breasts and taking a stance that clearly said she was just getting started. “Because every time I tried to talk to you about it, you clammed up. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed and cried and threw pillows at your head. But your mind was made up, and that was the end of the story, as far as you were concerned. You wouldn’t listen to me and refused to understand my point of view.”
“I don’t want kids, Jenna,” he said, standing his ground. “That’s not an opinion that’s going to be swayed by a passionate, well-orchestrated argument.”
“But you did when we got married,” she all but shouted at him, rising on her bare tiptoes in an attempt to meet him eye to eye. “We talked about our future. We talked about having babies and growing old together.
You’re
the one who changed the rules in the middle of the game and expected me to go along with them.”
She paused only long enough to take a breath, uncross her arms, and poke him hard in the center of his chest with an index finger.
“Well, I
do
want kids. I wanted them with you in the picture, but you’ve decided to be an asshole, so now I have to switch to Plan B and get them some other way.”
He watched her, and despite what she thought, he
was
listening. But this was a battle that was never going to end. They could talk, yell, debate, and play Rock-Paper-Scissors until they were blue in the face, but neither of them was ever going to win.
She clearly wanted one thing, and he wanted another. And it wasn’t like they disagreed over what color to paint the guest bathroom; this was big-time, life-altering, mega-important stuff.
“And Plan B was tying me down and raping me?”
She reared back as though he’d struck her. “I’m sorry you feel that way about it,” she said. “That wasn’t my intention, and except for the circumstances, I thought you were as into it as I was.”
For a brief moment, guilt stabbed at him. It hadn’t been that bad, and they both knew it. In fact, part of what had him so ticked off was the knowledge that even if he’d understood what she was up to at the time, he still wouldn’t have stopped. He still wouldn’t have fought hard enough to break free and toss her aside.
“So what do we do now, Jenna?” he asked calmly. “Wait to see if I’ve been strong-armed into fatherhood?”
“No. We don’t have to wait for anything. I did this because
I
want a baby. You don’t, and I would never force you to be involved in something you didn’t willingly sign on for. I won’t ask anything of you, Gage,”she rushed to reassure him. “If I’m pregnant, I’ll raise the child alone. I’ll tell people I was artificially inseminated or that it’s the result of a one-night stand or something. It won’t affect you at all. No matter what, you can go on with your life and pretend last night never happened.”
Gage wouldn’t have thought it possible to be more furious than he’d been when he’d overheard her conversation with Grace, but that last statement did it. He felt his temperature rising, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a sneer.
Taking the single step that brought them nose-to-nose once again, he leaned in until she was forced to lean back or risk him touching her. As it was, his hot breath bathed her face and feathered through the hair at her temples.
“If you believe that,” he hissed, “then you never really knew me at all.”
And with that, he spun on his heel, crossed the room to grab his leather jacket, and slammed out the front door.
Knit 7
Ronnie wrinkled up the empty Combos bag and tossed it over her shoulder into the back seat. Then she reached into the console and dug around for a stick of gum.
“Dylan is not going to appreciate it when I show up at his door with dragon breath,” she said, as Grace made a right-hand turn into the Marriott parking lot.
“Dylan is going to be so thrilled to see you, he won’t care if your breath smells like Charlotte’s barn,”
“I don’t want kids, Jenna,” he said, standing his ground. “That’s not an opinion that’s going to be swayed by a passionate, well-orchestrated argument.”
“But you did when we got married,” she all but shouted at him, rising on her bare tiptoes in an attempt to meet him eye to eye. “We talked about our future. We talked about having babies and growing old together.
You’re
the one who changed the rules in the middle of the game and expected me to go along with them.”
She paused only long enough to take a breath, uncross her arms, and poke him hard in the center of his chest with an index finger.
“Well, I
do
want kids. I wanted them with you in the picture, but you’ve decided to be an asshole, so now I have to switch to Plan B and get them some other way.”
He watched her, and despite what she thought, he
was
listening. But this was a battle that was never going to end. They could talk, yell, debate, and play Rock-Paper-Scissors until they were blue in the face, but neither of them was ever going to win.
She clearly wanted one thing, and he wanted another. And it wasn’t like they disagreed over what color to paint the guest bathroom; this was big-time, life-altering, mega-important stuff.
“And Plan B was tying me down and raping me?”
She reared back as though he’d struck her. “I’m sorry you feel that way about it,” she said. “That wasn’t my intention, and except for the circumstances, I thought you were as into it as I was.”
For a brief moment, guilt stabbed at him. It hadn’t been that bad, and they both knew it. In fact, part of what had him so ticked off was the knowledge that even if he’d understood what she was up to at the time, he still wouldn’t have stopped. He still wouldn’t have fought hard enough to break free and toss her aside.
“So what do we do now, Jenna?” he asked calmly. “Wait to see if I’ve been strong-armed into fatherhood?”
“No. We don’t have to wait for anything. I did this because
I
want a baby. You don’t, and I would never force you to be involved in something you didn’t willingly sign on for. I won’t ask anything of you, Gage,”she rushed to reassure him. “If I’m pregnant, I’ll raise the child alone. I’ll tell people I was artificially inseminated or that it’s the result of a one-night stand or something. It won’t affect you at all. No matter what, you can go on with your life and pretend last night never happened.”
Gage wouldn’t have thought it possible to be more furious than he’d been when he’d overheard her conversation with Grace, but that last statement did it. He felt his temperature rising, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a sneer.
Taking the single step that brought them nose-to-nose once again, he leaned in until she was forced to lean back or risk him touching her. As it was, his hot breath bathed her face and feathered through the hair at her temples.
“If you believe that,” he hissed, “then you never really knew me at all.”
And with that, he spun on his heel, crossed the room to grab his leather jacket, and slammed out the front door.
Knit 7
Ronnie wrinkled up the empty Combos bag and tossed it over her shoulder into the back seat. Then she reached into the console and dug around for a stick of gum.
“Dylan is not going to appreciate it when I show up at his door with dragon breath,” she said, as Grace made a right-hand turn into the Marriott parking lot.
“Dylan is going to be so thrilled to see you, he won’t care if your breath smells like Charlotte’s barn,”
Similar Books
