Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
Riley
She takes a sip of my coffee. “You still drink mochas, huh?”
Is she kidding me right now?
I scrub a hand over my stubbled jaw. “I wasn’t talking about the fucking coffee, Devyn. Help me understand why in the hell you thought it would be a good idea to hide the fact that we have a child together.”
She takes a deep breath. “I called you as soon as I found out. You were too busy plying some girl with drinks to answer.”
I think about that for a minute. Oh hell, she must be talking about the time that annoying girl answered my phone in Boston. “Jesus, Devyn. One phone call? You didn’t think something like this was important enough to try again?”
She juts her chin out and glares at me. Fucking glares !
“Not one phone call, Riley. Twelve! Eleven phone calls and countless unanswered texts after our night in the hotel. And another attempt almost two years later, but evidently, you had changed your phone number. It was pretty clear you had no interest in speaking with me. It may have taken me a minute, but I got the message.”
I run a hand over my head. “That’s what this is about? I was a stupid kid! You should have tried harder.”
Devyn stands up and flings her arms out, spraying coffee all over the hardwood floors. “That’s my point, Riley! I was having a kid ! I didn’t have the luxury of indulging a grown man who couldn’t pull his head out of his ass and see what was right in front of him! I didn’t have time to try harder! I had seven months to figure out a new plan in life. It wasn’t just me anymore. I had another human being I was going to be responsible for. I needed to focus on that , not trying to make you talk to me, when you made it crystal clear you had no desire to.”
“You still should have told me,” I grumble. “God, Devyn.”
She sits back down and hangs her head in her hands. “Yeah, maybe I should have. But I was scared. And heartbroken. And hormonal. That’s not exactly a good recipe for rational thought.”
One word sticks out. “Heartbroken?”
She lifts her head and rolls her eyes. “Oh please, Rye. Are you really going to make me say it?”
I walk toward her and sit on the edge of the coffee table. She shivers when our knees touch.
“Say what?”
Devyn stares at her hands. “That night…it meant something to me. I know that wasn’t part of the deal, but I know you felt it too. For whatever reason, you obviously weren’t willing to acknowledge it, and that hurt. After everything we’d been through…we knew each other better than anyone, yet you chose to treat me like any other girl and run. It hurt .”
Fuck. She’s not wrong.
Every bit of regret I’ve had over the last five years washes through me, melting my anger toward Devyn. The fact of the matter is, we both fucked up, but it was my inability to face my feelings that launched everything into motion. I’m sure as hell not going to make that mistake again.
I lift her chin with my finger. “I was a coward.”
She laughs mirthlessly. “You think?”
Tears are forming in her eyes, and it’s killing me.
I lean in closer. “Devyn, I?—”
Her phone rings, startling us both. She pulls it out of her purse, and I can see the asshole from last night is calling. Devyn scoots away from me and slides her finger across the screen to answer.
“Hi.” She turns her head as she listens to whatever the fuck he’s saying. “No, there’s been a slight change in plans.”
I tune out their conversation as I feel my face getting red. I know I have no right to be jealous, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling it. I can’t stop thinking about the smug look on that guy’s face when he took her in his arm and walked away. He said he was taking her home which implies familiarity, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.
Devyn glances at me over her shoulder. “Mm-hmm. You too. Bye, Jackson.”
You too? Did she just tell him that she loved him? Oh Christ, this situation is shittier than I thought.
Devyn
Thank God Jackson called when he did. I’m pretty sure Riley was about to kiss me. And I honestly don’t know how I would’ve responded to that. Hearing Jackson’s voice helped bring me back to the present. Riley is my past. I simply got caught up in my emotions talking about it with him.
Yeah, I don’t believe me either.
“Riley, I have to get going.”
He frowns. “Back to Jackson?”
I bite my lip. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I need to get home to Nathan.”
“What’s the story with you and that guy?”
“Jackson?”
“No, the fucking Dalai Lama.”
I glare. “You don’t need to be so rude.”
“Answer the question, Dev.”
“I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Of course it’s my business!” he shouts. “If this guy is going to be spending time around my son , I have the right to know.”
I clench my fists. “He’s been spending time with our son for over two years! Are you saying you don’t trust my judgment?”
He stiffens. “Give me your phone.”
What? Is he going to call Jackson?
“No.”
He gives me a wry look. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Devyn. I want to program my number into it.”
I hand it to him hesitantly. I watch as he opens the text window and types something really quick before hitting send. His phone beeps a second later.
He pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the display. “There. Now we both know how to reach each other. And for the record, I changed my number when I moved to Georgia. I had planned on settling there and wanted a local number. It had nothing to do with running away.”
“You lived in Georgia? When?”
“After grad school,” he replies. “I took a job in Savannah designing private aircraft.”
“Oh,” I whisper. “Then why are you in Seattle?”
He gulps. “That’s a story for another day. You need to get home, remember?”
I stand and walk to the door. “Yeah, I do.”
He follows me and opens the door.
As I step into the hallway, he adds, “Dev, we’ll figure this out, okay? And to be clear, I want to be involved in Nathan’s life as much as humanly possible. I know it’s not easy, and I know we have our own shit to work through, but I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”
My chest instantly feels lighter. God, I didn’t realize how tense I was until the pressure eased.
I nod. “Okay.”