Page 40 of Waiting for Her

His eyes widen, and he sits up, leaning toward me. “And since when did you start hanging out or hell, even talking with, Bri again?”

“Since she was assigned my story forSI.”

“It seems as though you and I have a lot to catch up on.”

I bark out a humorless laugh. “Another accurate statement.”

For the next hour or so, I go over everything that’s happened since last weekend right before Mia went into labor. A lifetime has occurred in those few days.

“Well, no one said your life is ever boring.”

I pull on my hair, probably making it stand on end. “How is this okay? How did I not know that she was carrying my child? That she suffered through a miscarriage and I didn’t know? No one told me, Blake! Not Christine, not Andy, and not Bri! I was wallowing in my own self-pity because she left me, and there she was, pregnant with my child and, essentially, alone.”

“You have no control over that,” he reminds me. “She didn’t want to be around you. She made it clear as day. And you didn’t have a clue she was pregnant. I know you, Grady. If you’d have known, you’d have broken down every wall she so firmly built up and made sure she let you back in. Stormed into her life to take care of her, help her.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “Maybe that was her plan.”

“To hide the pregnancy?”

I look at him for a moment, his eyebrow raised at me, head turned to the side as if he doesn’t believe that for a second.

“No. I have to believe that if she hadn’t lost the baby, she would have told me.”

“Maybe she didn’t know what to say about it since it was… um, no longer,” he hedges. “It’s possible she thought she didn’t need to add to your hurt after breaking up with you.”

I think about that. I wasn’t lying when I said I believe she would have told me.

“I’m so pissed,” I growl.

He nods. “At?”

“Her. Life. Fucking Todd and his cheating ways.”

“You’re mad at her dead father?”

“Yes. I am. I don’t apologize for that. He made his daughter lose all sense of reason. He took away her ability to trust. To believe in love for fuck’s sake.”

“I’m not sure he’s still to blame.”

I lean back against the back of the couch, letting my arm settle on top of Rocky’s soft fur. I scratch on top of his head and he sighs deeply, content for the little bit of attention he’s receiving from me.

“I gotta blame someone,” I murmur.

“I get that.”

“So, Bri? How’d she look?” he asks, trying to lighten the mood, the smirk covering his face giving him away.

I half-smile, despite myself. “Gorgeous.”

He spreads his hands out before him. “As usual.”

“Right.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Well, I’m going to go to practice tomorrow, watch as the entire team works their asses off to not stare at her, do my best to do the same, and shut down every feeling I still have for her.”

“Can I ask why?”

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