Page 104 of Interference
“Then you be in that child’s life and you be the best father you can be. You can’t make her love you, man, but that doesn’t mean you can’t love that kid. You know as well as I do that kid needsyou in their life. I know this is killing you right now, but even if you lose her, you will never lose that kid.”
He’s right. I don’t want to lose her, but I can’t make her stay. What I can do is make sure she reaches her dream while I make sure our child has a great life.
“Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.”
Colson comes back into the room with his laptop and sets it up at the coffee table as he sits on the floor.
“Email me that video,” he tells me.
I do as he asks.
He opens it up and starts playing it again. Hearing those words from my voice hurt me, so I can’t even imagine how it felt for her.
I’ll never get her back at this point. Even if we can prove it, those words will be in her head. She will hear them in my voice. How can I compete with that?
Ashley is smart. She went for the thing that would hurt Emery most. Me.
Why, though? What is her motivation? She already got Emery’s spot on the team.
“All right, yeah. There is something here. It’s not going to be easy. I’m still in the early classes for this stuff, but I think I can separate the AI audio from the video. It’ll take time, though.”
“How long?” I ask.
“A day or two, maybe? I’ll see if any of my buddies can help it go quicker,” he says, turning back to his computer.
“Thank you, Colson. I won’t forget this.”
He gives me a smile over his shoulder. “It’s what family does, right? Besides, I like Emery. She’s always been nice to me, even before you were a thing.”
Of course, she was because even with everything she has going on, Emery has always had a heart of gold. I only hope shecan keep that heart together a little while longer while we figure this out.
Don’t give up on me, buttercup. Not yet.
twenty-seven
Two days.
It’s been two days since my heart was ripped out of my chest. My eyes are constantly burning, and my cheeks are raw from all the crying I’ve done. I can’t stop crying. I’ve cried so much that at this point, I don’t know where the tears are coming from. I never knew a broken heart could hurt like this.
My phone buzzes, and I look down at the screen. For the first time all day, I smile.
Cora
I just saw a grown man run away, screaming over a spider.
Peyton
I want to say something mean, but I’ll refrain.
Grace
I’m so proud of you for learning not to say the first thing that pops into your head.
Shaking my head, I drop my phone.
When Brett broke my heart, I fully expected his friends to take his side. Only they didn’t.
