Page 99 of The Sounds of Her

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I don’t?” I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m pretty sure this is going to affect our plan.”

Archer’s jaw clenches and he looks down at his feet. I have no right to be pissed at him. I try to calm down and let him explain.

Not even this bombshell explains the way he’s been acting. Unless he doesn’t want the baby?

“She meant nothing to me. It was just sex.”

He raises his head, my gut is telling me there is more to this, there has to be. He’s waiting for me to say something, to get angry, to yell at him.

“Brooke, when I got that text,” he moves around me, walking away and standing with his back to me. “I went through a million emotions in the space of five seconds. Shock, fear, anger, denial,” he shakes his head. “But then, I felt something else. I’ve always wanted kids. Not yet, but when I have them, I’m going to be the best dad. I’ll never walk away, I’ll never leave them, and I will love them so fucking much.”

Of course he would, after what his mom did. His head is hanging. Everything about the way he is standing there shows me a defeated man.

My whole body shivers.

“I felt happy, excited. Sure, it’s with the wrong woman. It’s the wrong time and it would be tough as hell because she’s a bitch and she’ll make everything difficult. But we could figure it out. Because I already loved that baby.”

He walks over to the table beside the couch and picks up his phone. Unsure why, I remain silent. When he scrolls to find what he is looking for, he brings the phone to me.

“I can’t say it, Brooke.”

Archer presses the phone into my hand, and I blindly take it, watching him go over to the couch. He drops onto it and puts his head in his hands. I don’t know why my hands are shaking.

Taking a steadying breath, I look down.

Madison.

That’s her name. She’s the exec from their record label, the one they were talking about back at McAllister’s last year. I only remember because everyone was joking around about me and Archer not being part of the ‘couples gang’ and that we should get together.

The hot exec. Something way too close to jealousy slithers through me. Again.

Madison: You got me pregnant.

Well, that is to the point and aggressive. You got me pregnant. It takes two to make a baby. The next text came in a full two minutes later, like she gave him time to let it sink in. For all of those feelings to rush through him, leaving him happy at the thought of becoming a dad.

Madison: What the hell am I going to do with a kid? I don’t want a baby, least of all with someone like you.

My eyes lift to Archer, shocked and outraged at the nasty tone, and someone like him? If that is the way she thinks, why in the fuck was she sleeping with him? The bitch. The next text came straight away. And it breaks my damn heart.

Now I understand.

Madison: You don’t need to worry about it. I already had it taken care of. I don’t want children, Archer. It’s done. I had an abortion two weeks ago.

My hand rushes to my mouth and a sob hitches in my chest.

She texted him. Told him she was pregnant with his child. Then in the next minute said she’d got rid of it.

Who does that? How can someone be that cruel? She didn’t need to tell him if she had already aborted the baby. She deliberately wanted to hurt him.

Rage sneaks up on me. A protectiveness so fierce I have to close my eyes tight to get control of myself before I do something stupid, like dial this bitches number. My hand hurts from the grip I have on his phone.

I let it fall from my hand and it hits the carpet with a dull thump. Archer has his hand over his eyes, his thumb pressing into his eye socket, like he is trying to push the emotion back inside. His forefinger covers the other eye, so his hand covers the bridge of his nose. It looks like it is hurting, pressing in too hard.

Without thinking, I rush over and drop to my knees in front of him. Moisture is soaking into his beard, but he hasn’t made a sound. At first I’m afraid to touch him. He knows I’m there, but he won’t move his hand as he grieves the loss of his child. It makes my heart break even more that he doesn’t want me to see.

Realization hits me then. He’s borne this all alone for over a month.