He’s been gone.
And I’ve been holding onto a ghost.
“Kelly…” His voice is low.“We shouldn’t have done this shit.I can’t give you anything good.”
There it is.
Six words.
A knife to the ribs.
I swallow hard.“Okay.”
He blinks like he wasn’t expecting that answer.
“You’re right,” I add, lifting my chin.“This doesn’t make sense anymore.Maybe we shouldn’t have done it in the first place.I didn’t think it was all bad.But I understand where you are now.”
He stays silent, and God, that hurts worse than anything he could’ve said.
I step back, putting distance between us before I crumble.“Thanks for being honest with me,” I manage to say, even though it’s a lie.He wasn’t honest.I dragged it out of him.
Riot’s brow furrows.Something flickers in his eyes—regret?Frustration?I don’t know.Don’t care.
Not anymore.
“We’re good,” I tell him.“Acquaintances?”
“Well, we can’t be strangers.”His jaw flexes.“Yeah, acquaintances.”
It feels like another knife.
Keep it together, I tell myself silently.
I nod once, turn on my heel, and walk away before the tears hit.Before I do something embarrassing like beg him to stay.Before I tell him that friends are the last thing I want to be with him and acquaintances hurts wors than him being my enemy.
I pass Ally without looking at her.
I pass the display cases.
I pass the front door.
I step outside into the morning sunlight and suck in a deep, shaky breath.
I’m fine.
It’s fine.
Everything is fine.
Except it’s not.
Not even close.
I don’t look back.
Because if I do, I’m terrified I’ll see him still standing in that hallway.I don’t dare allow myself to watch him letting me go.
I don’t get two steps down the sidewalk before my vision blurs.Not dramatically—there’s no sobbing, no gasping, nothing Ally would sprint outside to fix.
