Damn, I was pissed off. He thought he could come in here and throw cash around after everything he had said to me about being after his money? “That’s bullshit, Ax,” I hissed. “I refuse to be the woman you accused me of being five years ago. At least try and let me have a little bit of fucking dignity.”

I turned and stormed off, trying to forget the look on his face as he registered what I’d said. I knew I needed to put my foot down sometimes if we were going to be equal partners in this relationship, but that was probably hitting a bit below the belt.

Axel performed like shit at practice, and I heard the coach yell at him twice to “get his fucking head in the game.” I had calmed down significantly and wondered why I had blurted that out when he was just trying to do the right thing?

I wanted to talk to him and apologize, but he avoided my gaze for the entirety of practice and hustled out to the parking lot while I was busy examining x-rays. I tried to call him, but he didn’t pick up, so I texted him when I got to the hospital.

Blaire: Please answer. I want to apologize for what I said.

Axel: No need. You were just being honest.

Blaire: From now on, I’ll leave the past in the past. I won’t mention it again.

Axel: But you’ll be thinking about it. I’m not sure we can get past this, Blaire.

Blaire: Please don’t say that.

Axel: I feel like I’m going to spend the rest of my life apologizing to you, when all I really want to do is spend the rest of my life loving you.

Blaire: I’m sorry.

Axel: It’s fine. Gotta go. Picking up C now.

Shit. I had really hurt him. He said he wasn’t sure if we could get past this, but I knew I was the one that needed to stop throwing up barriers. I couldn’t let fifteen minutes of ugliness from the past override all the wonderful he had shown me. I just needed to get through tonight, and then I would talk to him face-to-face tomorrow.

I smelled like sweaty football players, so I grabbed a quick shower at the hospital and then lay down in one of the on-call rooms for a nap until my shift began.

33. Axel

Axel

The phone rang, and she picked up on the second ring. “Reagan, hey. You’ve got a daughter, right?”

“Hey, Ax. Yes, she’s five.”

“Perfect. I need to buy my daughter some shoes at a store where they can measure her and tell me the correct size. Any suggestions?” Reagan was very stylish, so I figured she kept her daughter well-dressed, too. I wanted to make sure my little girl had the best.