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Joshua throws his head back and laughs. But not his normal, lighthearted laugh. This one is sarcastic. Almost cruel.
“Do you even hear yourself right now, Wynter?” He turns away and starts tugging on his jeans. “You’re making excuses for him. Just like your father did. Why?”
“My baby deserves to have a family.”
“And he or she can still have that without you sacrificing your happiness for Wyatt. For the idea in your head of what a family should look like. I was raised by a kick-ass single mom. I never felt like I missed out on anything.”
“I’ve wanted this for so long. We tried having a baby for years. Maybe that’s what caused the distance between us. Maybe we were so focused on getting pregnant that we forgot how to be a couple.”
“And you think having a baby will change that?”
“I don’t know. But I owe it to him to give him another chance.”
He grabs his shirt and tugs it over his head. “There it is again.”
“What?”
“You always think you owe people something. You don’t owe anyone shit, Wynter. Not me. Not your parents. And certainly not Wyatt. But that’s all you seem to care about, isn’t it? Living up to their expectations of you. Trying to make them happy.”
He steps closer, so close I can feel the heat and anger and heartache coming off his body. “When the fuck are you going to make yourself happy?”
“I am happy.” Even I can hear the lack of conviction in my voice.
“Right.” He laughs bitterly. “You really look fucking happy right now.” He grabs his shoes and storms toward the door, yanking it open.
But before he disappears, he faces me once more. “Just answer me one last question. For my own peace of mind.”
“Okay,” I agree, albeit reluctantly.
“Tonight. When you asked me to help you forget.” He nods at the bed. “Was that goodbye?” His voice breaks, and something inside me breaks with it.
I want to run to him. Wrap my arms around him and bury my face against his chest. Tell him I don’t want this to be goodbye.
Tell him that, for the first time in years, I feel like myself.
But this isn’t about what I want anymore.
It’s about what my baby deserves.
“It was,” I force out.
He hangs his head, his shoulders caving. Then he lifts his fiery gaze to mine. “Do you know what it was for me?”
“What?” I ask hesitantly.
“That was love, Wynter. That was me making love to you.” He pauses, his jaw working as though the words he’s about to say physically hurt. “Because I was stupid enough to fall in love with you.”
A sob catches in my throat, and it takes everything I have to swallow it down.
A reckless part of me wants to tell him I feel the same way. But I don’t know if what I feel for Joshua is love.
I’m not even sure what love is anymore.
So instead, I say the only thing that comes to mind.
“I’m sorry.”
A painful laugh falls from his throat. “Me, too.”