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“Time? No fucking way. We can figure this out now.”
She shakes her head. “I need to go.”
“Go where? You’re home.”
She looks over her shoulder at me. “Or is this a mistake?”
I roar with anger. “Don’t you fucking say that. Nothing about us is a mistake, and you know it. I said what I did to get Alex off my back. I’ll call him right now.” I reach for my phone, but she shakes her head again.
“The words have already been said. I’m sure before Elliot called me, she called each of my sisters. God, this is such a fucking mess.”
A lump forms in my throat. “I’m sorry. Tell me what you want me to do.” She exhales heavily, wiping her face. Each tear that falls is like a knife to my chest. “I should have told you what I said so you wouldn’t hear it from your sister.”
She rolls her eyes as she reaches for a shirt to throw on. “That wouldn’t have made it better, Riggs.”
“What will?”
“I don’t know,” she says, and everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion.
“I didn’t mean it,” I plead. “I love you. You aren’t a mistake—you are everything.” I reach for her, taking her wrist in my hand and pulling her to me. She resists, but I’m stronger. Wrapping her up in my arms, I cup her jaw. “I was taking you to Nashville to get my ma’s rings, love. Would I be doing that if you were nothing?”
Shock fills her eyes as they search mine before her tears spill down her cheeks. With a shaky breath, she reaches up and strokes my jaw. “Don’t come to the wedding tomorrow,” she whispers, her tears falling quicker. “I’ll do damage control, and then we can figure this out.”
“Hell, fuck no,” I demand, shaking my head. “We do this together. I fucked up, let me fix it.”
“You don’t understand,” she insists. “I’m the baby. They all are so protective, and I can’t have you there. It will set everyone on edge, and I’d rather my sister doesn’t swing on you when she’s pregnant. I don’t want to ruin Lou’s wedding. Please, just don’t come.”
“Clara—”
“Please,” she pleads, her eyes swimming with tears. “I’ll go over and explain what happened and see if I can get Elliot to calm down. Hopefully she didn’t tell anyone else.”
I don’t like this at all. “Let me come with you.”
“No,” she tells me, her eyes imploring. “I gotta do this alone.”
“It will mean more from me.”
“I need to do this alone,” she insists, her eyes still dripping tears.
“Clara. Why? Let?—”
“Please, Riggs, let me handle this.”
I fight back my own tears as I gaze down at her. “And you’ll come back home?”
She shakes her head. “Not tonight.”
“Clara—”
“Riggs, your words hurt me. Even if you were only saying them to get Alex off your back, they hurt. Let me process.”
“Process with me,” I beg, cupping her jaw so she can’t look away. “Let me make it up to you, prove that I meant not a single one of those words I said.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, and much to my dismay, she shakes her head. “I can’t think straight when I’m with you.”
“Good. I like how you think when you’re with me.” Her lips tremble, and she moves out of my arms, breaking my fucking heart. “Clara, stay.”
She ignores me, and I watch as she throws on a pair of leggings before grabbing her charger. I follow her out of the room, the dogs hot on our heels. “I don’t like this.”
