My chest heaves with the effort to keep it together, but I muster a smile anyway. “Sure. I’d love that.”
“Great. I’ll check my schedule again to see when I’m free, and then I’ll text you?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He opens his arms, and I only hesitate for a second before walking into them. This time, I keep the hug brief, stepping back with a tight grip on my purse and a wave.
“Talk to you soon.”
Ryan nods. “Drive safely.”
“Will do.”
I walk down the driveway with my head held high.
These hormones will drive me insane, I can already tell.
Do not break down. Do not break down.
You just have to get into the car and out of here. Two minutes. Three minutes tops.
The second I’m buckled in with the motor running, I gaze at the door once more. Like last time, he’s still standing there, so I put the car in reverse and wave at him.
The second I turn out of his street, I pull over to the side of the road and cry.
What exactly I cry for, I’m not sure. Everything and nothing. Myself, Ryan, and our baby. The mess I’ve gotten myself into, the life that lies in my future.
When I’m all dried up, I put on my sunglasses after a horrifying glance in the rearview mirror and drive to my dad’s house.
It feels as if another chapter of my life has closed, which I know is absurd. But something apart from looks attracted me to Ryan that night we met. I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl, so I don’t believe I would have just slept with any hot guy for the sake of it. For a moment there, that night, I’d felt treasured again. Listened to. Wanted. And now, even that’s gone. Well, at least my baby will know who his or her dad is, so I can be thankful for that.
My phone beeps with a message in my purse, and I glare at it. I don’t have the energy for another message from you-know-who, so I ignore it for now.
He’s already screwing enough with my head, no matter how much I try to ignore him. And the last thing I need is for him to mess things up for me.