Not exactly the direction I expected this conversation to go. “Wow. Umm…congratulations.”
He raked fingers through his hair. “I really like her a lot.”
“You don’t love her?”
He shook his head. “No. I wish I did.”
“Then why did you ask her to get married?”
“It was an accident.”
My brows rose. “An accident? How, exactly, do you accidentally propose to someone.”
His head dropped into his hands. “I don’t know. She told me she was pregnant, and she was upset. Obviously, it wasn’t planned. She was crying and said she’d always dreamed of getting married and having kids but not starting a family so young and on her own. I would never abandon her, and I didn’t want her to feel like she was doing it on her own.”
“So you asked her to marry you?”
Jayce yanked on his hair. “Fuck! I hated seeing her bawl, and it’s my responsibility, too.”
“Maybe she feels the same way? She might be scared and not want to marry you either. What did she say when you asked her?”
He slumped farther into his chair. “Her face lit up, and she jumped into my arms and said she loved me.”
Shit. Jayce is a stand-up guy. As much as it seems ludicrous that someone could accidentally ask someone to marry him—it made total sense when it came to my brother. In fact, he was such a good guy that I knew the answer to my next question before I even asked. “Did you tell her you loved her back?”
He looked at me. Of course he did.
When he picked up his coffee to drink, his hand was shaking so badly that he sloshed it all over the place.
“It’s gonna be okay, bro.”
“How?”
“You’ll talk to her. Tell her you care about her and you plan to support the baby, but you’re not ready to get married.”
Jayce stayed quiet for a long time. He looked deep in thought. “Why can’t I love her?” He mumbled. “She deserves better than a guy who can’t give her his heart because someone still has a piece of it.”
I closed my eyes.
My fucking heart broke for so many reasons.
Chapter 25
Natalia
I woke to an empty bed.
I’d left my phone somewhere in the living room, and there wasn’t a bedside alarm clock. The blinds were drawn, but the slats were open, and since no light was coming in, I guessed it wasn’t yet morning. But where was Hunter? I waited a few minutes to see if he’d just gotten up to get a drink or use the bathroom, but he didn’t come back, and the apartment had no sound of anyone moving around. Unable to fall back asleep, I wrapped a sheet around my naked body and went to look for the man whose arms I’d drifted off in.
All of the lights were off, but the city from beyond the sliding glass doors illuminated the apartment enough for me to see that Hunter wasn’t in it. Finding my phone, I checked the time—four-thirty in the morning. We’d only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. Perhaps Hunter was an early riser gym rat?
This girl wasn’t, so I decided to head back to bed and get the answer when I woke back up in a few more hours. I was almost at the door to the bedroom when movement from the balcony caught my attention. Hunter was sitting outside.
I watched him for a few moments as he stared off into space. He looked deep in thought, almost troubled. Eventually I walked to the door and slid it open. He turned at the sound.
“Hey. What are you doing out here?” I asked.
“Just getting some fresh air.”