“Because I’m married to a woman, and we have two sisters, and I’ve always been more in tune with this stuff.” He winked with that cocky grin on his face.
“Please. You fucked up plenty of times with Lila.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I did. And I finally listened to what she needed from me. Stop talking. Stop demanding. She told you what she wanted. Just trust her and give it to her.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, running my hands through my hair. “I’m not good at this shit, am I?”
“No. But you’ve got the right girl. She’ll wait for you. Send her a text now and tell her you’re sorry. That you overreacted. That you’re going to respect her space and miss her every day you’re gone. That you’ll be back, and you can’t wait to move her back in. Can you do that?”
“I can do that. Do you think it’s too late? Did I fuck everything up?”
I pulled out my phone and typed out the text in my own words.
“If it were anyone else, I’d be worried. But this is Reese, and I know how much she loves you. She’s as loyal as they come, brother. Just do what she asked you to do and stop having a temper tantrum.”
“So where is the part where you’re actually on my side?”
He pushed to his feet. “This is me being on your side. I’m helping you fix things with the girl you love. Now, let’s go grab some beers and take them to your place, and I’ll help you pack up.”
“You’re just afraid I’ll pull some more caveman shit and go over to that house and throw her over my shoulder and bring her home.”
“Maybe, but you’re smarter than that. You know what you need to do. Now you just need to do it.”
I nodded and followed him up the stairs and through the restaurant.
He was right.
I was going to do whatever it took to show her I was all in.
And that was going to start today.
twenty-eight
Reese
I’d spent the night at my parents’ house instead of going to the rental house. I’d cried hard to my sister, thankful she was home from her interview in the city.
I’d filled her in on our fight, and she’d grilled me about why I hadn’t told him I was meeting with Carl. I couldn’t tell her the reason either. Because Finn deserved to be told the news that I was pregnant first, whether we were together or not.
But not yet.
I wanted him to go have this experience and work on this movie without worrying about me. Which I knew he would do the minute he found out I was pregnant.
But the things he’d said to me had been so hurtful. Liv had insisted that he was just lashing out because he thought I didn’t want him anymore.
How could he think that?
She’d even come back in when she’d heard my muffled cries through the walls, and she’d climbed into bed with me.
His text made me feel a little better, but I hated the way things ended. He’d apologized, insisting he would be back and that he wanted me and only me, and I was going to hold on to that.
Maybe right now, space was what we both needed.
I had a lot on my mind. I was going to be a mama.
It was something I’d always wanted, but this wasn’t how I saw it happening. I had a new business that required a lot of time and energy, and I was moving some of my things into Georgia and Maddox’s rental house today. My parents were offended that I wasn’t staying with them, but Liv had quickly jumped on board and said she’d be over there often, too, and that it was important for adults to have their own place.
I made my way into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of water when I was dying for coffee. But now that I knew that I was pregnant, I needed to find out what things I could and couldn’t have. I had a little human growing inside me to care for now.
A lump formed in my throat because I was overcome with how happy I was carrying a baby. A baby that was part me and part Chewy.
In my wildest dreams, I’d never allowed myself to even think about that as a possibility up until a few weeks ago. But even then, I was afraid to think about it. To hope for it.
“No coffee?” my mom asked as she walked in with a stack of clean dish towels from the laundry room.
“Nope. I’m trying to cut out the caffeine because I’ve just been drinking it too often.”
She raised a brow. “I thought you said you can’t function without a cup first thing in the morning?”
“Yeah, well, that was before I started this health kick.”
“Did someone say health kick? Mom says I need to eat healthier,” my father said as he walked in and made his way over to the coffeepot.