Free Always and Forever by Harper Bentley Page B

stay on mine as he shakes his head. “No.” But I see his jaw muscles jumping
     and catch a flash of worry in his eyes and I know he’s lying.
    Unbelievable.
    “You did. And you got her pregnant, didn’t you? You have a baby, don’t you?” I feel
     the bile rise in my throat and swallow it down bitterly. Then I feel like I’m going
     to collapse until I sense Ryan’s hand on my lower back which stables me.
    A few other guys have wandered in to see the show and I hear a couple of them mutter,
     “Fuck,” but my eyes stay on Brody and by his reaction, or lack thereof, I know I’m
     right.
    I can’t help but snort. “That’s it, isn’t it? You broke up with me because you slept
     with another woman and got her pregnant. I’m right, aren’t I?”
    He steps toward me and I take a step back. “Piper,” he says quietly reaching a hand
     out to me, an anguished look on his face.
    My eyes move from his outstretched hand, up his arm to his shoulder then to his jaw
     before landing on his. And now mine fill with tears. “Why?”
    “Piper,” he repeats.
    “Why would you do that, Brody?” I plead, my voice trembling as tears fall down my
     cheeks. I look down at my boots, my kickass red stiletto boots, wondering when the
     world’s going to stop so I can get off this crazy ride.
    “Baby,” I hear him implore and he’s close to me now which makes my head jerk up and
     I step back. “Hannah—”
    “Hannah?” I swipe at the tears that are still falling and glance over at Ryan. “Hannah,”
     I say, nodding as if confirming something then look back at Brody. “I hope you and Hannah have a wonderful life together. I hope you have your five children and you’re very happy.” Then my voice hitches before I say, “Goodbye, Brody.”
    I turn, and latching onto Ryan’s arm to keep me from crashing to the floor, walk out
     of the station as dignified as I can, or as much as someone whose whole world utterly
     and completely crashes and burns right before her very eyes can.
    ~~~
    Today I did something I’ve never done before—I called in sick.
    After Ryan and I left the fire station, I’d walked straight home. She’d come along,
     the whole time trying to talk about things, but I told her I’d had enough talk and
     just needed to be alone for a while, hopefully without any thinking thrown in. She’d
     left telling me to call if I needed anything.
    I took a shower where I’d ultimately ended up crawling into the corner, knees pulled
     to my chest, arms around them, and crying as the water sprayed down on me. I stayed
     that way for so long I didn’t even notice the hot water had run out until I was shivering
     so badly my teeth were clacking in my head. I’d gotten out, put on pjs, moisturized
     my face and body then gone straight to bed.
    The bad thing was sleep didn’t find me. Instead, I lay there curled into a tight ball as bouts of sobbing wracked my body and I found myself wishing my heart would
     just stop beating so the pain would go away.
    But the honest-to-God worst part of it all were the moments when I’d finally become
     calm, my body eventually quieting itself out of pure exhaustion and I’d think maybe
     I’d sleep, and that’s when the images of Brody and another woman having sex would
     flash into my mind threatening to make me insane. Him with his mouth on her using
     his tongue in the way I liked it, the way that was only meant for me. Him executing
     the double thrust thing he unknowingly did where he drove in deep then pulled out
     quickly and surged back in again going even deeper which, swear to all that’s freakin’
     holy, made me come every time because it felt like he was touching my very soul. His
     body covering hers from behind as he slowly and methodically pumped his hips into
     hers, plunging in as far as he could go whispering in her ear how good she felt.
    The sobs that are torn from my throat at these visions serve to make my voice raw
     and it’s also these