I wake to voices and clatter coming from my kitchen. Perking my ears up as I roll over, I narrow my eyes when I realize it’s Maisy and Georgia. Why is she here after I told her not to come back?

I shoot out of bed, spot the Starbuck’s coffee on my nightstand, and straight want to fucking throw it against a wall. That cunt was in my room. How dare she?

I pull on my pants from yesterday and charge into the kitchen. Their eyes are on me, my rage is so apparent that Maisy’s eyes go wide and Georgia goes completely still.

“Georgia, may I speak with you . . . outside?” I grit out through my clenched teeth.

“Yeah, sure. Did you see the coffee I brought you?” she asks, which just reminds me that she thought she still had a right to walk into my bedroom. I barrel past her without so much as glancing at my daughter.

Outside, I stand waiting with my hands on my hips. She closes the door behind her and comes to a halt a few feet away from me. I try to keep my voice down, so my neighbors and Maisy don’t hear me. But to make my point very fucking clear, I step a mere inch or two from her face, looking down into her eyes. The eyes that I once loved. That were once the key to my existence. Now, all they are is a connection to Maisy.

“Did I not make myself clear last night?”

“What do you mean?” She bites her bottom lip as if she’s trying to turn me on. It makes me want to vomit.

“I told you to leave and not come back here. You can’t just waltz in here and play mommy. You’re fucking with her emotions, god damn it.” Georgia touches my arm, and I want to slap it away.

But before I can pull back, Chandler’s brakes squeal as his car comes to a halt. She removes her hand and steps away from me just as my very angry best friend barrels from the car.

“Really? So this is how you’re gonna treat my sister?” he yells, his strides eating up the distance between us. I look past him and into his car to see if Mia is in there, but the windows are tinted, so I’m unsure.

“Not now, man.”

“No? So when?” he asks. Georgia backs up even more, and before I know it, he’s body checking me. “When you break her heart even more by choosing to be with her?” And he points to Georgia.

“What are you talking about, bro?”

“I’m not your fuckin’ ‘bro’ anymore. We’re done, damn it, and so are you and Mia. You can have this washed-up whore and the little pathetic life you always dreamed of.”

“Are you fucking crazy? That’s the last thing I want, I was just telling her she needed to leave.”

“Whatever. Keep the lies coming, you fucking pussy.” He places both his hands on my chest and shoves me backward. I swallow, trying to hold back the anger—anger over Georgia showing up, anger over Chandler showing up making accusations, and anger at myself for not going to Mia last night, but my vision blurs. All I see is red, and I swing, taking my anger out on my best friend.

One hit and he falls to the ground. I jump on top of him, swinging. In the background, I hear screaming, but nothing can stop me. Nothing until her voice and her hands break through to me.

“Stop it, Roan,” she orders, and like that, I freeze. Slowly, I feel myself coming back. My vision begins to focus, the red fading away. Breathlessly, I look at Mia, her tear-streaked face hurts me. And as quick as her hands were on me, they are off. I reach for her, but she pulls away. “Come on, Chandler,” she says, helping her brother up.

“I’m sorry,” I tell them, Chandler’s nose is bleeding. He takes his shirt off and covers his face.

Jesus, what is wrong with me?

“Please don’t go,” I plead with her, still kneeling on my front lawn. I hate that I’ve hurt her. “Let me explain, baby. It isn’t what you think.”

“You made your choice,” she says and looks at Georgia, who is holding on to Maisy. Rianna is also behind them, watching the scene play out with tears in her eyes. I have no clue why she would think I chose Georgia, but before I can ask, or move, or respond, they are gone.

I place my head in my hands, the turmoil of Georgia returning is nothing compared to that of Mia leaving. Tears break the rims of my eyes, and I stay frozen, kneeling in place as the pain breaks me from the inside out.

Then something clicks. That is how I’ve always lived my life. Frozen in time, taking whatever comes my way and just dealing with it. I’m done. I took a leap being with Mia, and goddamn it, it was the best decision of my life. So, I’ll be damned if I lose the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Standing, I take one large step and look Georgia in her pathetic eyes. She isn’t going to come in here and ruin my life, not after all this time and what she did to me.

“You need to get off my property now, or I’m calling the cops. You wanna see either one of these girls, then get a fucking lawyer. You signed away your parental rights, Georgia. I didn’t.” I open the front door, and the girls go inside without me having to say another word. Rianna hands me her mother’s purse, which I toss to Georgia’s feet before following the girls in and slamming the door behind us. This is my house, and she isn’t going to come in here and turn my world upside down.

“She signed away her rights?” Maisy asks from her seat at the table.

I never told them that, and now I have to explain. Slowly, I make my way across the room, knowing this has to be hard for her to not only hear but also to process.

“She did.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, honey. Only your mother knows the reason.” She blinks rapidly, staring off into nothing. I wish so badly I could take this pain from her, but I can’t. I can only help her process it. “I’m sorry you guys had to see all that.”

“It’s okay,” Rianna says, my strong girl makes me more proud than I think she could ever truly know. “We’ll be fine, just like we always have been.” She leans and wraps her arms around her sister. “You need to make things right with Mia and Chandler,” she adds, and as exhausted as I am, I know she is right. Both girls nod their heads in agreement, and I know what I have to do.