Page 176 of Stay With Me

I will not cry for that man.

He’s taken enough from me, and I refuse to give him my sympathy for the choices he’s made.

Choking back my emotions, I swallow hard and clear my throat. “Can we leave now?”

“Yeah, baby. Let’s go.”

He takes my hand and we walk out into the cool air. It’s too quiet out here. My chest tightens, and I forget how to breathe.

“Sunny?” Tripp cups my face, but my eyes are glazed over.

The anxiety attack takes over and with each second, breathing becomes harder. Spots invade my vision, and I fold over as I fight for control.

Tripp kneels beside me, squeezing my hand as I fight through the pain.

“He’s dead,” I say, needing to confirm the words aloud. “He’s…dead.”

He rubs a hand over my back. “Take a deep breath and focus on my voice.”

“I—” I shake my head, flattening my palm over my chest. The tears threaten to pour out, but I stop them. “I-I…”

Finally, the air stuck in my ribcage releases and eases the tightness.

“There you go, Sunny. Slow, deep breaths. This’ll pass.”

After a few moments, I meet his eyes, which are filled with concern.

“I didn’t want this.” Shaking my head, I try to clear the thoughts taking over. “I just wanted him to leave me alone.”

Tripp brushes my hair behind my ear, tilting my chin. “This isn’t your fault, love. He made the decision to get involved with a bad man and paid the ultimate price for it. I know you two have history, but this has nothin’ to do with the choices you made.”

I nod as he wipes my cheeks with his thumbs.

Landen approaches my other side and meets my gaze. I’ve never seen him speechless, but his lips twitch like he’s trying to find the right words to console me. So instead, I wrap my arms around him and hug him.

His body stiffens for a moment as if he hadn’t expected it, but then he circles my waist the best he can with my bump and relaxes against me.

“Thank you,” I cry into his chest. Without him, we could both be dead. “I know we joke around a lot, but what you did wasreally brave and it coulda gone completely different without your quick thinkin’.”

The tears pour out of me.

For how close we were to death.

For Travis being so goddamn stupid and leaving our daughter without ever meeting her biological father.

For Landen being put into a situation where he had to shoot a man in order to protect us.

For Tripp being so possessive and keeping me safe even when I argued about it.

The turn of events would be so different if it weren’t for these two men who care so much about me. It’s hard to process after feeling so disposable in my relationship with Travis.

“You’re welcome, Mags. I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.”

I pull back and find him grinning at me.

“Plus, imagine the badass street cred I’m about to have.” He waggles his brow, and I choke out a laugh.

“Ellie’s gonna be trippin’ over her boots to get a piece of you,” I tease.