Page 85 of Broken

I swallowed and drew in a deep breath. “Izzy, I love you so much, but…” I paused, trying to brace myself.

“Just say it, Tucker,” Izzy’s voice cracked as she cut me off.

Fuck. “I don’t know how to love the baby like you. I don’t know if Ican. I get so angry at myself. I should be able to feel something for my own child, but I don’t. Not like you. I just stared at that ultrasound while you were smiling, falling in love, and I felt nothing.That’swhy I was pulling away that weekend. Not because I blame you. I’m sorry. Really sorry, but this just isn’t how I imagined things for us to be.”

Izzy’s eyes closed, her mouth pressing together to stave off tears. “I understand,” she choked out, pushing off my chest to move away.

I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back to me before she could get off the bed, and I rolled, tucking her into me so my head laid against hers. “I’m so sorry, princess. I never wanted to hurt you. I hate myself for this,” I whispered into her ear.

“You can’t help how you feel.” Her voice was tight as her tears started to fall. “I should’ve known…you’d never be happy this way.”

“Happy what way?”

“I never wanted you…to feeltrapped,” she sobbed on the last word, her shoulders shaking as she broke down.

Trapped? What?“Izzy, I don’t feel trapped. Please. Calm down.” I wrapped my arm tighter around her, soothing. “I’m exactly where I want to be. Right here with you in my arms.” I pressed a kiss to her head.

She took a few staggered breaths, trying to regain control, and then tilted her head back just enough to peek up at me. My heart staggered at the raw pain in those mossy emerald depths. At the hope that was afraid to come through. “Do you really mean it?” she whispered.

“With everything.” I repeated the words I’d used when I’d told her I loved her. Because she was exactly that. Everything.

Her eyes searched mine, reading for the truth, and then she asked, “But you don’t want the baby, do you?”

“I never said that.” My brow raised as I stressed. “I look at it this way. How could I not want her? She’s a part of us, something we created, together.We’remeant to be together.”

She looked away.

“What?”

“I want to believe that you really feel that way, Tucker. I really do. But I just don’t know.”

“What don’t you know? Because I fucking do. You and me? We’re it. We’re everything. If that means there’s a baby, too, then so be it.”

“See? That right there.” She shifted, rolling slightly to her back so her fingers could play with the ends of her hair. “You’re in it forme. Like you’re being forced to stick around for her. How do I not know you’re really just sticking in this relationship because it’s now your responsibility to be here for the baby and me? You just said this isn’t how you imagined things for us to be…”

I held back a sigh, frustrated. It felt like we were having two different conversations. “I meant that I never imagined for us to have a baby thisyoung. I saw adifferentfuture for us. That’s all. But you were always going to be in it. Can’t you say the same thing?”

“Well, yeah, but what about the other stuff?”

“Where is all this coming from?” I pressed, rubbing at my brow with my thumb and index finger.

Izzy gently popped a shoulder. “Things I overheard at school. It just made me think, and my mind ran away with me, I guess. Or maybe not. You haven’t exactly denied everything.”

I sighed. This girl. She could drive me crazy even as she kept stealing my heart. “Look at me, please.” I waited for her to look up, meeting those sad depths that held so much doubt now. “Yes, it’s my responsibility to be here for you and the baby, butI still meant what I said. I’m not running. And not just because you’re my responsibility. Because you’re exactly where I want to be. Forever, right?” I held up my wrist with the bracelet, and her lips twitched with a smile that didn’t stay.

Rolling her to her back, I crawled over her and cupped my hands over her head, locking my fingers in her hair. My thumbs stroked her cheeks, swiping away her leftover tears. My gaze held hers, something inside me aching to see her looking so sad. Like her spirit was broken. I had to make her believe me.

“Isabel Faye Donovan, you are my world. You meaneverythingto me. My life would be nothing without you. You and our baby are my future. Nothing willeverchange that.”

Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and I gently swiped them away.

“You really mean it, don’t you?”

“With everything.”

She smiled wide and reached up to brush her fingers through the locks of my hair that fell across my brow. “I love you Tucker Ryan Pierce. My heart will always be yours.”

I leaned in, kissing her softly, but the depth of everything I was feeling was strong, and I let it seep in, soothing any fears that may have lingered. When we finally broke away, both of our breaths were labored, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I pressed my forehead to hers, reveling in the rush, when Izzy wrapped an arm around my neck, sweeping my lips up with hers in another kiss. Everything in it saying this wasn’t enough. She needed more. And fuck if I’d turn her down.