AUSTIN #2
I close us in, not wanting to risk the boys seeing or hearing us.
“I found Len’s bunny on the floor downstairs, and when I was leaving her room, I heard you crying.
Please, Paris,” I beg, my chest tight and heavy.
“I’m hanging by a fucking thread here. Please tell me what’s going on, so I can make it better. ”
She sniffles, her beautiful gaze swimming with more tears. “You can’t. It’s just something I have to deal with on my own. I’ll be fine.”
Unwilling to take that as an answer, I pad in her direction before kneeling at her feet.
It’s like a punch to the gut as I take her in up close, from those sad, swollen eyes to the way her shoulders are turned inward.
She looks so small and dejected. I can’t leave this house without knowing why and doing everything in my power to repair it.
“Baby, talk to me,” I coax, my palms flattening on her thighs. I rub gentle, reassuring circles over the terrycloth, desperation crawling up my throat as I swallow thickly. “What happened?”
At first, I think she’s going to tell me to leave—to repeat that she wants to deal with whatever it is on her own.
I internally plead for her to let me in, sending up a silent prayer that she’ll lean on me and allow me to bear some of the weight she’s carrying.
Her chin wobbles, broken, shaky breaths swirling in the air between us as I wait for something—anything—that tells me how she went from happy to this in no time at all.
Her crestfallen stare finds mine, and she licks her lips, releasing another fragmented exhale.
“I ran into Braxton on my way out of the bathroom earlier.” Every muscle in my body threatens to go rigid, but I fight it, trying my best to remain calm so she feels comfortable telling me the rest. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to notice the sudden change in my demeanor before I can school it, her eyes falling to my hands in her lap as she continues.
“I shouldn’t have approached him at all, especially not in such a public setting.
I knew it wouldn’t end well—confrontations with him never really did.
But after the way he ignored Rhys, and the sadness on my baby’s face when all he wanted was to be acknowledged by his father, I just couldn’t let it go. You know?”
My teeth clench, pain radiating along my jaw because I know that whatever was said couldn’t have been good.
She was a little distracted after the first interaction but pulled on a happy mask when game time rolled around.
It wasn’t until she came back from the ladies’ room that I noticed the sadness in her eyes, despite her attempts to hide behind the smoky lenses of her sunglasses.
I don’t fill the quiet space between us with words of my own, waiting for her to continue. I’m ready to crawl out of my skin as she sniffles, her eyes lowering to the floor as she attempts to gather herself. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long, listening intently as she goes on.
“He said the most vile, hurtful things about me and the kids, blaming us for his absence. They were just babies, Austin.” Her features twist with emotion, and my heart cracks as more tears stream down her cheeks.
“Maybe it was my fault in some ways, but it was never theirs. They just wanted their daddy. How…how could he ever blame them for that?”
She drops her face into her palms, her shoulders shaking as she sobs.
Every bone in my body feels like it weighs a million pounds, rage rushing through my veins at the sound of her anguished cries.
I feel completely helpless, watching as the most important person in my world falls to pieces because she couldn’t shield her children from a man who never deserved them in the first place.
“Shhh,” I say, pulling her into my arms gently.
She wilts into the embrace, weeping quietly as I do everything I can to hold her together.
“I’m here, baby. I’m here.” I repeat the phrase over and over, a hushed reminder that she’s not alone, and that it’s going to be okay.
It isn’t until her broken sobs fade into soft, sorrowful whimpers that I curl a finger under her chin and lift her swollen, watery gaze to mine.
“He’s wrong, Paris. About all of it.” I swallow, fighting back tears of my own when I think of how much pain this asshole has caused for all of them.
“You didn’t make those kids on your own, and he should’ve been by your side instead of abandoning you when you needed him the most. His selfishness wasn’t—and still isn’t—your fault.
Fuck him for not seeing what he had and doing whatever it took to keep you. ”
Her chin quivers. “What if you get bored with me? My life isn’t glamorous.
I don’t dress up or attend fancy parties because I can hardly ever find a sitter.
I’m lucky if I get five minutes of downtime before I pass out at night, sometimes without even making it to my own bed.
You deserve better than a woman who’s only able to offer you whatever’s left of herself at the end of every day, Austin. You deserve the world.”
“You are my world…just the way you are,” I reply, my brows pulling tight as I internally beseech her to understand. “This life, as crazy as it may be at times, is exactly what I want. What can I do to make you see that? I’ll fucking do it, Paris. Just give me a chance.”
She shakes her head, and by the look on her face alone, I know I’m mere seconds away from having everything I’ve ever wanted ripped from my grasp.
I’m ready to plead—to beg her not to do this to us—but I’m not sure it would change anything even if I did.
Whatever Braxton said fucked with her head, and now I’m about to pay the price for it.
“I need a break, Austin. This is all moving way too fast.”
My mouth goes dry, my chest aching as though someone’s reached inside and yanked my heart right out.
It hurts so bad that I have to physically rub over it with my fingers just to make it bearable, but this isn’t the kind of pain that can be massaged away, no matter how much I try.
My eyes burn as they bounce back and forth between hers, the words still not making sense, even though she said them loud and fucking clear.
“What kind of break?”