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“That’s just how it goes with people.”
“People.” I choke out a bitter laugh. “I’m being lumped in with everyone in your past.”
“It doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s reality. My reality.”
“You’re not even giving me a chance to prove you wrong.”
“I’m doing this for you. You can’t see it now, but one day you will. I’m saving us both the heartache.”
“No.” I shake my head, my hair swatting me in the face with the force of my adamance. “You’re doing this for you. You’re afraid of getting hurt again, so you’re nipping it in the bud before you’re too invested.” I throw my hands in the air. “But I’m already too invested, Bryce. I—”
“You don’t think I am? You have no idea how this feels for me.”
“Then how can you walk away from this?”
His lips press together. “I’m not walking away. I’m letting you go.”
My heart splits down the middle, like it’s been sliced by a sharp knife. “And what if I don’t want to go?”
“You will eventually. Everyone does.”
I throw my hands into the air. “I’ve been cheated on. I’ve been betrayed. My own father left me. I know it hurts. I know how it feels to be abandoned when you need someone the most.” I lift my hands, and let them fall, smacking against my thighs. “But that doesn’t mean everyone will do what they did. I still have hope that I’m worth enough to someone to stay.”
His jaw works under his skin, and he turns his gaze toward the pool. “You will find the kind of man you deserve.”
“I thought that man was you.” Tears spill down my cheeks as every memory we made this summer slams into me at once. “You said you were mine.”
“I am yours. My heart belongs to you.” His throat bobs, his voice hoarse. “I just wish you could be mine too.”
“I already am.” I press my palms against his chest, the contact that once soothed me now scorching my skin. “Why can’t you see that?”
He holds my gaze for a brief moment, and I hold my breath on a silent plea.
Please, Bryce. Please see me.
But he shakes his head, and moves away, putting distance between us.
I wrap my arms around my midsection, trying to hold it together just a little bit longer, not wanting him to see me fall apart.
My whole life, all I’ve wanted was for the people I loved to stay.
I glance down at Edward.
Then I freeze.
“Bryce, where’s Edward?”
“He’s right—” Bryce gestures toward the porch swing. “He was lying right under my feet.”
I crouch down, craning my neck under the swing. “Edward, you there, bud?”
Bryce moves down the ramp toward the pool. “Edward.”
I strain to hear the jingling of his collar, but silence meets my ears. “Bryce, where is he?”
“The door is closed, so he couldn’t have gone inside the house. Maybe he had to pee.” He heads toward the front of the inn, and I follow behind him.
I slap my palms against my thighs, the gesture that always makes Edward gallop into my lap. “Edward. Come to mommy.”
