Page 94 of Pucked Together

She takes the seat next to me. "You hit Trevor…for me."

A chuckle escapes me. " I did."

"Why?"

I stay quiet a moment, deciding whether or not it's worth opening up that wound for her. But I trust her to know what she needs. And if she's asking me. Then she's ready.

"He called you something that you aren't."

She tilts her head and gazes at me. "I talked to him, you know."

Oh shit. Here it goes. I've been dying to find out what that exchange at the arena was about.

"Trish cornered him. She was always jealous of me—of my relationship with him. He came over to pick me up for our anniversary, and she tried to seduce him, dragging him into my room. I walked in on them."

Of course. Of course, he'd turn this around and try to make himself out to be the victim. I can feel the rage bubbling up and I don't know if I'll be able to control it much longer.

I take a deep breath before I say, "And you believe him?"

"Please,” she scoffs,” I may have been a virgin, but that doesn't make me gullible. He tried to tell me when it happened, but I was so pissed at the time. I saw red. I threw his ring at him, and I had an asthma attack in the middle of the fight. I refused to talk to him after that. For me, it was over. But I called Trish the other day."

I dipped my head, listening to her up until this point. But this is new information, and I perk up.

"And what did she say?"

She throws her head back to rest it on the couch. "That it's true. They had never done anything. She admitted she made a pass at him, and I walked in at the worst possible moment. But she heard about the incident on the plane. And she felt so guilty. She's been wanting to come clean. They did eventually get together, but it was only after I refused to speak to either of them."

Okay. So this is it. She's not leaving me to go to Cali. And she's not leaving me to pursue a new career. She's leaving me...for her ex. I can't help the breath of frustration that comes out of me, and I slump forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I hold my head.

Izzy shifts beside me.

"Ryker."

"What?" I say, trying my best to hold back the anger that I'm feeling at this fucked-up situation.

"Look at me," she demands.

I do. I look at her. And those beautiful brown eyes are looking at me, burning a hole into my heart again. I thought I lost her on that plane. I thought she'd never leave that hospital bed. But for some reason, this hurt feels far worse. Like a betrayal.

"And none of that matters," she says, still holding my gaze.

"What are you saying?" My arms fall to my sides as I sit up again, trying to hear her out.

"None of that matters. Because Trevor and I were never meant to be. To this day, I doubt he knows my favorite color or what movie I love to watch over and over. He doesn't know me. He doesn't love me. He might like the idea of me. But we talked. And us splitting up, it was the right thing."

"So you don't want to go back to him?" I clarify.

Izzy pushes me back on the couch and swings one leg over me until she's straddling me. "No. And do you know why?"

She has her arms around my neck and is looking down at me. She pulls my hair back so that I'm face-to-face with her. I think I might be a little in shock.

"Because even though I can't remember. I know that you're the man I love. You're the man who makes me feel the most free. The most cared for. The most....me."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

She chuckles, running her fingers through my hair and eliciting a groan to rumble in my chest. "Because I'm having your baby, Ryker. And I wasn't a virgin because I was saving myself for marriage. I was saving myself for the man that I loved. A man that respected me enough to allow me to decide what was right for me. And didn't push it. And I don't know every detail of what happened between us. And maybe I never will. But I know myself well enough to trust that I made the right choice by choosing you."

Nothing, nothing in the world can feel as amazing as this moment right here. Maybe when I'm holding our baby in my arms and looking at this beautiful woman and the life we created together—maybe it'll surpass the feelings that are rising in me right now.