Greg had never felt so befuddled in his entire life. Here, standing before him, heavily pregnant with a child that may be his, was the girl of his dreams, the one he used to go to bed praying about in high school, the one who, before Easton walked into his life, he didn't think he ever had a chance with. She was what every guy wanted, intricately beautiful, blond, blue eyed, funny, out-going and had a killer body. She was the girl in school that would giggle as he walked by, calling him a nerd, a stupid gamer, the one who, before her, wouldn't even give him the time of day.
But sitting in his office right now, he had another version of the girl of his dreams, a version so different, he wanted to know it so much more. Ellen was sweet and a whole new terrain to discover, and Greg wasn't sure he was ready to give up the expedition so easily just because Easton decided it was time to be back in his life.
"What am I thinking about if I'm not thinking about you, East?" Greg asked, staring at the face he'd spent so many hours admiring. "Nothing. Because I can't think of anything besides you."
Easton ignored the curious stares of the lab employees and police officers coming in and out of the building around them, her gaze feeling like it was burning a hole in his heart. "Greg, I…"
"What am I feeling if my heart doesn't feel the truth that I'm still so in love with you?" he went on. "You gave me a love I'd never known before, it put a strangle hold on me. You really made me believe you were my everything. You were the air that I breathed, East."
"I still want to be your everything, Greg," she said softly. She tugged at the lapels of the silvery-grey suit jacket he was wearing, her scent surrounding him. "You don't know how badly I want to be."
"Easton, I thought I would give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant being with you for the rest of my life." He clasped both her hands in his, lifting them from where they felt like they would eat him alive if he let her inebriating skin touch him any longer. "And you know what? I did give it up, all of it."
"I uh…" She fell silent, Greg ignoring the wounded expression on her face at the fact that he had pushed her away from him, even though every fibre in his body was screaming at him not to.
He leaned in and gently pecked her cheek, trying hard not to let the simple taste of her skin swallow him whole. Resting his hand briefly on her belly, he managed to look into her eyes without crumbling to pieces. "I can't do this anymore. I'll always love you and care for you, but I need you to stay away from me."
Spinning on his heel, he made his way back into the building, feeling like time was going in slow motion, feeling like he had just literally ripped his heart from his chest and left it beating in her hands. Swallowing the tears that were forcing their way up his throat, he inhaled deeply, fighting everything not to turn back around and run back to her.
He didn't know how far it was going to go with Ellen, in fact, at the moment, he didn't really care. All he knew was that after being scarred so badly, he needed to stay away from the drug that was Easton, before his addiction was the only thing that was keeping him alive.