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“I would jump through any hoop she threw my way if it made her happy. Why don’t you just admit that you realized you lost out, and now you’re pitching a fit because you can’t have her back? You just aren’t man enough to own up to your shit, so you have to take it out on her. I’ve stayed out of your guys’ business up until now. But I’m done letting you use her as your emotional punching bag. I’ll say it again: Have some damn respect for the mother of your child.”
“I’ll show you respect,” Jared snarls. Before I can even fully process what’s happening, Jared is flying towards Ryan, fist slinging at his face wildly. Ryan bats it away before it makes contact. In a blur of motion, his fist connects with Jared’s nose. Jared’s head snaps back with a crunch that could only mean something is broken.
I instinctively grab Ryan’s shoulders, not wanting it to go any further, but he’s not moving towards Jared. He’s just standing there looking at Jared who has backed up and is holding his nose, blood seeping through his fingers. Ryan shakes his hand out once before pumping it in a fist a few times.
“Fuck! You broke my nose, you asshole!” Jared screams in a nasally voice.
“Yes. I did,” Ryan says calmly. He turns to me. “Summer, are you alright?”
“Me? I’m fantastic,” I step around him and say to Jared, “It didn’t have to go this way. We were doing so good until you couldn’t stand that I moved on. I can’t keep going like this Jared. It’s escalated too far. I can’t have you flying off the handlejust because your pride is wounded. You were so worried abouthimbeing violent,” I toss my thumb behind me towards Ryan, “but take a look at yourself. You’re the one who keeps saying nasty things. You’re the one that threw the first punch. I’m done. Done.”
He looks at me, under eyes already turning a deep red, and blurts, “Say what you want, but he does not go near my daughter.”
“I don’t think you’re in a place to make those decisions. I think we call this a wash and try to move on. I was respecting your wishes as a courtesy because you’re her dad. But you haven’t shown me any kind of courtesy in years. Go get your nose looked at and then go home. I’ll start my week with Emma early. We’ll talk next steps tomorrow when you can hopefully be more civil.”
I leave Jared there, dripping blood on the concrete walkway. Only when I turn, Ryan in tow, do I notice we have quite the audience. I also feel my hands shaking and somehow in the past few minutes I lost my chai. Ryan nods toward a burly hospital security guard who is watching us from the entrance. As we pass him, the guard says, “Nice punch. Sounds like he deserved it.” He winks at me and then goes back to looking serious and intimidating.
We make it to Emma’s room in silence when I tug on Ryan’s arm just before the door. He stops in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asks, looking me over as if my emotional injury can be seen on the outside.
I can’t help the watery smile that takes over my face. “You keep asking me that.”
“Well today has been one for the books, so I feel the need to keep checking.” He brushes the tear from my lashes before it even has a chance to fall.
“I don’t know what I am. Not okay, that’s for sure. I need a second to process everything. It feels like it’s been a year since we woke up in bed this morning.” I rub my temples where my headhas begun to ache. “How's your hand, by the way?" I grab his right hand and inspect the slightly swollen knuckles.
“I’m fine. Nothing a little ibuprofen and ice can’t fix.” He looks down at his knuckles and shakes his head as if he can’t believe he actually punched Jared. He looks up at me and asks, “Do you want me to go in there with you?” He points to Emma’s door.
“Nah. I know I talked a big talk with Jared, but I don’t think the first formal introduction should be with her laid out in a hospital bed. I got this. It’s what moms do. We rally when it feels like we have nothing left to give, and then we give some more.” I check my phone and inhale a sharp breath. “Shoot. It’s been way over a half hour since we left Emma. Her nurse was only supposed to watch her for thirty. Okay. I have to go in there. Thank you. Again.” I give him a quick hug that he turns into a sweet kiss.
When we pull away he says, “Okay. This is always at your pace. You’re the one who has to think for two people, and I’ve just got me. I’m ready when you are. I hope she wakes up feeling a little better. And I’m sorry the day ended the way it did.”
“I’m not. If you hadn’t punched him, I probably would have. I’ll call you tomorrow when we get home.” He nods and presses a quick kiss to my forehead before pushing the door open for me.
“Oh, by the way, I got your car to the mechanic and they’re going to take a look when they get the time. I gave them your number to call when they figure out what’s up,” Ryan whispers before I can get inside.
I mouth, “Thank you,” and squeeze his arm in goodbye.
I enter the room, overnight bag in tow, seeing that Emma is still asleep, and the nurse has a book in her lap. “Thank you so much for watching her. I’m so sorry it took longer than you gave us.”
She waves my concern away, “I was just getting to the good part.” She wiggles the book in front of me.
“Ah.The Disastrous Duke. Loved that one. Charles is hot.”
She laughs quietly and her eyes scan over my face. “She didn’t even stir. The poor thing might just sleep through to the morning. That’s alright because her body needs the rest. You doing okay, sweetheart?”
“Everyone keeps asking me that.” I sink tiredly into the hard plastic chair next to the bed.
“Well, you just have that look. I know today was hard. It’s never easy to see your baby get hurt. When my son broke his wrist playing football, I damn near went ballistic on the poor kid who landed on itwrong.”
I huff out a humorless laugh and say, “Yeah it's been a tough day. Between this and all the other drama, I just want to sleep for a good week.”
“That man of yours cause issues?” At my look of confusion, she clarifies, “The blonde one. What was his name, Jacob?”
“Jared. How did you know?”
“Nurses talk,” she says with a wink.
“Yeah, well. He’s something else. He chose today of all days to be an even bigger ass than usual.”
