Page 61 of Wanna Bet?

"Doing what?" She sneered.

"Hiding."

"I'm not hiding."

"Myah." Ellis almost whined.

She laughed, a harsh sound. "You want me to go pretend everything's fine?"

"No."

"You want me to smile at customers and make lattes and act like I didn't completely destroy someone's life?"

"You didn't destroy his life." Ellis tried, stepping closer.

The words exploded out of her. "I DESTROYED EVERYTHING!"

The apartment fell silent. Her chest heaved as tears burned behind her eyes.

Ellis didn't flinch and that somehow made it worse. Because Jace would have flinched. Ten days ago Jace would've looked concerned. He would've stepped closer and asked if she was okay.

Tears slipped free. "Damn it." She wiped at them furiously, but more appeared. "I hate this."

Ellis nodded. "I know."

"I hate me." The words slipped out before she could stop them.

His expression tightened. "Myah."

"I do." She laughed shakily, "You know what's funny?"

"What's that?" Ellis asked softly.

"I finally did the right thing." Her voice cracked. "I told him. He deserved the truth and I gave it to him and somehow it still ruined everything."

The grief hit all over again. It felt raw and violent. Because part of her had believed honesty would fix things for once. Instead she'd watched Jace's heart break in real time. And then she'd lost him anyway.

Ellis moved closer. "Myah I don't think it’s as bad as you think it is."

"He won't answer me."

"I know."

The words shattered something inside her. Because hearing someone else say it made it real. Jace wasn't taking space. He wasn't busy, or processing things. He simply wasn't answering.

The tears became impossible to stop. "He hates me."

"I don't know if that's true." Ellis sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. The poor guy was clearly uncomfortable with this much emotion.

"It is." Myah nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"You don't know that." Ellis smiled slightly. Myah thought it was supposed to be reassuring.

"He should." Her voice dropped, "He should hate me."

Ellis was quiet for several seconds. Then he said, "Maybe he's just hurt."

The distinction didn't matter. Not really. Hurt people left too, the result was the same.