Page 85 of Coast

“I didn’t know where else to go,” Zoe said. “I tried… somewhere else first.”

The way her whole body tensed at that got my attention.

“Where?”

Zoe sucked in a breath and glanced up at me. “Lainey’s father.”

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

“The day the stick turned blue.”

Lainey’s head rested on my chest, clearly exhausted from the events of the night.

“How’d that go?” Not well, clearly, if she came to my door.

Zoe snorted. “If I ever needed a reminder of why I was willing to struggle like I do, that little visit was it.”

“He’s a dick, huh?” He had to be to let his baby’s mother and his baby live in a motel, doing gig work to just barely keep the two of them fed and clothed.

“You have no idea.”

“Was he always?”

To that, Zoe let out a snort. “That’s complicated. I’d say hewasn’tan asshole for the first couple of months.”

“What made you stay after the switch?”

“I had nothing. My mom had recently passed, and I got this message on social media. He went on and on about my silly little dance video I posted. Telling me how he could manage me, could take my career to new heights, could make me a ton of money.”

“So you came down here.”

“So I came down here. And to be fair, he did make me famous. I mean… notfamousfamous. But I had a ton of viral dance videos. I never actually saw the money for them, though. Travis technically owned my accounts. The money was his. I mean, I did get to live in a mansion. And while I was there, I had nice clothes and good food, trips out, all that.

“But as Travis became a more abusive boss—”

“Boss or partner?”

“Well, I guess it’s hard to differentiate. He screamed at me as my boss, but that boss was also my boyfriend, so, yeah. It felt all-around not great. But, yeah, I had no idea how under his thumb I was until I got pregnant.”

“He didn’t want kids?”

“I don’t think he even saw the pregnancy ashis. He just saw the situation as the end of my virality. He wanted me to terminate. And, I mean, I debated it. But I just… I wanted her. Even if it meant my career would take a backseat. I thought we were in a good place to have a baby. Travis clearly had a lot of money.”

“But he wasn’t on board.”

“As soon as I said I wanted to have the baby, he kicked me out. Practically dragged me out of the house while barking at his assistant to tell him to pack my things.

“It wasn’t until I got to a hotel room that I checked my bags and realized that Jake had only packed the things I showed up to Miami with. All the new clothes, the electronics, the jewelry, even my one decent pair of shoes weren’t packed. Thank God I never sold my car like Travis suggested. It might not be much, but it’s the only thing that allowed us to survive.”

“Fucking hate the deadbeat dads. You made it, you take care of it. Even just financially.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But it seems like a lot of men don’t feel that way. Travis. Brooke’s and Tasha’s exes. The list goes on.”

“You didn’t want to force him to pay, knowing he has the money?”

“I was worried he would use her against me,” she said, glancing down to where I was rubbing my hand up and down Lainey’s back while she slept. “And, worse yet, would exploit her for views when she got a little bigger.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

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