“So was there an emergency? Or were you just pissed with me in general?” he asked, unzipping his coat and tugging it off.
My gaze drifted down to the fitted black sweater he was wearing. The rain had soaked through his coat, and his sweater was molded to his chest, emphasizing every sculpted muscle…
“There was at the time,” I muttered, dragging my mind out of the gutter and my lowering my eyes from Kyle’s body. “Now I feel kind of stupid about it. I was over dramatic.”
He chuckled, and I felt his fingers nudge my chin upwards. “You’re pregnant, princess. You can be as overdramatic, as you want.”
His blue eyes were snaring me, and I had to look away or I’d be in trouble.
More than I already was.
“I need to go back to work, Kyle,” I urged. “I’m smothering inside the house. I have to earn a living. I have things to pay for; I have stuff I need to get for the baby.”
Kyle sighed and clutched my hand in his. “You don’t need to pay for a damn thing, Lee, not a penny. You…The baby, I will provide anything you both need. Let me take care of you, of both of you.”
I shook my head, at a loss.
He’d paid for enough.
Kyle had taken care of my hospital bills, and the letter that had arrived in the post the other day, confirmed that I now, miraculously, had medical cover and not the cheap kind either.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that, Kyle.”
He clutched my hand tighter, stroking my palm with his thumb. “You’re not supposed to say anything, baby. This is what I’m here for. You know I have the money, I’ll pay for my responsibilities.”
“I’ll pay for my responsibilities.”
Disgust filled me. I jerked my hand away and stood up quickly.
“Wait, Lee, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
I shrugged on my coat, buttoning it quickly.
“I know what you meant, Kyle.” I wrapped my scarf around my neck with a vengeance. “Why don’t you just say, you’ll pay for your mistakes? That’s how you really feel. Well, I don’t want your money; I never have and never will. I am not Rachel. I was never with you, for what I could get.”
*****
Kyle
Someone should buy me a muzzle. Maybe then, I wouldn’t put my foot in my mouth so often.
“Lee,” I called out, chasing after her.
She quickened her pace, breaking into a run, she hurried across the quad.
Running away from me, again.
I caught up with her and clasped her arm. “Lee, baby, listen, I know you’re upset, but the ground is slippery. It’s too dangerous for you to be rushing off like that.”
She stiffened at first and then slowly relaxed.
“I’m sorry,” I coaxed. “Just let me take you home, okay?”
Nodding stiffly, she turned around. Her nose was red, her eyes watery.
“It’s a cold, I’m not crying.”
I cringed, but kept my expression neutral. She didn’t want me to know how she was feeling. I could read her like a book though.
Right now, she was feeling hurt, raw pain…and it hit me like a bulldozer to the chest.
“Well, let’s get you out of the cold, before you freeze.”
I took her hand for the second time, and for the first time today, she didn’t pull away.
“I’m so mad at you, Kyle,” she whispered as we walked, so quietly that I wasn’t sure, if she meant me to hear.
I squeezed her hand tightly. “I know, baby.”
When we reached the parking lot, I stopped and leaned against a shiny, black Mercedes Benz, as Lee walked past me.
Noticing I wasn’t beside her, she turned and frowned.
“What are you doing, Kyle? I’m pretty sure you could get arrested for touching that beast,” she warned, walking over and pulling on my arm.
I grinned sheepishly. “I probably could, if it weren't mine.”
Her mouth fell open as I opened the passenger door and gestured for her to get in.
Lee gaped at me, and I smiled.
It was cute, that she was so surprised I could own a car like this. I could own a car-lot full of them, and then some, but knowing she didn’t look at me with dollar signs in her eyes, made my heart swell.
She didn’t give a fuck about the money, and I hated that I had made her feel like I thought she did.
“Get in the car, princess.”
She sat in and I closed her door.
Hopping into the driver’s seat, I started the engine and pulled off.
“So you got a new car, why?”
I glanced over at her. She was fidgeting nervously. It didn’t settle well with me.
“I needed to change.” I hoped she heard the unspoken meaning of my words. “You look well today, princess. Are you feeling okay?”