Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“And maybe you’re just saying this because you think it makes going our separate ways easier. But do you really think this will stop me from missing you?”
“We could break your daughter’s heart—we could ruin your custody of her—and I’m screwed in the head from the way I was raised. I can’t trust. I can’t let myself trust. How many more reasons do you need?” She bites her lip, shaking her head, trembling all over. “I’m an idiot for forfeiting this job. But we both know it’s the right thing to do.”
“Callie—”
“No,” she hisses. “Please, just go. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. For that precious little girl, just go.”
She stares at me with tears glistening in her eyes. I feel like the world’s biggest jerk for leaving her like this, but what else am I supposed to do?
At the door, I stand with my back turned, giving it one last shot. “What if I told you that Emery was right? What if I told you I loved you? What if I told you I wanted you to be more than my girlfriend—that I wanted you to be my life?”
Her voice breaks. “Gray…”
“What if I told you that the world finally made sense when I saw you? I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t cold. I was just waiting for you. What if I told you that we could build a life together, that we’d never have to worry about breaking Emery’s heart because you would always be there? That you’d watch her grow up, and maybe we’d give her brothers and sisters?”
“Jesus, Gray,” she snaps. “We have to live in the real world.”
“Why can’t this be the real world?” I plead.
“Just go, please. You don’t even know what you’re saying.”
I walk across the cold yard, my fists clenched, my heart shattered. I don’t even know where all that came from. Back in the house, I call Wes.
“S’up, bro?”
“Hey, sorry for the late notice. But would you be able to watch Emery tomorrow?”
“What happened with Callie?”
I give him the rundown, starting with dinner and ending with Emery’s declaration of love.
Wes sighs. “So you fired Callie?”
“No,” I snap. “She made the choice to back off herself. She wants the best for Emery. Because she’s a good person, Wes, selfless, loving, the best goddamn person I’ve ever met. And now I’ve got to face a life without her. I’ve got to face the cold fact that I’ll go back to being who I was before she came along. And that fucking stings.”
“Whoa, Gray,” Wes mutters. “I didn’t know it was that deep. I knew you liked her, obviously. And for you, that means something. But I didn’t know it meant this much.”
“Neither did I,” I growl. “Until the prospect of never seeing her again became all too real. Now, I can’t deny that it means something.”
Maybe everything, but I don’t add that part.
“Anyway,” I go on with a sigh. “I know it’s a big ask, but tomorrow?”
“I’ll watch her,” Wes replies. “You know I love any excuse to see my niece.”
“Awesome. Thanks, bro.”
I hang up, then step into Emery’s bedroom and sit beside her, watching her sleep.
Even with her eyes closed, she looks stressed, as if she’s having a bad dream. I think back to what I said in the guesthouse, essentially telling Callie that I love her, that we’re meant to be together, and that I was going to make her Emery’s stepmom. It should all seem insane. Somehow, it doesn’t.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Callie
Maybe I should’ve told Gray no when he offered to give me a ride, but I didn’t have it in me. I told myself it was because I didn’t want the hassle of sorting my own transport. But the truth is, I want to spend just a little more time with him. Emery cried when I said goodbye. I sit in silence as Gray drives us through the pine forest. I still feel like the world’s biggest heel for leaving her like that.
“She’ll be okay,” I murmur after a long silence. “I bet she’ll forget who I am pretty soon.”
“Hmm,” Gray grunts. He looks dashing in his suit. Tension ripples through him, his hands tight on the wheel, his strong jaw jutting powerfully from his face.
“Hmm?” I mutter.
“I just don’t know if she’s ever going to forget you,” he says.
I want to ask about all that stuff he said last night. Standing with his back turned, his muscles seeming to throb through his clothes, in essence, he said we could be the real deal, that we could exist in some long-term place together, that we could make it work on a level I never would’ve dreamed of, or let myself dream of, maybe. I want to tell him I’m sorry for implying that he could ever be as manipulative as a cult leader.