Page 10 of Forever, Never, Always (Forever #2)

“Shit, I wasn’t expecting that,” says Seb, blowing out a heavy breath. “How are you feeling about it?”

I shrug. “I get it,” I admit. “We’re in a new relationship, and she’s clearly not ready. But it would’ve been nice to talk about it, make that decision together with all the facts.”

“Do you think you could’ve convinced her to keep it?” asks Seb.

“Honestly, I don’t know, but I think I deserved a conversation.”

“What was the other reason?” asks Hugo. “You said you wanted to end things before you found that out.”

“We’re not going in the same direction and the abortion confirmed it.

She loves what she does, and she works damn hard at it.

She’ll achieve her dreams. But they don’t include a house and dog with three kids.

It’s not fair on either of us to keep on this path when we both know we’re going to come to a fork in the road and go our separate ways. ”

“I’m sorry to hear it,” says Hugo, patting my shoulder. “When are you going to tell her?”

“Tonight.” I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Good luck,” says Jimmy. “We’re here if you need us.”

I slow down as I pass Sofia’s, hearing the usual screams from Harry. I groan. I’ve been avoiding her since our near kiss, but the urge to help her out is strong, so I head up the path and knock on the door.

Sofia yanks it open, and I take in her tear-stained face and unruly hair. Harry is tucked under one arm as he wails. “I’m busy,” she mutters.

I nod, understanding her reluctance to invite me in. “Need a hand?”

She eyes me for a second before giving a slight nod and going back inside. I follow, shrugging from my jacket and draping it over the sofa. I take Harry, and he begins to turn his screams down a notch so they’re more of a whimper. “He hates me,” she mutters, going into the kitchen.

“You’re stressed. He can feel it.” I place Harry in his highchair and offer him his juice cup, which he takes.

“How do I stop being stressed when he’s screaming all the goddamn time?” She groans, burying her face in her hands and turning her back to me.

I hesitate for a moment—just a second—but then close the gap between us and gently tug her into me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

She collapses against my chest like she’s been holding up the entire world.

“It’s too hard,” she whispers, her voice sounding muffled in the material of my shirt. “I can’t do it.”

“You can,” I murmur, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. It lingers longer than it should. “You’re doing amazing.”

“No, I’m not,” she snaps, her voice cracking slightly as Harry whimpers louder.

“Hey.” I release her just enough to pinch her chin between my fingers and guide her head back to look me in the eye. “You’re doing great,” I say again, more firmly. “Harry loves you.”

She sniffles, her lips parting slightly, and then she looks at me—really looks at me—and I feel the connection. Her eyes aren’t tired anymore. They’re heated, and they’re searching mine as if I hold all the answers.

“I’ve had the worst day,” she breathes.

My heart aches in my chest. I want to protect her, fix whatever it is that’s made her sad. I don’t think. I just move. Closer. My breath catches as our lips almost touch, close enough that I feel the ghost of hers against mine. I wait, frozen, ready to pull away at her demand.

But she doesn’t move.

Her eyes flick to my lips and back again.

And then she leans in, just barely, but it’s enough. Enough to break the rules.

Our lips meet, soft at first, almost hesitant, like we’re both waiting for the other to come to their senses and pull away. We don’t.

Instead, she exhales shakily into the kiss, like it’s the first breath she’s been able to take all day, and something in me shatters.

I deepen it without thinking. Cupping her face, my fingers thread through her hair. Her tiny hands clutch my shirt, screwing the material in her grip. She’s holding on so tightly, like she’s scared the world might slip away from under her.

It’s not perfect. Not how I imagined it would be to kiss her. It tastes like salty tears and guilt and something we’re not supposed to want. But it’s real. God, it’s real.

When we finally break apart, it’s only to catch our breath. But she doesn’t pull away like I expected her to. Instead, she rests her forehead against my chest, and for a moment, we just exist there in the silence after the storm.

She’s the first to break it. “What did we just do?”

I don’t have an answer. I’m not sure either of us know what comes next.

Zoe

“He’s not picking up,” I mutter.

Meg shrugs. “Well, go round and see him. But I’m sure you’re imagining it.”

I’ve just spent the last hour bending her ear about how Ric’s being off with me.

It started after he took pictures at the party and went all quiet on me.

We spent the night at his, and all he wanted to do was sleep.

By the morning, he was borderline rude, practically hustling me out the door because he had things to do.

And now, he’s ignoring my texts and won’t answer my calls.

I pick my bag up. “I think he’s going to dump me.”

Meg grabs my hand, and I sit back down. “I’m sure you’re overthinking this.”

“Do yah think?”

“You really like him, don’t you?” she asks, smiling. I reluctantly nod, because as much as I hate to admit it, I really have fallen for him. “So, go and see him and ask him what’s going on.”

By the time I pull up outside Ric’s five minutes later, I’m a bundle of nerves.

I’ve never felt like this, and I’ve never had to ask a man why he’s ghosting me, because frankly, it’s never happened before.

I’m always the one to get cold feet first. If there’s even a hint they’re more serious than me, I dump them.

I don’t think I’ve ever even cried over a guy.

I take deep breaths as I approach the door and knock gently, maybe secretly hoping he doesn’t answer so I can get back in my car and pretend this never happened. But he does open the door. He looks flustered and stressed as he rubs his wet hair on a towel. “Zoe,” he says, looking confused.

I laugh awkwardly. “Who were you expecting?”

He glances past me, shrugging. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just thought I’d see if you were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

I sigh. “Never mind.” I turn and head back up the garden path.

“Wait,” he calls, and I pause, glancing back. “Sorry. It’s been a day. Come inside.” We head into the kitchen, and he flicks the kettle on. “We need to talk,” he mutters.

My phone buzzes, and I pull it from my pocket and busy myself to try to avoid what I know he’s about to say. “I’ll just have water,” I say, opening a message from Teddy. There’s a link with a text message.

Teddy: Holy crap, isn’t this your bestie?

“I’ve been thinking about us,” Ric continues.

I click the link and a video opens. It shows Sofia talking to a guy . . . she’s at work. “Wait,” I tell Ric, turning up the sound so I can hear. I stare open-mouthed as the video plays out, cringing when Sofia headbutts the guy. It’s a complete disaster.

“Is that Sofia’s voice?” asks Ric, coming closer when I nod. He watches over my shoulder as the end plays out then takes my phone from me and starts the video from the beginning. I bury my face in my hands, not needing to hear it a second time. “Oh, shit,” he mutters. “That’s terrible.”

“Oh god, she’ll die when she sees that.”

“She can’t see it,” he says, his eyes wide as he hands me the phone back.

“I can’t not tell her, Ric.”

He shakes his head. “No, she can’t ever see it. She’s already feeling like crap.”

I’m surprised at his words, and as if he realises he’s said too much, he clamps his mouth closed.

“She is?”

“I only spoke to her in passing,” he mutters, not meeting my eye. “But she mentioned she was stressed with Harry.”

I check the video and see it’s had thousands of views, then push to stand. “I need to show her. It’s not fair if we all see it and she doesn’t. Besides, she needs to get it taken down.”

“Can’t you do that?”

“I’m not the queen of social media,” I snap.

“Really? You act like you are.”

I bite back my response and head for the door. Whatever’s going on, we’ll have to sort it another time, because right now, my friend needs me.