Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Now you’ve ruined Pringles for me too. I hate you!” I push away from him, wiping my mouth with my sleeve, and walk back to the stairs. I go up a lot slower than I went down. Arms crossed over my chest, chin down. He’s right behind me. I know he’s there but he’s quiet, just following me.
I get back to ground level and look around. The blonde and the little boy are gone.
“Where’d they go?” I circle back to him in a flurry. “They were just here, I saw them.”
Wait. Maybe I’m just crazy. Like I’m having a mental break or something. I probably need a head CT.
“I sent them home, back to my place.”
No, not crazy. He’s a dick.
“Everly, please,” he says, bringing my attention to his face. “I’m sorry.”
His face, that’s the Sawyer I know. Sincere. Honest.
“What in the hell is going on?” I ask him, my eyes darting back and forth across his face.
“Why are you here?”
“Why am I here? Fuck you, Sawyer.” I shove a finger in his chest. “Why is that kid calling you Daddy? Who is that woman? You can’t be married. Finn wouldn’t have been happy for us when we started dating if you already had a wife. My brother would have mentioned it for sure. Unless you’ve been hiding her in another city. Oh, my God. Do you have a secret family, Sawyer? Or did you already replace me with a new girlfriend? With a kid who calls you Daddy? How long has this been going on?”
“Okay. Slow down, breathe.” He nods to the cafe across the park. “Let’s sit.”
I shake my head.
“I didn’t want you to see that. Him. I…” He trails off. “You can’t spy on my kid, Everly.”
His kid. I swallow the lump in my throat and fight to keep my knees steady.
“Fine. Let’s sit.”
We walk over to the cafe in silence, Sawyer opening the door for me while I grab a table in the corner and sit. He brings a tray of drinks over a few minutes later, setting it down on the table between us. Bottled water, hot tea, coffee, hot chocolate. I take a swig of water then pull the tea cup between my fingers.
“I wasn’t spying on your kid. I didn’t even know he existed.”
“Neither did I, until last week.”
“The same time you turned into a royal dick.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, a small smile on his face. “About that time.”
“What’s his name?”
“Jake.” A smile spreads across his face when he says it.
“How old is he?”
“Four.” He says it softly, as if it pains him.
I take that in. He’s missed out on four years with his son.
“Is that his mother?”
“No.” Sawyer scoffs. “His nanny.”
“So when do I get to meet him?”
“Meet him?” Sawyer’s eyebrows are raised, his face questioning. “I broke up with you.”
“You didn’t mean it.” I say it confidently, then falter. “Unless you don’t think I’m good enough for him? Is that why you ended things with me so abruptly?”
He pauses, and I die a little bit inside.
“Maybe in a few years,” he begins before trailing off.
“I’m sorry. Did you just suggest we get back together in a few years?” I’d be surprised if my eyebrows were still on my face, I’ve raised them so high in disbelief.
“This isn’t what you want. You don’t want a child right now. You’ve said it enough times. And this kid…” He rubs at his forehead in a gesture I’m beginning to recognize as stress. “It’s messy, Everly.”
“And I don’t do messy,” I say, filling in the blanks.
“You’re young, Everly. You were still a teenager when Jake was born. You deserve to have the life you want, the one you’ve imagined for yourself.”
“The one where I don’t have kids for another five to seven years? And I don’t have to deal with exes, and custody sharing, and coordinating his kids and our kids for weekends and holidays and summer vacations?”
He nods.
“I don’t want a baby right now, Sawyer.” I shake my head. “I don’t. But Jake isn’t a baby, and hell, even if he was, I’d love him. Because he’s yours.”
“It can’t be that simple. You have a vision for your life, and you didn’t sign up for this.”
“I didn’t sign on for you either, remember? I thought I was in love with your brother, but I was wrong. And it didn’t stop you, because you were right, Sawyer. You were right about us.”
“I love you, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”
“It’s enough, and I can edit.”
“You can edit?” He’s smiling now.
“I can edit the vision I had for my future, for our future. Just as long as you’re in it.”
“I’m going to have Jake full time. It’s not a weekend thing. His mother…” He stops, rubs his forehead. “His mother is in prison. He’ll be a teenager before she’s out. But I have no idea what the future looks like. She might want back into his life at that point. He might want to see her. It’ll be messy, Everly. “