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“Evie,” he utters darkly, but whether in shock or anger, I can’t be certain. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know he and I had premarital sex, dude. I’m not Mother Teresa.”
“You were two kids who decided getting knocked up would help your situation.”
“No.” The word slips from my sharp tongue, effectively cutting him off. “We were two kids who thought they were in love and already planned to get married, so why wait? When the statistics already said conceiving wouldn’t likely happen? Think of it as testing the theory.”
“Look how it turned out? Now imagine if you had a kid in the mix.”
I rub my temples. “I can’t say for certain how an alternate universe would have played out, but if we had a kid, a wedge wouldn’t have grown between us.”
The rock in front of my toe skitters across the trail with my next step.
“I don’t understand.”
“After we tried for a year, Tate settled into the idea that we’d never have kids and we’d enjoy our life together. I did the opposite. I became more desperate. It got to the point we were fighting about it nearly every single day. I fell into a depression while he withdrew completely. And then I did something really stupid.”
Eric pinches the bridge of his nose. I see the opening to the trail up ahead and know I need to hurry this up. He needs to get to the hotel to pick up Caiti, and I have plans with Rhett.
“What did you do?”
I seize his arm and turn him to face me. The pain on my face is unconcealable, and I don’t even try. “You have to understand how desperate I was. After having mine ripped brutally away, I wanted a family more than anything. Whole. Complete. I wanted to hear the word ‘mom’ in my life again and not only when I spoke it at her grave.”
“Evie.” Eric’s voice cracks around my name.
I drop his arm and tilt my face into a warm gust of air. “The specialist mentioned a surgery to remove some of the invading tissue from my reproductive organs. Tate was adamant he didn’t want to go through extreme measures. That if we couldn’t conceive naturally, then it wasn’t meant to be. Obviously, I disagreed.” I draw in a lungful of fresh air before marching on.
“I took the money we were saving for our wedding to pay for the surgery in full. Then I opened credit cards in my name to charge my wedding dress and deposits, thinking he’d be none the wiser. None of which was refundable. I scheduled the surgery when he was out of town for work and lined up a friend to help me.”
“You made a mistake,” he says with understanding.
“I made a huge mistake.”
Eric wraps me in a swift hug before I can even react. But my story isn’t finished.
“Not only did I rack up debt that I’m working to pay off, but the surgery wasn’t considered highly successful. The specialist said reoccurrence is likely. I may never have kids of my own. Even after all that.”
“You make me not want to leave.” Eric’s choked reply sends a fresh wave of tears to my eyes. I scrub my cheek against his shoulder, stemming them.
The sigh pulled from me sounds more painful than it is. “But you have to. And I’ll be here, kicking life’s ass day by day.”
“You will be. I’m going to send you some money.”
“Eric, no.” My retort is firm. “I got myself into this mess, and I’ll get myself out. I’m halfway there already.”
“I’ll get you all the way there.” Determination is chiseled in the set lines around his mouth.
I stomp toward the parking lot, not about to have this conversation with another alpha male in my life. Unfortunately for me, he catches up easily.
“If you don’t want help from me, fine, but you need to talk to Tate and demand he pays half.”
“Why would I do that?”
“The two of you were a partnership. It doesn’t matter if it was your mistake. You were about to sign until death do us part.”
I jab my finger into his chest. “Listen and listen good because I don’t want you to leave with us fighting. I made the mistake. I went against what Tate wanted, and I knew the consequences. People are so quick to find someone to share the blame, but sometimes, Eric, there isn’t anyone else.”
“Lord help me,” he mutters to the sky. “You’re too stubborn, and I don’t want to fight with you either. So leave me with some peace and tell me that if you get stuck, you’ll ask for help.”
