Page 335 of Faking the Goal

Instead, I tighten my fingers around his and whisper the cruelest thing I have ever said.

"I still need you to go."

His face crumples for only a second before he catches it, but I see it.

I see the exact moment I break his heart.

And mine breaks with it.

Kentaro slowly releases my hand, leaving my fingers cold and empty on top of the blanket. He stands, but he does not look away from me.

"I'll leave the room," he says, his voice hollow. "I'll give you time to breathe. But I'm not leaving you, Taylor."

"You have to."

"No." He backs toward the door, every step putting more distance between us, every inch of it unbearable. "You can be angry with me. You can tell me you don't want me. You can keep lying to my face until you're ready to tell me the truth. But I'm not letting him take me away from you too."

My vision blurs until he becomes nothing but a dark shape beneath the harsh hospital lights.

His hand closes around the door handle.

"Ken-chan."

He stops but does not turn around.

I love you.

The words surge up once more, desperate to be spoken. They could stop him. They could bring him back to my side. They could give me one perfect thing in the middle of all this pain.

But then I see him bloodied beneath Charlie's hands. I see him lying where I am now. I see those beautiful dark eyes closed and imagine never watching them open again.

Fear clamps its hand around my throat.

"Please," I whisper instead. "Just go."

His shoulders rise with a silent breath.

Then he opens the door and walks out, taking every trace of warmth in the room with him.

The moment it closes behind him, I turn my face into the pillow and finally let myself fall apart. My ribs scream with every sob, but the pain is nothing compared to the emptiness spreading through my chest.

Kentaro loves me.

I have spent my entire life believing those words would heal every broken part of me if someone ever meant them.

I never imagined they would become the sweetest thing I would ever have to give up.

CHAPTER 42

TAYLOR

The next morning, a gentle knock sounds against my hospital door, and before I can stop myself, my heart immediately leaps with hope. It's ridiculous, really. I'm the one who told Kentaro to leave last night. I'm the one who insisted he needed to stay away from me because Charlie had already made his intentions painfully clear. Loving me only painted a bigger target on his back, and I couldn't bear the thought of lying in this hospital bed recovering while wondering if he was somewhere else getting hurt because of me.

Yet here I am. Not even twenty-four hours later, and I'm already craning my neck every time someone knocks on the door, secretly hoping it's him. So much for stay away from me. Apparently my heart didn't receive that memo. Traitor.

"Come in," I call, unable to keep the quiet anticipation from slipping into my voice.

The door opens.