When Jess woke up in the morning a little earlier than usual, I told her about going to see Ezra at the park. She was so excited to go swing and see him again. She said she was going to swing so high that she was going to touch the moon. I laughed at the crazy little girl; everything was always so extreme with her.

I pulled into the parking lot about 10 minutes early. Ezra was early the last time we met here and I didn't want him to have to wait for us. I looked around the parking lot and didn't see his car here yet. I was early, so we could just wait for him.

"I'm sure Ezra will be here soon." I told her. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and stared at the clock. I fiddled with the radio, trying to find something to listen to while we waited. After twenty minutes of waiting, she was getting anxious to go play. I didn't want to seem like a stalker, so I waited a little bit longer before calling him.

Thirty minutes... forty minutes... Jessa began crying in the backseat, asking for him.

I decided I should probably call him to see if something happened. The phone rang five times before it went to voicemail.

Where the hell was he?

I dialed him a second time and got his voicemail again. I was so mad at him for doing this to her. I should have known better than to count on him. I thought he had changed. He was the same selfish person he had always been. I wondered what he had found to do today that was more important than this little girl.

My nerves were shot as I listened to Jessa bawl her eyes out, calling out for a man I should never have let her meet in the first place. Some fragile part of me felt hurt and betrayed by him too. 

On the third call, I decided to leave a voicemail. I had to yell over my crying little girl so he could hear me clearly.

"Ezra, where the hell are you? You promised me you wouldn't ever do this to her. You were the one who wanted to see her today. You hear her crying. You did that to her. She wanted to see you. I knew you wouldn't change. I told you if you messed up, I was cutting this off. Unlike you, I keep my promises. Don't try to contact us again."

I hung up the phone and pounded my hands against the steering wheel in frustration.

"Jessa, we will go play another day." I told her, trying to soothe her.

"Ezwa." She whimpered one last time as I pulled out of the parking lot. My heart was breaking for her—for us.

And I only had myself to blame for letting him back in.

Jessa fell asleep crying on the car ride home. I called Aiden and sobbed like a blubbering idiot to him over the phone.

"Riley, that doesn't sound like something he would do." Aiden said. I could hear a girl in the background wanting his attention. "Kiera, knock it off." He said back into the phone.

"Oh, Aiden, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had someone with you." I said, embarrassed. I was so used to Aiden being available that I ran to him with all my problems.

"No biggie Ry, Kiera and I were headed out to see a movie." She screamed and energetic hello to me.

"Tell Kiera hi for me. I should let you go. Have a good night Aiden." I said, hanging up the phone before he could stop me.

It was official. Everyone had someone except for Jessa and me. We only had each other.

It was probably for the best anyway. 

I carried the sleeping girl in the house and put her in her own bed for once. I needed some time alone to grieve the loss I was feeling over Ezra again.  We weren't together this time, but it hurt more because of what it meant for Jessa. I never wanted her to feel like this. This was the exact reason why I never let Ezra know about her before. She was too young to understand the terrible things people do. My only hope now was she would be too young to remember this.

The next day Ezra was blowing up my phone. I saw missed call after missed call popping up across my screen. I refused to answer him so he could use his charm to find his way back in and try to convince me he was different. When he realized I wasn't going to answer, he started sending me text messages.

Ezra: Riley, call me.

Ezra: Please call me.

Ezra: I listened to your message. You need to explain.

Ezra: I don't understand. What did I do?

Ezra: PICK UP YOUR FUCKING PHONE!

Ezra: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you.  Please just answer so we can talk.

Ezra: Why are you doing this to me?

Ezra: Answer me. I know you're reading these.

Ezra: You can't keep her from me.

Ezra: Please talk to me.

Ezra: If you won't answer your phone. I'm coming to your house.

Shit. I needed a plan B. 

"Jess, you want some chicken nuggets?" I asked. If he was coming over, we were leaving. He could wait outside all day for us. Maybe he would understand what it felt like to wait for someone.

I pulled Jessa's coat on her and leaned my head in to tell my Dad we were leaving. He was sleeping peacefully and I decided not to wake him up. I closed the door and ran down the stairs with Jessa snuggly attached to my hip.

Jessa was singing as I buckled her into her car seat. She was not aware of how panicked I was, knowing Ezra was on his way. I was not ready to face him. I climbed into the driver's seat and pulled off down the road.

We stopped at the restaurant with the play place and I got Jessa her meal that came with a toy. I watched as she flew the little plastic robot guy over her fries and then made him dive into them. She was making little noises like he was fighting the food. I couldn't help but laugh at her silly little imagination. She didn't have to try hard to be a good distraction for me.  I could almost pretend like everything was normal as I watched her play.

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see Ezra calling me again. I hit ignore and sent it to voicemail. He tried five more times and I sent it to voicemail every time.

The texts started flying in again rapid-fire:

Ezra: Where are you?

Ezra: I'm not leaving.

Ezra: You can't hide from me.

Ezra: Please just come back so we can talk.

I pushed the phone back into my purse and watched her play for a bit longer. I saw her eyes growing heavier after she was in her food coma. She was going to fall asleep in the chair if we didn't leave soon. I picked up the little beauty and she laid her head on me, dozing. I contemplated my next move, drive around with Jessa sleeping in my car or go home and tell him he can go to hell.

I knew I would have to face him eventually. If I didn't go back today, he would be on my doorstep every day until I finally came home. I decided I was going to go get this over with once and for all.