Page 92 of Pucked Together

"Iz," I knock on her door. "Can I come in?"

The music stops, and I hear her approach the door before it's unlocked and pried open. She leans on the doorframe, crossing her arms.

"If you're here to ask me to apologize, I won't."

"I'd never ask you to apologize for how you feel."

She rolls her eyes, but I see the edge of her mouth quirk up. "Thank you."

"Are you going to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry," she says, returning to sit on the edge of her bed.

I don't wait for her to invite me. I go to sit next to her.

We just sit there together and don't say anything for what feels like forever. And just when I'm about to say something, she does too.

"You first," she points at me.

"No, you."

She pauses, her eyes dancing over my features. "Tell me what happened. I can't keep living in this fog, Ryker. I don't know who I can trust or what my relationship is with every person that pops into my daily life. It's confusing. I don't know what to believe."

"I can't do that, Iz. You know that's not going to help."

She closes her eyes and breathes in deeply. "Then...I need to go back."

Her words take me by surprise. "To Keelan's?"

"No," she says quickly. "To LA. To the only place that makes sense—because nothing here does."

"Iz, that's....that's not going to help."

"I already have a job offer. It pays well. They'll provide accommodations and I'll be able to pay for childcare once the baby comes."

This can't be real. She can't be serious right now.

"Izzy, you can't just leave."

"Why not?" She stands. "I'm fucked up, Ryker. I'm about to be a mom, and I'm couch surfing between my brother's house and my baby daddy's house, and I have no stability here. Nothing to keep me here except for some buried memories that my brain doesn't seem to want to remember."

"You have Keelan. You have Rina. You even have the team. They're all here for you."

I reach for her hand, but she snatches it back.

"You have me," I add. "And I know it doesn't make sense to you right now, but that means something. At least it did."

She puts her hands up to her face, and tears slide down her cheeks.

"Iz, we're going to figure this out. Together. You stay here, and you'll never have to be alone. Do you want your Aunt to come stay with us? I'll make it happen. Whatever you want."

"What I want is for you to tell me. Tell me everything."

She's so persistent. It's one of the things I love about her. But doing that would go against her doctor's recommendations. And it means Keelan would actually kill me. He's held back so much for her own good.

Her eyes are piercing into my soul. Pleading. So I pull out my phone and unlock it. Handing it to her.

"All of our texts are there. Pull them up, and read them. Get your answers. But promise me something, Izzy." I hold the phone back when she reaches for it, and I take her chin in my hand, making her face me. "Promise me you'll stay."