"It all sounds good," she says, confused, her eyes still on the article as she continues to read. I don't respond, and when her face falls and pity washes over her eyes, I know I don't have to explain.
She looks up, dropping the paper onto the counter, and then she gives me a sad effort at an encouraging smile.
"Rain, he doesn't know. He would—"
"Give up his chance to have children to be with me, and then resent me later on in life. Just like Edward did with Eleanor."
"Rain, no. Dane would never be like Dad. Don't even think that. He loves you. You love him, Rain. You can't leave if you love him."
I stare at my hands, gazing at them as though they have the answers to the universe. I woke up high on life, but as always, life has a way of stealing everything good from me.
"Tria, I've loved Dane since I was thirteen. It took me eleven years to get him this way. As much as I want to stay, as much as I want to be here to love him... Well, I can't do this to him. My world fell away when they told me I couldn't have children. I can't watch Dane's face when he learns how truly fucked my body is. And I don't want him staying with me for all the wrong reasons. You don't understand. I'm not doing this because I don't love him, I've got to do this because I do love him."
A tear falls from her eye, and she shakes her head. "No, Rain. It's stupid and it's not fair. You shouldn't have to give him up. You don't have to give him up."
I fight hard to restrain my own tears. "It's not fair, but for a few weeks, I've had a love that most people never have in a lifetime. Maybe that was life's way of apologizing for all it has taken."
I look away when a sob escapes me, and Tria's arms close around me as I cry. "Don't, Rain. Don't give him up."
If I was a selfish person, I would keep him. I'd never let him go. But I'm not a selfish person. And I've gone through enough shit to be strong enough to let him go. It'll hurt like hell, and I'll need a lot of alcohol, but I'll get through it. Maybe.
Chapter 15
DANE
"So... tomorrow?" Maverick asks slowly, possibly trying to see if I'm nervous enough to back out.
"Yeah. She doesn't know about the party. It'll be the perfect birthday present, and then I'll propose to her in front of everyone."
"That's a little risky, isn't it? What if she says no?"
"She won't," I say with a confident smile.
Rain means more to me than I even imagined she could. I've never woken up happier than I do every day that she's with me. No one has ever loved me the way she does, and I never want to lose it.
She came willingly when I wanted us to move in together, and I had to bump up the party schedule just so I could ask her to marry me. It's impossible not to ask her every time she gives me that look no one else ever gets to see. It's a look reserved for only me—to make me feel as though I could conquer the world.
"Fine," Maverick groans as we roll up to my house. "Don't worry about making sure the party is ready. The guys and I will handle it—well, not Kode. He doesn't want to be around when you ask her to marry you. He's not mad, just... well, you understand."
I nod slowly, pursing my lips as I stare at my house. I want to ask her to marry me right now. It'll be torture to wait one more day.
"Tria and Rain have been getting closer. And we're already taking care of Pete. Think we should adopt her in?" Maverick asks unsurely, staring at Tria's car in the driveway.
"I assumed we already had."
"She's still skittish around us. I tried asking her to hang out with Corbin and me yesterday, and she turned white, like she was terrified."
I laugh unintentionally, and Maverick looks at me expectantly.
"Sorry," I say through my chuckles, "but it probably sounded like a setup to her. You'll just have to ease into a friendship with her."
"Sounds like too much work. It's not like I'm dying to be friends with her. I just want to make Rain happy, so I thought it'd be good to extend a truce to her sister."
"You sure you don't just want another wing woman to hook you up when you've burned bridges all over town?" I joke.
"Dane, please. I'm a damn fine Sterling. I can still get any woman I want if I work at it. I just happen to tell the girls the truth about what they'll be getting instead of filling their heads with the bullshit some guys do."
I laugh softly while shaking my head. He's crude with women, but he's right about being honest.
"If you can get any girl you want, why let Rain get them for you?"
"Because it's Rain, and that's what she does. Besides, I don't have to do anything but sit back when she hunts for me. Rain's the sister I never had, and she enjoys taking care of us. Tria can't take her place—no one can—so that means you can't hog her all the time after you get married."