When I’d agreed to tell anyone back home that I was her baby’s father, I’d never expected it to be an issue. It was definitely an issue now. Emma and Andy were here, and they both thought that I’d gotten Ally pregnant. Now, I understood why Emma had run from me and why Andy had punched me. I’d hurt her again, and he had been protecting her. Of course, he would now that they were together.

“I need a beer,” I said as I forced myself back into the present. I didn’t need a beer. I needed a keg.

“I’ll get you one.” Ally ran to the kitchen, and she came back a few seconds later with a beer in her hand. “Here.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I popped the top and took a drink.

Ally had done everything in her power not to be a bother since she’d arrived. I knew that she still loved me, but no matter how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t love her back. By protecting her, I knew that I was throwing away any chance of being happy, but I had no other choice. She was my friend, and I couldn’t abandon her. She’d dealt with enough pain to last a lifetime.

Ally had tried to sleep in my bed after we agreed on our story, but I wouldn’t let her. She’d thrown herself at me—literally. I couldn’t do it, and I knew that had hurt her, but I couldn’t sleep with her. There was no way. I hadn’t been with anyone since Emma. I’d had opportunities, but I never took them.

Ally had said she understood and that maybe I’d return her feelings one day. I didn’t see that happening, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. She’d been through enough without me breaking her heart.

“I’m going to my room,” I said as I set my beer on the table and stood up.

If she replied, I didn’t hear her. My mind was buzzing too loud for me to process anything happening around me. I closed my door and locked it before lying down on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling as my mind kept going back to the look on Emma’s face when she’d seen me.

She had looked so hurt. Now, I understood why. She thought that I’d slept with Ally and gotten her pregnant. I’d be hurt, too, if I’d found out that she was pregnant with Andy’s kid. God, I don’t even want to think about that. Emma is mine. No, she isn’t. She used to be but not anymore. That had been Ally’s fault, too.

I tried not to be angry with Ally, but I couldn’t help it. It seemed like every time she came around, my life turned into complete chaos. There was one thing that was bothering me though. Ally had claimed that Andy had come after her and Emma had come with him because they were together. If that were true, why had Emma been on campus? She’d had a bag across her shoulder, too, like she was a student.

I needed to talk to Emma. I had to tell her the truth even if I didn’t think she’d believe me. I couldn’t let her think that Ally’s baby was mine when she went back to California with Andy. I knew Ally would be angry, but I couldn’t stand the thought of Emma hurting because of me. I also wanted to know why she had been on campus if they were only here for Ally. That made absolutely no sense to me. Something wasn’t right, and I was going to find out exactly what was going on.

An entire week passed without a word from Emma or Andy. I was driving myself nuts, thinking about the two of them together. I should have let go of Emma a long time ago, but I never had.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t tried because I had. I’d done everything possible to block her from my thoughts when I first moved here. I’d felt so angry with her for thinking the worst of me that I’d been able to force her out of my mind for a while. She’d slowly started to creep back into my thoughts though. It was like my memories of her were a disease slowly killing me inside. Every little thing had reminded me of her. No matter how hard I’d tried to push her away, she was always there.

I’d been doing better since Ally had shown up due to the fact that I was constantly worried about her and the situation she was in. Now that I’d seen Emma again though, even Ally’s predicament couldn’t distract me.

Emma was eating me alive and I doubted if she even cared.

Ever since the night I’d run into Emma, Ally had been driving me nuts. She had been clingy before, but she was ten times worse now. It seemed like I couldn’t take a piss without her standing outside the bathroom door, waiting for me. I would savor the times when she worked the night shift. It gave me time to myself to just breathe. It seemed like I could never breathe when she was around. There was never enough oxygen in the room. She was suffocating me.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Ally asked as she set a plate of food in front of me.

“Nothing.” I picked up my fork and started eating.

I had no idea what I was eating. She could have been feeding me rat poison, and I wouldn’t know. I was too far gone into my own thoughts.

“Jesse, something is obviously on your mind. Talk to me about it. That’s what couples do. They talk about what’s bothering each other.”

I bit my tongue to keep from telling her that we weren’t a couple. It took every ounce of willpower I had, but I managed. I had no idea why Ally kept pushing a relationship when we both knew there was nothing between us.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking about school,” I said as I glanced up at her. I was surprised to see anger radiating off of her.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not,” I said each word slowly as I tried not to lash out at her. She needs to mind her own damn business.

“You’re thinking about her—Emma,” she said, spitting out Emma’s name like it was a curse.

“What is your problem with her?” I asked angrily.

“What is my problem? Are you fucking kidding me?” she shouted. “Everything was perfect until Andy and that bitch showed back up! We were connecting, and I know you were starting to feel something for me. Since you saw her, you’ve barely said a word to me. You were finally falling in love with me, and she ruined everything!”

“Ally, calm the fuck down!” I shouted back. “I love you, but it’s not the way you want. You’re like my sister, and that’s how I’ll always feel about you. I’m helping you with the baby because I want to protect you. It’s not because I love you.”

“I want my child to have a family!”

“I hope that happens for both of you, but it won’t be with me. I’m sorry. I’ll protect you for as long as you need, but that’s all I’ll do.”

“It’s her fucking fault!”

“Emma has nothing to do with this!” I shouted, losing my cool.

“Bullshit. Everything always comes back to her!”

“I’m not dealing with this.” I shoved away from the table and started walking to my room.

I slammed my bedroom door behind me, and I locked it, so Ally couldn’t get in. I collapsed on the bed as she beat on the door and called me every name that she could think of. I refused to answer as she screamed out my name. She needed to calm down and act like a rational human being. Until she did, I was going to ignore her.

“Fine, Jesse! I’m out of here. Fuck you!” she shouted as she hit my door one last time.

I sighed in relief as the house went quiet. I was slightly worried that she was just faking me out so that I’d open the door, so I waited for almost an hour before I walked out. Ally was nowhere to be seen, and her keys were missing from where she would hang them by the door. She really had left. I knew I had been a dick, but damn, there was only so much crazy shit a guy could deal with before he snapped.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. I chugged it down and opened another one. I didn’t want to get drunk. I just wanted to relax for a while. I was tired of my life being nothing but girl drama. I wasn’t sure if all women were like Ally, but I doubted it. When Emma and I had been together, she’d never acted the way Ally had. Emma had been the complete opposite actually. She’d kept me calm instead of winding me up until I couldn’t take anymore.