinne? What did I do to make her think that what we had was more than a fun hookup? For fuck’s sake, we didn’t even see each other every weekend.
There was no dating. No declarations of love. We communicated over a few texts in between the times we fucked, but that was it.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I say, hoping my words will get her to move from her motionless spot in the middle of my living room.
She turns pained eyes on me. Damp eyes full of anger and heartbreak. “Ashton…I’m pregnant.”
Time doesn’t just screech to a halt—it slams into a wall. I can’t fucking breathe. A thousand thoughts and what-ifs torpedo through my mind, but it’s nothing but incomprehensible chaos. “I don’t believe you,” I finally say, my own voice strange to my ears.
This isn’t happening.
We were careful.
I’m always so fucking careful.
She finally moves, her steps renewed with purpose and power as she nears me. I’m still standing by the door like a fool.
“It’s true. Wishing otherwise isn’t going to make it disappear.” She brushes past me and steps onto the front porch. “And before you even think about asking, I’m keeping the baby.”
“I wasn’t asking,” I say, still shell-shocked. How can a person ask questions when their world is spinning out of control around them? Fuck, I can’t even think straight.
“When you’re ready to talk about it, you know where to find me.” She hurries down the pathway toward the street, seemingly unbothered by the rain. If I weren’t frozen to the spot, I’d offer to drive her home.
But I’m doing good to shut the door and plop onto the couch before my legs fail me.
Chapter Thirteen
Sadie
Monday mornings are the bane of my existence. This Monday morning, however, is ten times worse. Jake’s legal assistant—Candace “call me Candy”—is avoiding me like the plague, which isn’t the easiest to do since, as a paralegal, I work directly with Jake. If it were any other job, I would have thought about walking out by now because dealing with Jake trying to corner me at every turn is getting old.
Working for my father is a pain in the ass. I wish I could just waltz into his office and say “I quit.” But I’ve only gone against my parents a handful of times, and one of them was when I refused to give up my friendship with Mandy and Ash in the tenth grade.