Throughout my entire life, there’s only been one person I know I can count on. One person who has never let me down despite the hardships I’ve faced, despite the years I’ve spent trying to shape my life into something worth living. There have been people along the way whom I’ve opened myself up to—Charlie, for instance, and Lexi—but even then, I’ve always held a small part of myself back, knowing there is only one person in this world I can fully trust not to break me.

Myself.

And then Brandon Jeffers strolled into my life and fucked it all up.

I went and did the one thing I’d promised myself I never would.

I fell in love.

I let someone into my life, into my world, and into my heart. I told myself it didn’t matter, that even if it didn’t work out, things would be okay. That I would be okay.

But this…

I never expected this.

I pulled up the internet this afternoon, ready to start researching locations for a second store. After Charlie’s scare and sudden retirement, I’d told Brandon all about my plans for the bookstore.

“I’m in,” he said when I was done.

My face scrunched in confusion, not sure what exactly he was in on. “What do you mean, you’re in?”

He reached over and placed his hand on my knee. “I mean exactly what I said. I’m in. You’re looking at your new investor.”

My mouth gaped, his words making no sense. “What do you mean?”

He laughed. “I think your internal CD is scratched. You keep skipping.”

I still just stared, understanding what he was saying but not truly getting it. “But you’re a baseball player. Why on earth would you want to invest in a bookstore?”

Brandon gave me a bemused smirk. “I mean, I’ve only told you a thousand times at this point. But I guess I can say it again. You are it for me, Liv. I want to invest because of you.”

“B-but don’t you think you should talk to a lawyer first? Decide if this is a good business decision?”

He waved off my question. “No need. You know what you’re doing. There’s no way you’d do something half-assed, especially if it compromised the store. And even if—and that’s a big if—it ends up going south, I still won’t regret it. In case you haven’t noticed, I have more money than I know what to do with. And, if giving a small fraction of that to you so that you can follow your dreams means I’m making a stupid business decision, well, I never claimed to be a business mogul.”

“But I can’t—”

He cut me off, his hands rising to frame my face and his thumbs covering my lips. “Shh. It’s only money, Liv. You’ve given me something so much more valuable than any sum that might be in my bank account. You’ve given me you.”

He’d told me to immediately start looking into the expansion, wanted me to have a few places lined up that we could look at when he got back from his road trip. I wanted to start small, maybe branch out into Denver, a city only a few hours away so that I could still keep an eye on it as it grew. If that worked, I was prepared to take on the entire western region.

I’d been on top of the world when I pulled up my favorite search engine. It only took three words on the main page to completely wipe my world out from under me.

The headline immediately caught my attention, especially as it was accompanied by a picture of Brandon and his crooked smile as he watched another ball fly out of the stands.

My heart dropped when the words registered as I wondered why he would tell the press about our baby without consulting me first. I clicked on the link to the story, hoping for some sort of explanation because I knew I couldn’t call him. His game was about to start. He was already in deep with his coach after his sudden departure when I’d thought I was losing the baby and again when he’d accompanied me to Charlie’s side after his fall. I knew, if he messed up one more time, he’d be looking at a serious suspension.

And, no matter how angry I was that he’d gone behind my back and broken the news without my knowledge, I’d never risk hurting his career.

Turned out, I was completely wrong anyway. Brandon hadn’t told anybody about our baby. Because this wasn’t about me.

Jayne Stewart.

Not Liv Hunter.

I read the line over and over again, blinking rapidly, as if all I needed was to clear my vision, and the words would change. That the J would turn to an L, and then the rest of the letters would follow suit.

But, despite how hard I tried, another woman’s name remained, tied to the man I’d fallen for. Along with the one word that completely obliterated my heart.

Pregnant.

Brandon was having another baby.

With someone who wasn’t me.

I started to scan the rest of the article, hoping against hope that this was a misunderstanding. Maybe Jayne was further along than I was, and this had all happened before we met. I knew Brandon would want to be a part of this baby’s life, too, but surely, what we had meant enough that he wouldn’t try to make something work with Jayne like he had with me. He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave me.

Until I read the words three months along.

She was only three months pregnant.

Brandon lied to me.

That first night we’d slept together in Seattle, he’d told me he hadn’t been with anyone since me, five months before.

But that couldn’t be. I was five months pregnant. Jayne was three.

He’d slept with her after he was with me.

He’d looked me in the eye, seen me at my most vulnerable, and lied to me.

If he could lie to me about something like that, how could I trust anything he’d said to me since?

He’d promised he’d been faithful on all of his road trips. He’d told me there was no one else.

But, clearly…

I closed the browser, flipping the Closed sign on the front door and locking up. I couldn’t stand the idea of having to face anybody today. I needed to go home. I needed to think.

That is how I’ve found myself here, lying facedown on my bed, my pillow soaked with my tears as I poured my heart out into its softness.

How could I have been so stupid?

How could I have actually believed a man like Brandon Jeffers was prepared to give up his superstar lifestyle to play house with a girl like me?

There was a single picture of Jayne accompanying the article. Just a small thumbnail that I didn’t even have the heart to click on and inspect. Because, even in that tiny shot, I could tell she was everything I wasn’t.

Thin. Blonde. Gorgeous as hell.

Exactly the type of woman you’d expect a man like Brandon to end up with.

A fucking first place trophy.

Meanwhile, I’m barely a participation ribbon, fraying at the edges and never able to sit quite right on your shirt.

A few hours after I got home, I was forced to turn my phone off, Brandon’s name and that stupid fucking ringtone—“Rewrite the Stars.” Right. I should’ve listened to Zendaya. Nobody could rewrite shit—incessantly badgering me over and over as I broke. I couldn’t take it. Couldn’t handle talking to him, listening to him try to explain away his actions, when the evidence was so clearly there for the world to see.

So, I turned it off. It’s much easier to ignore your problems than to try to face them. I’d be an adult tomorrow.

Maybe.

Right now…

Right now, all I want is a bottle of wine and my best friend.

Too bad I can’t have either. Lexi doesn’t fly into Colorado until tomorrow. And this damn baby means wine is out of the question.

Rolling over onto my back, I place my hands over my belly, instantly apologizing for the thought.

“I’m sorry, Little Bean. Your mommy is just mad because she’s a stupid, stupid girl. None of this is your fault.”

I move my hands in small circles, wishing I could touch him or her, hug my baby to my chest, forget all about this awful day.

“It’s you and me, Bean. Just like it was meant to be. I promise you, I’m going to do everything I can to give you a good life. I hope I can be good enough for you, Bean. I hope you never want for a single thing in the world. Because I love you so much. Do you think I can be enough?”

A gentle fluttering presses against my fingers, and I jackknife up off the bed. The tears start flowing again but for an entirely different reason this time. The smile that spreads across my face nearly splits it in two as I sputter out an elated laugh.

I just felt my baby move for the first time.

As if this little life growing in my belly heard me, it responded to my question by pushing against my skin, letting me know I wasn’t alone.

I was wrong. There isn’t only one person I can count on anymore.

It doesn’t matter how much Brandon has hurt me. It doesn’t matter if Lexi gets married and moves away tomorrow, never speaking to me again. And it doesn’t matter if Charlie decides I’m more trouble than I’m worth, selling his business and retiring to Florida instead of staying here, in Maple Lake, with me.

Nothing in this world matters, except me and this precious life inside me.

Brandon Jeffers might have fooled me once. But I’ll be damned if I let him or anybody else do it again.

“It’s you and me, Bean. You and me.”

We don’t need anybody else.