Page 108 of My Ex's Best Friend

I stare out of the window.

Is Jake here? For me? No, that can’t be. He has no good reason to be here.

I close my eyes as a wave of sadness passes over me.

Mom’s words keep replaying in my head. She’s right about one thing. I know Jake.

I never thought that he would do this. Am I making a mistake here?

What was Ellie trying to tell me earlier? I reach for my phone and then stop. No, I’m letting my emotions cloud my judgment. That’s how people find it so easy to cheat on me.

And maybe one day, for the sake of my baby, we’ll have to set aside our differences and make peace. But that’s not going to be today. Just the thought of the future, of us being apart, shatters me from inside all over again.

27

JAKE

"Jake Bennett," Kiera’s father greets me coldly. I expect him to shut the door on my face, but he doesn’t. "You have some nerve coming to my house after what you did to my daughter."

"I'm here to offer my sincere apologies," I say. “I left a note the other day…”

“That was you,” Ray replies, folding his arms in front of his chest.

He’s at least half a foot shorter than me but looks formidable. He has the same ashy blond hair Kiera has. I haven’t seen him in over a decade, but the man has aged gracefully. “What part of it were you apologizing to me for?”

“Listen, this is between Kiera and me. I want to talk to her first.”

He scowls. “You have some nerve, boy. Showing up at my door like this. Demanding to see my daughter after everything that happened.”

"Trust me when I say that I didn't mean for things to turn out this way."

"Which part? Knocking up my daughter or leaving her for good?" Ray Crofton says.

"With all due respect, I didn't abandon her. I'm ready to step up to my responsibilities. It's just that up until yesterday, I had no idea where she was."

"Are you saying that she was the one who ran away?" Ray replies, his voice thundering.

I close my eyes. Shit. Her parents don’t know that she left without talking to me up front.

Somewhere upstairs, I hear a door slamming shut. That must be Kiera. I didn’t mean to throw her under the bus like that.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“So, what did you mean?”

“There were some miscommunications. From both my end and hers. I don’t blame her.”

Mr. Crofton is frowning at me. “You really didn’t know?”

“I would never abandon her. There was a misunderstanding. I wasn’t in the country, and she left before I could talk to her about it.”

The door opens wider as he sighs. “Come in.”

The breath I had no idea I was holding leaves me. At least he’s not kicking me out right away.

An awkward silence ensues as he gestures for me to sit down on the couch. A few moments later, Kiera’s mother comes down the stairs. "Jake, how's your mother doing?"

"She's good, Mrs. Crofton. She was asking about you. It would be great if you could go out to lunch with her. She misses hanging out with you."

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