34. Skylar

I stopped at a hotel when I was about an hour away from Philadelphia. I needed sleep and food. Now that I know there’s a little baby inside of me, I don’t want to push myself any harder. My things will still be there in the morning. I”m not going to risk falling asleep behind the wheel to get there fast. I”m sure Garrett isn’t going to give me the key tonight anyway.

I know he wakes up at nine in the morning on Saturdays, so I make sure to leave the hotel a little before nine, making me get there when he’s just about ready for the day.

I march up to his apartment door, the same apartment I lived in seven months ago. I rap my fist against the smooth wood and wait. The door slowly opens and a surprised Garrett stares back at me.

“I need the key to the unit.” I hold my hand out and wait.

“Skylar… I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Who were you expecting to pack up my shit and drive it eight hours to me?” I arch a brow, letting my anger take over.

“I don’t know. I guess I thought you’d pay a moving company.” He shrugs a shoulder. “You might as well come in… I need to find the key.”

“Of course you do.” I roll my eyes, following him into the room. I tug on my shirt, trying to pluck it away from my stomach.

I don’t have a huge baby bump, but it’s there. A teeny tiny perfectly rounded stomach. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it.

Garrett glances at me before turning back to the junk drawer. His eyes dart back to my stomach and stay locked on it.

“Sky…”

“What? Can”t you just give me the damn key so I can leave? I don’t have time for this!” I”m growing more and more impatient by the second.

“You’re… you’re pregnant.”

“No, I”m just fat,” I deadpan. I don’t want him knowing at all, but especially not before Tucker.

“Is it… is it mine?”

“Hell no! Thank God it’s not!”

“How far along are you?” He closes the distance between us, reaching out to touch my stomach. I jerk back, placing a protective hand over my baby. Tucker’s baby.

“Not far enough for it to be yours. I’ve been gone for seven months, Garrett, if this was yours,” I motion to my stomach, “I’d be out to here.” I move my hands a lot further away from me.

“Whose baby is it?” He crosses his arms over his chest, pinning me with a glare.

“Does it really matter?” I huff out a long sigh.

“Kinda. Were you cheating on me?”

“No! I didn’t sleep with anyone until after we broke up. Don’t you dare try to spin this on me.”

“Well, who’s bed did you fall into so quickly after being in mine?”

“I don’t want to have this conversation. Can”t you just give me the damn key?”

“No. I want my answers.” He moves closer again.

“Fine! I’ll go talk to the building manager. My name is technically still on the lease; therefore, I have access to all of it.” I try to move past him, but he reaches out a hand and grips my wrist.

“I don’t think so. I’ll give you the fucking key, but I want my answers first.”

My focus snaps to where he’s touching me. The bruise he’s bound to leave on my flesh and I lose it. I don’t trust he won”t hurt me or the baby. Garrett’s always been a little of a loose cannon, but his rage had never been focused on me… right now it is though and I don’t trust him one bit. I”m not going to give him the chance to hurt my baby. Tucker’s son is all that matters right now. I can”t have another miscarriage; I won”t survive it.

I show Garret the right hook Tucker taught me so many years ago. He releases me, gripping his face in pain. He moans as he drops to his knees and stares up at me in shock.

“I just wanted to know who gets to make you happy because he’s a lucky son of a bitch. It’s him, isn’t it?”

“Who?”

“The guy you were in love with when you moved here. I don’t think you ever stopped loving him.” His eyes plead with mine, trying to figure out where things went wrong. He doesn’t deserve to know anything about my life now. He lost that right the second he cheated on me.

“I didn’t cheat on you, Garrett. It doesn’t matter who I’d prefer to be with, I wouldn’t have cheated. I would’ve broken up with you… By the way, there were no video cameras in here. I thought I heard someone in the background when I was on the phone with you, so I acted like I already knew. I called you that day to break up with you. Living so far away from each other, our relationship wasn’t going to work.”

“You mean living in the same town as him, you didn’t want to make it work between us anymore.” He glares from his spot on the floor.

“Does it really matter? In the end, neither one of us wanted this.” I motion between the two of us. “At least not enough to make it work.”

“The key is in the drawer in the table next to the door. On the right side.” He slowly climbs to his feet and stares down at the floor, embarrassment flooding his features.

“You knew where it was the whole time?”

“I just wanted to talk to you, Sky. Things ended badly between us and I know it’s my fault. I pushed you to take that job, I didn’t care that you’d be in the same town with the man you’ve loved your entire life. I was too focused on finding time to hang out with the women I was sleeping with. I’ve always loved you, but it was never enough.”

“I’m walking out this door and I won”t be coming back. I don’t want to hear from you again, Garrett.”

“I understand. I hope you get the life you’ve always wanted… Can I at least help you pack your car? You shouldn’t be lifting all that stuff when you’re pregnant.”

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

He slowly slips on his shoes and grabs a sweatshirt, moving his jaw from side to side.

“Who the hell taught you to punch like that?”

“Tucker.” I grin, following him out the door and down to where the storage units are.

We quickly grab a few boxes. Doris did an amazing job at packing my things up and everything is labeled neatly. I open the car and start loading it up when something catches my attention.

I glance up, finding Colt and Tucker standing across the street in the same park I saw them last time. They both have their arms crossed over their chests, glares focused on Garrett.

Tucker moves first. He glances up and down the street before he’s crossing it and stopping right in front of me. His hazel eyes are dark and stormy. I have no clue what he’s doing here.