Page 123 of Hold Me Tight

He drags a hand through his tousled hair, eyes widening slightly when he sees me standing in the entryway.

“Hey, Callie,” he says. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to talk to you.” My weight shifts uneasily from one foot to the other.

His brow arches. “About what?”

My thoughts tangle in my head, too many crashing into each other to make sense of just one. I stare at him, stunned by how different this moment feels from the one we had last night.

I thought he’d know exactly why I was here.

That he’d be expecting an answer.

Instead, I’m standing in front of a half-naked man, fresh from someone else’s bed, after a woman in a silk robe called me his baby mama and then disappeared without a second glance.

Even though the truth is obvious, I still have to ask. “Last night… did you mean any of it?”

When he blinks and says nothing, my voice turns sharp. “What you said about wanting to be a family again. Was any of it real?”

His silence is deafening.

“I’m such an idiot,” I murmur, more to myself than to him.

“Callie—”

I raise a hand to silence whatever pathetic excuse he’s about to offer. “Just answer one more question and then I’ll get out of your way.”

He hesitates. “Okay. What?”

“Did you pay off the bank loan for the bakery?”

His lips part like he’s about to lie, but a flicker of guilt, too quick to catch fully and too familiar to miss, flashes across his face. He glances over his shoulder, like maybe he’s afraid of being overheard before stepping closer.

“No.”

The word lands like a slap. “Then why would you tell me that you did?”

He shrugs, shifting on his feet. “I thought…”

When his voice trails off, something inside me snaps. “What? What did you think, Zane?”

“That it was probably River,” he mutters. “And I don’t like the thought of you two together. He shouldn’t be going after something that’s mine.”

I reel back a step, floored by the sheer arrogance. “I’m not yours. I’ve never been yours. You don’t get to claim me like property.”

“You don’t get it. I?—”

“No, you’re the one who doesn’t get it,” I cut in, temper rising. “You don’t care about me or what’s best for our daughter. You care about control and spinning your life for some damn show. How dare you try and destroy someone else stepping up when you couldn’t be bothered.”

His tongue darts out to lick his lips as he bounces between defensive and pathetic. “He’s breaking bro code.”

I let out a short, humorless laugh. “That might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. River has been kind, loving, and steady to both me and Nora. And you tried to blow that up because you couldn’t stand the idea of someone else doing what you should’ve done all along.”

“That’s not true?—”

“It is,” I snap. “You don’t get to rewrite history. And you don’t get to lie to me and take credit for something he did.”

My body shakes, but I don’t let myself cry.