“I guess,” he murmured.
“I would say I was surprised that she turned so quickly on you, but all the old crew knew what a cheap slut she’d always been.” I shook my head at him. “But yet, rumor through the grapevine has it you wanted to marry her—someone who was a complete one eighty from me. And so soon. I mean, Jesus, we dated for three years before you gave me a ring, but with her, you were barely together five months.”
Dev ran a hand through his jet black hair. “I was a fool. And as for marrying her, that was just bullshit to appease my family. They’d been on my back forever about settling down.”
“With me,” I spat.
“Yes, they wanted me to marry you. They loved you as much as I did.” He drew in a ragged breath. “It’s a lousy excuse, Mia, but the pressure to settle down and be what my family expected me to be, it broke me. That’s why I let Erin get to me.”
“Ah, so she made the first move.”
He shrugged. “I let it happen—I let it screw up the best thing I ever had. You.” He exhaled a ragged breath. “But when it all comes down to it, what does it matter who started it?”
“I don’t know. It’s an easier pill to swallow thinking you weren’t out scoping chicks—that the new piece of ass just fell in your lap.”
Dev sighed. “Things were rough between us, Mia. You know that. After your grandmother died, you shut me out. You—”
My hand flew up to silence him. “Don’t you dare bring Mama Sofia’s death into this! Regardless of whether I was in a fucking grief storm, you should have been there for me, standing by me and supporting me.” My voice wavered, and I grimaced at giving him those emotions. “That’s when I needed you most,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry.” He eased the bouquet of roses he still clutched onto the table. “What can I say, but that I was an immature prick who wanted all your attention? When you couldn’t give it to me, I pulled an utterly selfish and despicable move by cheating on you.” He took a tentative step closer to me. “Regardless of what happened, I never stopped loving you, Mia. Not one day went by when I didn’t regret what I did, how I hated myself for hurting you.” He drew in a ragged breath. “How I wished it was you I was making love to, not Erin.”
A shudder rippled through me at his words, and I despised myself for letting my firm resolve waver. I took a step back from him. “Don’t do this. Not now. It’s too fucking late.”
“It’s never too late to right a wrong, is it?”
“You broke my heart, Dev!” I cried, my voice raising an octave, causing me to betray my emotions.
“Please,” he said in a half whisper.
“Please what?” I demanded.
“Please give me another chance.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do.”
I shook my head. “You only think you want me back. Erin left you a month ago, and you’re reeling about being all alone.”
“No, that’s not it. If it was just about being alone, I’d go out and find some new piece of ass.” He pinned me with his gaze. “But I’m here right now. Putting my heart out on the line, for you.”
“You got spooked about marriage and us before. You would do the same thing again.”
“Not with you. If you were gracious enough to give me a second chance, it would never, ever happen.”
I gave a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, well, how about this one? I’m pregnant.”
Dev’s serious expression turned over to shock. He blinked rapidly as he stared at me. His gaze fell on my abdomen, and for the first time, he noticed the bump beneath my baggier scrubs. “Um…wow.”
“Told you. You’re completely and totally spooked.”
“I won’t lie to you that I’m surprised. I mean, when we were together, you were never the maternal type.”
“That’s true, but people change.”