I can’t.
I won’t.
Because there’s no use denying it. I am in love with her.
I rush forward, needing to go after her.
“Dean!” Kara catches my arm. “Don’t go!”
“Stop,” I say and pull my arm back. Kara tightens her hold on me and then hurries forward, grabbing my face and kissing me. Her lips are familiar, and she’s still wearing the cherry lip gloss she wore before. I know exactly what to expect, what to feel.
And it does nothing for me.
Doesn’t spark anything inside of me. Doesn’t make my heart skip a beat or cause desire to flood through my veins like it does with Rory.
“What the fuck?” I spit, pulling away. I hold Kara at arm’s length. She fights against me, breaking free, and comes right back, hands going to my belt.
“Stop!” I yell, brow furrowed. “What the fuck are you doing?” I swat her hands away.
“I want you,” she says biting her lip. “And I miss you. I miss you so much, Dean. Don’t you miss me?”
“No,” I say, and the word reverberates through me. I don’t miss her. I thought I missed what we had, but it hits me hard and all at once: what we had was an illusion. “I don’t, and I don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re still here. I told you to go.”
“I can’t,” she says, tears falling from her eyes.
“Why not?”
“Because…because I’m pregnant,” she blurts and looks up at me.
Silence hangs in the air and my lips part, a sharp breath leaving my lungs. “You came here, trying to get me to sleep with you.” Dizziness crashes down on me, and I feel like I might throw up. “You were going to lie and tell me the baby was mine.”
“You always wanted to be a father, and you’d be a good one.”
“Yeah, to my own kid.” The shock is wearing off and I’m pissed. Really fucking pissed. “You were going to manipulate me into getting back together. Do you think I’m stupid, Kara? Don’t you think I’d realize the timelines didn’t match up and I’d know it wasn’t my child?”
“I don’t know,” she cries. “All I know is I miss you, Dean. I want a family. With you. I still love you.”
“No, you don’t. You need me, because you know I was always there. I carried my weight. I wasn’t perfect, but I tried.” I swallow my anger. It’s not worth it. Not anymore. I raise my hand and point to the door. “Leave.”
“Dean.”
“No. I’m going to call your sister and tell her to expect you. Go. Now.”
Kara sucks in a breath. “I’m sorry. For…for everything.”
“Just go.”
I watch Kara put her shoes on, sobbing as she ties each lace. Finally, she’s out of my house, and I lock the door behind her.
“Motherfucker,” I say through gritted teeth, balling my hands into fists. I storm back into the kitchen and pick up my phone, calling Rory.
The call goes to voicemail.
I call her back and she ends the call after one ring.
I call once more and this time her phone doesn’t even ring.
Closing my eyes, I lean against the cabinet, needing to keep my cool. Several minutes go by and I try Rory again. Her phone is either off or she blocked me.
But it’s not too late. I have to make this right.Chapter 36RoryMy bottom lips quivers and I barely hold it together on my way down the driveway. I have no idea how things went from fucking perfect to falling apart in three seconds flat.
I thought I was enough. I thought Dean cared about me the way I cared about him. My heart hurts, and I feel so stupid.
I’m crying as I start the Jeep, tears falling like rain. I yank my seatbelt into place. A small part of me hoped Dean would run out, telling me he made a mistake and he does care and want to be with me.
But he doesn’t.
I drive out of the neighborhood, and my phone rings. Expecting it to be Dean, I’m hit with disappointment when I see that it’s Michelle from Silver Ridge again.
I go to decline the call, hitting the red button on my screen display in the Jeep, but accidentally answer instead. I suck in a breath, trying to calm myself.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Rory! Sorry to bug you again, but I’m scheduling interviews and I’d really love to have you back. Would you be able to come in tomorrow?”
“Um,” I don’t work tomorrow. Or the next day. And I don’t see a reason for staying in Eastwood right now, especially when I’ll get a promotion if I go back to Silver Ridge. It was my plan all along. Be a unit manager and continue to work my way up to director. If Dean wasn’t in my life, Id’ say this was fate.
I’m getting exactly what I wanted career-wise. “I think so. What time are you scheduling interviews?”