Page 57 of Power Play

Jason pulled me closer until my head was resting against his chest. “I’m so sorry, Taylor. I’m so, so sorry.”

I took a gasping breath as my entire body shuddered. I clung to his arms, needing to feel grounded. To know that I wasn’t the only one that remembered our baby boy.

Our sweet, perfect baby that wasn’t ready for this world. He made it to twenty-five weeks before his heart stopped. I had to deliver him knowing I’d never hear him cry or see his smile. Never see him staring back at me.

A part of me died that day. He took a piece of my heart, but I had Jason there to hold me together. To remind me there was something worth living for.

Neither of us planned on getting pregnant at eighteen. It was the most terrifying time of my life. But our families rallied around us. We were lucky. They supported us and loved Alexander from the moment we told them.

Jason stayed for a week after I was released from the hospital. He told me he wanted to graduate with his friends back home and that he would see me in a few weeks when I came to visit. We would go through draft day together, and I’d be there holding his hand when he got the call that he was picked.

But he left.

And I never heard from him again.

That was why I threw red wine in his face.

It wasn’t just a breakup. It wasn’t high school drama or first love gone wrong. He betrayed me in the worst way. He left me when I needed him the very most. I was barely hanging on. Barely getting out of bed, but knowing I would see him soon got me through.

Until he stopped responding to texts or answering his phone.

At first, I thought the worst. Something happened to him. I lost him too.

But Janet called me. Told me he needed time and space to heal. That was it. That was the end.

Now he was back in my life, holding me like he could put the pieces together four years later. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to push him away and make him hurt as bad as I had. I wanted to make him need me, then leave. But then I thought of our baby boy.

I wasn’t the only one that lost him. Jason did too. His reaction was to get away. It wasn’t right or fair, but I understood. We were grieving. Neither of us in our right minds.

He left and started his career.

I went to college and tried to make my life as safe and stable as possible. No risk or disappointments. No boyfriends. No art.

A life I was completely in control of.

What a joke. There was no controlling what happened to you. Things happened when and how they would. We were merely along for the ride, and somehow that ended up with me back in Jason’s arms, mourning our baby all over again.

I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I couldn’t deny how right it felt. I pulled back and looked in his eyes that were glistening with tears. “Thank you.”

He frowned. “I never should have left you.”

Before I could process what that meant, there was a knock on the door.

“Taylor, are you okay?” Sydney peeked in and froze when she saw us together. “Oh. Sorry.”

The door shut and we turned back to each other. I wiped my cheeks and pulled myself up. He stood and stared down at me.

“I guess we’ll have to explain that.”

Jason tilted his head. “You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to.”

I sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to keep it––him––a secret. Are you okay with them knowing?”

He nodded. “It’s time.” He took my hand in his and led me back to the silent living room.

20

Jason