Skylar turned back towards Tag. She could see the tension in his stance. The fury on his face. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“He is Ava’s father,” she said as calmly as she could. “He has every right to be here to visit with her,” she added.
“Outside. I want to talk to you,” he snapped.
She gazed at him through eyes that were no more than slits. Her head was pounding hard in her ears. “You don’t order me around like that,” she informed him. Tag grabbed her arm and dragged her outside behind him. The screen door slammed shut after them. Skylar jerked her arm out of his hand as soon as they were on the porch.
“Don’t you manhandle me Tag.” Skylar was in no mood to deal with him this morning. Things were getting out of hand quickly.
He looked over at her truck flush against the stone fountain. “Were you drinking last night? Did you lie to me?” Skylar didn’t appreciate being treated like a child. Yes, she had lied to him. She told him she had a headache and just wanted to go home. In truth, she had wanted to escape him and the thoughts of a kiss that she had shared with Luka Shaw.
“I lied. I met Brett for drinks at the pond. He’s been my best friend since Kindergarten and you know that. We talked and we drank. I came home.”
“Why lie about it?”
Because her life was turned upside down from the moment that Luka Shaw stepped out of that truck yesterday afternoon. She saw his familiar smirk and her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach. No longer a teenage boy but a man who still had the power to hurt her because he still held her heart in his hand whether she wanted to admit it or not.
She was dying inside the instant she saw it was him. She hadn’t even realized that Ava was on the front porch watching them. Of course, she didn’t know that her daughter already knew who he was thanks to Brett. “It was easier to lie to you than be reprimanded like a child by you.” She heard his sharp intake of air.
“He’s going to come between us,” Tag declared.
Skylar shook her head no. A sad smile came to her lips. The corners turned down in a frown. She hated this. Skylar hated confrontation. Maybe that is why she had stuck it out with Tag for so damn long. She didn’t want the conflict that would come with breaking it off with Tag Richardson.
“There is nothing to come between, Tag,” she said sadly.
“What the hell do you mean?” Tag shouted.
“You know Tag.
You have to know. Not once have I told you that I loved you. Not once have I agreed to the plans that you sometimes talk about; a future for us that was never going to happen.”
“Why not?” He was getting angrier by the second. “Because of Luka Shaw?”
“Because of us,” she told him softly. “Because I don’t love you Tag and you don’t like Ava. The only thing that we had was great sex. I enjoyed it. You enjoyed it. Take it for what it is worth and move on now. You have plenty of options for my replacement.”
Tag glared at her. “You’re breaking up with me?” He asked.
“There was nothing to break Tag. Every Friday night we went to the town meetings, then the dance, then home to your house where we fucked. Nothing more. We didn’t spend any real time together because it wasn’t important enough to either of us to work harder on this relationship. Don’t you see? Don’t make it more important now that it’s over.”
“Because of Luka.”
“I just said no. Tag, how I feel has nothing to do with Luka Shaw.”
“Now what?”
“Now,” she said softly. “Now, we go our separate ways. It was fun while it lasted.”
The sound he made in his throat was one of pure derision and anger. He started down the steps then he turned on her. “Fuck you Skylar,” Tag told her shaking his finger at her. “Fuck you to hell and back. You think it was just great sex?” She nodded. “Nothing more?”
“I’m sorry. I never made any promises to you Tag. You were sex and good company when Ava went to a friend’s house or when she stayed with Luna. I care for you but no man will ever hold my heart in his hands again. Never,” she declared.
“Never is a really long time Skylar.” He sounded like he felt sorry for her. He started to walk to his car again then he stopped and turned back towards her. “Skylar, it wasn’t just sex for me. I loved you.”
“Then I am sorrier than I can tell you,” she said to him with a catch to her voice and a hint of sadness. “I would never hurt anyone the way that I have been hurt.”
Tag shook his head and turned his back on her. He walked to the BMW waiting off the side of the driveway because the truck’s tail was sticking out blocking the path.
Gone was the arrogance that had always irritated her. Left in his wake was a man who was in pain. She truly felt bad for hurting him. Skylar walked to the edge of the porch and watched him climb into the car. Before he shut the door she called his name. He was facing the steering wheel she knew that he had heard her but he didn’t move for a moment. Then, he looked up at her. “What?”