“Tell me why you love me, Selena.”

She looks puzzled. “What?”

“Tell me.”

“Because you’re...kind, and handsome...”

“That’s it?”

She begins looking flustered. “I just do, Reign. There doesn’t need to be a reason.”

But there does. If I asked Tia that, she would tell me it’s because I make her smile, it’s because I make her laugh, it’s because we have a connection that goes so much deeper than just friendship. I look up at the woman over from me and the only thing I can think about is the one who isn’t with me. I miss her laugh, her smile, her sassy nature.

“If you could name your pussy, what would you call it?”

Selena’s eyes widen and she looks around in horror. “Reign, what’s wrong with you? Who asks something like that?”

“Answer the question,” I bark.

“I will not!” she gasps. “You’re asking me to behave like a silly child and I won’t.”

“It’s not silly, it’s funny,” I growl. “It’s called having fun.”

“No,” she bites out. “It’s called acting like a teenager.”

“If I come back, can I eat pizza in bed?”

Her eyes widen. “Reign, my sheets cost me over five hundred dollars each. You know the answer to that.”

“Yeah,” I snort. “You’re right, I do know the answer. Fuck, I’ve known the answer all along; I just couldn’t see it. You know what, I think this has all been a mistake. We’re not right for each other, Selena. We haven’t been for a long time. I thought I was in love with you, but you know what? I was in love with the idea of you. I was in love with the past. The man I was cared about you, but he’s gone now.”

“You’re only saying this because of her,” she cries. “Think about this.”

“No,” I say, standing. “I’m saying it for me. It’s the first fuckin’ thing I’ve done for me in a long, long time.”

“Reign,” she yells, rushing after me. “You can’t make a decision based on such a simple, stupid question.”

I spin around. “I can, Selena. I can because I’ve changed. I’m not the uptight asshole I was six months ago. I laugh now; I have fun. I see life through the eyes of someone who is such a breath of fresh air, I never want to lose her.”

“Reign!”

It feels fuckin’ good to make a choice. I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. I was so hung up on a woman I thought was what I wanted, and I stopped seeing what was right in front of me. No longer.

I have to find my girl.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

After the hospital and a few stitches, we drive over to the offices. I charge out of the car before Spike has even come to a complete stop, anger and rage welling inside me. I’m so disappointed in Reign, so hurt, so tired of not having my say. This ends, and it ends now.

I come to a skidding halt before I even reach the door when I see Reign coming towards me with...Selena following closely behind him. Everything in my world comes to a screeching halt. I’ve been in the hospital because of her, and he’s...hanging out with her.

He notices me and his face becomes tight when he sees my eye. I charge towards him, devastated, hurt and tired of feeling like this. He opens his mouth when I get close enough and starts to speak, but I raise my fist and I punch him so hard his head swings to the side. “What. The. Fuck?” he barks.

“I’ve put up with a lot of shit in the past few months, Reign, but this takes the cake. How dare you, how fucking dare you go to her after everything that has happened? This is my baby,” I scream, “my lifeline, and you turn to that slutty piece of shit instead of talking to me? I’m tired of it, do you hear me?”

“Shit, Tia—”

“No,” I bark. “I’m not going to sit around and take your crap anymore. It’s clear to me you can’t get your head out of your ass long enough to see what’s right in front of you. That woman is a liar, a cheat and a snake.”

“Tia-” he tries again.

“No!” I screech.

Spike appears behind me, glaring at Selena. “I thought I told you to fuck off.”

She slinks behind Reign, her eyes wide.

“What’s goin’ on?” Reign asks.

“Your woman there,” Spike nods towards Selena. “Showed up at Tia’s house earlier, threatening her. Then she had the audacity to lay her hands on your pregnant woman’s face.”

Reign’s eyes flash with anger and he spins around. “You fuckin’ did that?”

“Reign, it wasn’t...” Selena begins.

“Yes,” I snap, cutting them off. “The precious, perfect, love-of-your-life did that to the woman carrying your child. All because you couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut and be a man.”

Reign turns back to me.

“If you’ll just fuckin’ listen...”

“I don’t want to listen,” I growl. “I’ve spent the last six months being second best, and I’m fucking done. I’m done with you, I’m done with your job and I’m done with everything that comes with it. I am the idiot that fell in love with a man that was never going to see me. I might be second best to you, Reign,” I cry, my voice shaky. “But I will never be second best to this beautiful baby we created.”