“Did you get it?”
Teri nodded.
“Is this the part where you tell me goodbye?” he asked.
“Damon, don’t be this way.”
“Be what way? Hurt? Angry. You want me to pretend this doesn’t matter to me?”
“Of course it matters. I want you to be yourself, but I don’t want you to be angry.”
“Wow, it looks like we’re going to have our first fight. Is this what you wanted to make it easier for you to pack your bags and leave? I’m not supporting you so it’s a good reason to leave me.”
Teri’s mouth opened and closed. “Oh, my God, do you even hear yourself? Are you listening to the words coming out of your mouth?”
“I’m hearing them loud and clear.”
“You think you know me? You think I need an excuse to make me walk away? You don’t know me at all. I don’t run away from my problems.”
“Are you telling me I do?” He slammed his bottle down on the counter.
“No. I’m telling you I don’t run away. I don’t need an excuse to leave, and I certainly wouldn’t start an argument with a guy to think I can go.” She stepped up close to him. Her finger pointed directly at his chest. “I’m my own person. I always have been, and I always will be. I took that job interview because I didn’t think I had anything to hold me here. Everyone hated me. They all judged me, and I felt it was time to move on. But you know what, it wasn’t. You chose that moment to … to ruin everything.”
“Ruin everything?”
“Yes. With your kind words and loving arms. The way I feel when I’m with you, it’s unlike anything else. I never wanted to fall in love with you, but guess what, I did. I only went to that stupid interview was because I didn’t want to seem like a time-waster. I hated it. I got the job and I told them I would need to think about it, but I couldn’t stand them, or their kitchen, or their rules. I love Greater Falls, love the Dirty Fuckers MC, but most importantly, I am completely in love with you, and that scares me.
“I thought I knew love, but I have never experienced it before in my life. You’re the real deal. I love your home. I can see us having a future here. I lied to you before, Damon. I want to be a wife and a mother. To get up in the middle of the night to do the feedings and change diapers. To have a damn station wagon or whatever they’re called, to take my kids to their football practice or ballet, or whatever they want to do. I want to have Christmas with family, and Thanksgiving, to decorate the yard for Halloween, and to bake fucking cookies for the whole family.
“I stopped wanting it because I didn’t think there was anyone out there who wanted the same as me, but guess what, I was so wrong, because that very person is you!” She stamped her foot. “I am in love with you, Damon, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but right now, I’m going to take a damn pregnancy test because my hormones are all completely out of whack. I want to kiss you and slap you all at the same time.”
She stamped her foot again, spun on her heel, and left.
Damon didn’t move.
He heard his door slam shut.
The beer stood on the counter.
He had just heard all of that. Teri’s confession. Her desires. She wanted it all and so did he. He swiped his hands down his face, his mouth suddenly dry.
What the hell had just happened?
Damon didn’t go after her.
Teri’s words rang in his head like an annoying tune that had no real beat to it, but always stuck on repeat.
“I am in love with you, Damon.”
“I am in love with you, Damon.”
“I am in love with you, Damon.”
No woman had ever told him he was loved.
Sitting down in his chair, he pulled the laptop back on his lap and stared at the screen. At first, nothing made any sense to him.
He didn’t know what to do with his hands. They were not holding his woman, and they should be.
What the hell are you doing? Why are you sitting there doing nothing? Get off your ass and go and get your woman.
He was about to close the laptop when he saw the details for a medical clinic pop up. “What the fuck?” he asked.
Damon did another quick search and when he found the name and number of the clinic, along with cross-references to Dane’s insurance information. He made a quick call.
Twenty minutes later, Damon hung up his cell phone, shaking. He had to go talk to Dane.
****
“I like Lewis. He’s a stand-up guy,” Ryan said.