"We're done."
The words fell out before I could stop them. Before I could think. Shane recoiled as if I’d struck him.
"You don't mean that."
"I do." I was crying now, couldn't help it, hated myself for it. "I can't do this. I can't wait for you to realize I'm too much work. I can't watch Zoe get attached to someone else who's going to leave. I can't?—"
I closed the door before I could change my mind.
He stood on the other side. I could see his shadow through the peephole, hear his voice muffled through the wood.
"Maya. Please. Let me explain."
I didn't answer.
I slid down the door, back pressed against the cold wood, and sobbed.
When Zoe's door opened, when her footsteps padded down the hall, I wiped my face, stood up, and pretended I hadn't just destroyed everything.
"Mom?" Zoe's voice was small. Scared. "What's wrong? Where's Shane?"
I couldn't answer.
I'd done it. Cut him off before he could leave. Ended it on my terms. Controlled the damage. Or so I told myself.
It was the right choice. It had to be.
So why did it feel like I'd just set fire to my own life?
CHAPTER 15
Shane
The door closedin my face.
I stood there for a long time. Staring at the wood grain, at the peephole I knew she was watching through.
We're done.
I knocked again. "Maya. Please."
Nothing.
"I'll wait," I said. "However long it takes."
I sat down in the hallway, back against the door. Close enough that she’d have to step over me to leave. Close enough for her to know I meant it.
An hour passed. Maybe more. I heard movement inside. Heard Zoe's voice, small and confused. Heard Maya say something I couldn't make out.
The door stayed closed.
Eventually, I left. Not because I wanted to. But because sitting in her hallway like a stranger wasn’t going to fix whatever had broken between us.
I found the article an hour after I left her hallway.
I sat in my truck in the parking lot of my building. I couldn't make myself go inside. I couldn't stop replaying Maya's face when she'd saidwe're done. The way she'd flinched when I reached for her. The door closed between us like a verdict.
An article. A photo. O'Malley's.
