Page 49 of Eternal Pieces

My initial reaction is to hide the truth from her. But that’s never done us any good before.

“Vi, baby, these texts…”

She spins, her eyes wide and full of guilt.

“You already know?” I ask.

She puts down the dress she’s holding and looks at her feet. “I— yeah. I’ve been getting them for a while.”

“What texts?” Max says, getting up and taking the phone from me.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us? These are fucking vile. This one says they hope you lose the babies, and we’ll leave you.”

Jesus, what sick person has been sending them?

Violet looks back up, her chin wobbling with shock. “They’ve never been that bad before. Usually, it’s about how wrong it is for us to be together or how much of a slut I am. I don’t care what anyone thinks of us, so I was deleting them and blocking the numbers.”

“Numbers? How long exactly has this been going on for?” Max shouts. I shoot him a warning look, telling him to reel it in, and he does. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m concerned, is all.”

She stands there frozen and clearly in need of a hug. I’m about to go to her when Max swoops in first. Good. He needs to learn to be softer with her when his temper gets the better of him.

“Baby, you’ve been dealing with this all by yourself?” I ask.

“Sarah knows, but it’s honestly not a big deal. Well, it wasn’t until they mentioned my babies. Did they really say that?” Her words are muffled from the way she’s pressing her face into Max’s chest.

He tilts her chin up. “We’ll get you a new phone, a new number. It’ll stop, then Mad and I will deal with it.”

“How? You can’t go around hurting people. I graduate in two days. I’ll never have to see Aaron again after that.”

“They’re from Aaron?” I knew we should have dealt with him from the start.

“I assume so. He’s said some nasty things to my face before.”

Closing my eyes, I take a breath. When I open them, Max’s are on me. He gives me the tiniest nod. We’ll deal with him. Violet doesn’t have to know a thing.

“Are you sure you want to stay?” Violet’s arms are locked around my neck. I have to stoop a little so she can reach me, but the discomfort is worth it.

“It’s only for a day. Dad will drive us back in time for your graduation, I swear it. And if you miss me, then look at Max’s face. I know he’s not quite as handsome as me, but he’ll do ina pinch.” I wink at her and she laughs, the melodic sound of it always brings a smile to my face.

“It should be me staying,” Max says.

“No, it shouldn’t. You said it yourself. This is your life now, you don’t need to see his face to move on.”

“But you do?” He calls me out.

After seeing those texts, I definitely do. Once he’s away for good then all that’s left are his fuckface friends who think they can insult my girl and get away with it.

“Will you video call tonight?” Violet asks hopefully, pushing up onto her tiptoes to press her forehead to mine.

“Of course. It’s my turn for storytime with the babies. But right now it’s time for you to go home.” After unlocking Violet’s arms from my neck, I toss Max the car keys, and he goes to start the engine.

“I don’t want to leave you.” Violet’s tiny voice breaks my heart.

I try not to think of the moment she left for college and how I shut her out in this very spot, but it’s clearly still hurting her.

Pulling her close for another hug, I brush my lips against her ear. “It’s not like last time.”

It’ll never be like that again.

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