Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Connor

T he tingle at the base of my spine was building. I could feel my balls getting tight, but I couldn't bring myself to let go.

This wasn't right.

I never thought I'd describe sex with Ivy as wrong, but that was what this felt like. Wrong . She was riding me. I was wedged as deep inside her as I could be, but she was disconnected.

"Butterfly, slow down." She kept the same pace, her head tossed back and her eyes squeezed closed. Her hands were braced on my chest, her nails digging into my skin there, but in that moment, I was only a dick she was using to get off. She was shutting herself off from me. She'd been doing that for nearly two weeks now, ever since the fight in the carriage house.

Things had been strained since that night, and I knew I was at fault, but I didn't know how the fuck to fix it.

No, that wasn't right. I knew how.

I couldn't bring myself to give her what she'd asked for. What she had pleaded for as worry filled those deep blue eyes. Guilt had been eating away at me for two fucking weeks. It was why that envelope was still sitting in the carriage house, unopened.

A growl rumbled up from my chest as her pussy fluttered around me. "Look at me, baby."

She was shutting me out. It was a truth both of us had been ignoring since the fight, one we'd been tiptoeing around but refusing to acknowledge. We still slept together every night. We still fucked like the world's survival depended on it. But where it used to fill me up, it now felt empty. I got the feeling this was her way of trying to work me out from under her skin. I couldn't let that happen.

"Ivy, goddamn it. Look at me ," I snapped.

When she kept those eyes from me. I couldn't take it any longer. Grabbing hold of her hips, I flipped us over so fast she let out a yelp. I drove back into her so hard her eyes widened, finally meeting mine.

"There you are," I breathed as I started fucking her hard and fast, driving both of us to the brink. "You aren't getting rid of me that easy, baby." I lowered my forehead to hers, kissing her with every ounce of love I felt for her. "I won't let you work me out."

I pulled back in time to see a single tear slide down her cheek right before her cunt clamped down around me and she screamed out my name with her release. I followed right after her, shooting deep inside her on a groan so deep it rattled my bones.

Once she'd wrung every drop from me, I collapsed on top of her, burying my face in the crook of her neck as I pleaded. "Don't take yourself from me, butterfly. I'm beggin' you." She sniffled and I felt the dampness from more tears. "Christ, please don't cry. You're killin' me."

She sniffled, shaking her head, sadness infused in every inch of her face. "I don't know if I can keep doing this," she whispered, slicing me right to the bone.

I brushed the tip of my nose against her. "You have to. Because I can't live without you." My throat felt like it was on fire as I held back my own tears. "I love you, Ivy. I'm so in love with you. You and this baby are my whole world."

Those blue eyes went wide, her swollen lips parting on a gasp. For one moment, she smiled up at me with such beauty, I could see and feel her love for me in return. Then she cupped my cheek and whispered, "Then don't ride this weekend. I'm begging you, Connor. I can't stand the thought of something happening to you."

My heart sank. Squeezing my eyes closed, I croaked, "I have to."

She pushed on my shoulder, and as badly as I wanted to stay right where I was, I rolled off her. She pushed up to sitting and scooted to the edge of the bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. She wouldn't look at me as she whispered, "If you feel that strongly, I don't think you should wait to leave. You should go now."

She got up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and throwing the lock.

Ivy

I felt like a zombie as I moved through the aisles of Fresh Foods, the local grocery store. The wheels on the cart rattled as I pushed it. My hands reached out and blindly grabbed things off the shelves, dropping them into the cart without even seeing what they were.

When I'd gotten out of the bathroom the night before, Connor hadn't been there. He'd done as I suggested and left. Not back to the carriage house. He'd left . Making the drive to the rodeo in Hampton.

I spent the rest of the night curled up in bed, clutching my little chickpea and crying my eyes out.

He was only a few hours away, but to me, it felt like he was in a whole other galaxy. Between the sadness and the worry, I felt sick to my stomach. The only reason I'd dragged myself out of my house and to the grocery store was because I couldn't stand the silence any longer.

Rae and Lennix had been texting regularly, but I couldn't bring myself to reply. Apparently Connor had texted Zach the night before and explained things. I wasn't sure what that meant or what he'd told him, but he made Zach promise that he and the girls would check on me while he was gone.

That broke my heart even more.

Snatching a bottle of alfredo sauce off a shelf, I tossed it into my cart, not caring in the slightest that I didn't like alfredo sauce. I rounded the corner and slammed my cart into someone else's.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," I started. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That makes two of us."

My eyes came up and landed on Blythe. "Oh, hi."

She gave me a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Hi back."

I gripped the handle of my cart and shifted from foot to foot. "Again, I'm really sorry for crashing into you. Guess I'm as bad at cart pushing as I am at driving."

"It's all good," she said with a tiny chuckle. Her smile faded as she scanned my face. "Are you okay?"

I was sure I looked a wreck. Not that I'd bothered to check a mirror before I left the house earlier. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I sniffled and brushed at my cheeks. "Just stupid boy stuff." I tried to play it off with a small laugh that fell flat.

She cocked her head to the side. "I'm guessing the stupid boy in question is the one who came with you to your first doctor's appointment?"

I nodded, sniffling again as my eyes began to water. "Yeah," I croaked, no longer caring if I had a breakdown in the middle of the grocery store. "Things are... complicated at the moment."

Sympathy washed over her features. "Do you love him?"

I nodded silently as the tears began to fall.

"Then can I make a suggestion?"

"Please." I was willing to hear anything at this point.

"Uncomplicate it," she said firmly. "Whatever the issue is, if you love him, do not stop until you find a way to make it work." She reached over and placed her hand on top of mine. "Believe me, your life can change in the blink of an eye, and when that happens, you won't even remember the complications. You'll only remember the things you miss."

With one last squeeze, she released my hand, untangled our carts, and kept going in the direction she'd been heading.

I stood rooted in place for what felt like an eternity before what she said finally sank in. Ditching my cart right where I'd been standing, I spun around and jogged out of the store, pulling my phone out of my purse and dialing as I ran to my car.

"Ivy?" Rae answered halfway through the first ring. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. You guys feel like going to a rodeo with me tonight so I can tell the father of my baby that I'm in love with him?"

She answered by shrieking through the line.