chapter 82
The beer was cold for the crisp night, but when paired with the hot Cuban sandwich, absolutely heavenly. We sat on a curb, hunched over our food, our shoulders often brushing. “He’s a beautiful animal.” Chase nodded to Titan.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, finishing my mouthful of food. “What ended up happening with Casper?”
He paused for a moment before looking over. “Surprised you remember him.”
“Did he move with you?”
He looked back down at his beer. “I wasn’t in New York long enough to bring him.
I tried in Baltimore, but…” He lifted his shoulders, glancing over at me with a wry smile.
“He wasn’t happy. And I felt guilty being on the road so much.
Some girl once told me it was cruel … that kind of stuck with me. ”
“Sounds like a smart girl,” I shot back.
“In some ways she was.” His smile lost its strength. “In other ways…” He tilted back his beer, watching me.
“I wasn’t the only one who made dumb decisions back then, Chase,” I said quietly. “You left. And you never came back, you never called.” Thoughts I had said so many times in my head, a mantra that I had used, time and time again, to try and stop loving him.
“I was mad. And then, when I calmed down, your number was disconnected. And then … not even a month later, you were with him.” His voice had hardened, raw emotion, anger, still there and I pushed back, just as upset.
“You didn’t even give me time to sort out anything.
To wrap my head around everything. I didn’t know how to handle how I felt for you.
And I didn’t know how to handle it when I was traded. What was I supposed to do?”
“You could have flown here. Called my dad. It wasn’t like you didn’t have the resources—and I didn’t have that.
I didn’t even have my own money to come and visit you—” My words broke off and I stared at the sandwich, numbly wrapping the paper around it, my appetite gone, four years of emotions welling to the surface.
“You could have come.” I whispered. Rescued me.
“You were engaged. Then married. So fast.” He reached over, pulling at my hand, his thumb running over the place where my diamond normally sat. “Why?” he asked.
I swallowed, feeling the familiar push of tears, the thickening of my throat that occurred whenever I thought of the baby. “I was pregnant,” I said simply, lifting my eyes to his, steeled for the reaction.
He froze, the only movement in his face the twitch of his eyes.
They searched mine, reading everything in the moment before tears blurred my vision.
I didn’t move, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t give him any more information.
His arm moved, his beer set down, and then he was brushing my hair carefully back, his warm hands cupping my face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s okay.” I blinked, and a tear escaped, his eyes following it down my cheek. I watched him swallow, the part of his lips, a breath of hesitation before he spoke.
“Ty.”
It was only one word, but a gruff plea that said everything. I lifted my gaze from his lips to his eyes and saw the hurt in them, the miss, the need. Need that I couldn’t step away from. Need that I felt in every part of my body. “Take me somewhere, Chase.”
He pulled me to my feet and nodded at the hotel, one block down, the sign glowing in the night. “There.”