Page 158 of How You See Me
I whip around, chest heaving. “What do you want?”
“Forgiveness.” The word cracks in his throat.
I wish I could feel something other than hatred. I’m too damn tired to deal with him and his convenient remorse.
“You haven’t earned it.” I pivot to continue down the sidewalk to find that elusive oxygen I need, but his hard footsteps echo behind me, stealing it all. “I don’t have the patience for this.” I don't bother stopping or turning around. He hasn't earned that respect either. “I have too much on my plate right now.”
“I know.”
That stops me, and he stumbles backward when his momentum almost makes him crash into me. I outweigh him by at least thirty pounds of muscle. That collision wouldn’t bode well for him, and he knows better than to test me. “How the hell would you know?”
“Your mother keeps me updated.”
“What?”
“She and I have kept in touch. For the last three years.”
Just my luck.
“I’m sorry you felt abandoned,” he says before I have a chance to speak and shut him out. “But I wasn’t in a good place—”
“Don’t care.” I cut him off. “This was never about me. It’s what you did to everyone else that I take issue with. I’ll never understand why she forgave you.”
“Because I still love her.”
“Fuck you. If that were true, you wouldn’t have waited for Ava to get sick before crawling back.”
His gaze drops to the concrete beneath us.
I take a deep breath, trying to contain the explosion inside me. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You’ve never wanted to be a father to her. So, what do you care?”
“I didn’t want more kids back then. That’s true. Your mom getting pregnant with Ava was a shock, but she’s my flesh and blood, and—”
“You didn’t think so at the time."
“I panicked and I’m not proud of it. I’ve spent the last five years trying to win you all back.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’ve done everything I can think of, but—”
“Reach out to me. Everything except that.”
“Your mother wouldn’t give me the time of day for years. I knew you’d support her.”
“Damn right. She’s a force to be reckoned with and you don’t deserve her.”
“I know.”
I cross my arms, my bullshit meter fully activated. “What did you do to worm your way back in?”
“Wore her down with consistent groveling. She finally agreed to go on a date with me right before Ava got sick. I’ve been here the entire time, Hayes. I love you all like I never left.”
“But you did. You broke Mom’s heart and tossed Ava aside like yesterday’s trash. She’s the light of this family, the glue, and you missed all the good times.”
He shakes his head. “You’re wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
