Page 156 - It Ends with Us

“Atlas, stop!” I yel l.

Atlas rel ea ses R yle forcef ully, taking a hu ge step back. R yle is
brea thi ng hea vily, staring at Atlas long and ha rd. Then hi s focus
moves direc tly to me. “Atlas ?” He says hi s na me with familiarity.
Why is R yle say ing Atlas ’s nam e like that ? Li ke he ’s he ard me say it before?
I’ve nev er told hi m about Atlas.
Wait.

I did.
Tha t firs t ni ght on the roof. It was one of my na ked truths .
R yle let s out a disbel iev ing laugh and point s at Atlas, but he’s still
looking at me. “Thi s is Atlas? The ho mel es s boy you pity-fucked ?”
Oh, God.
The ha llway ins tant ly bec omes a blur of fis ts and el bows and my
screa ms for them to stop. Two waiters push thro ugh the door behi nd

me and sho ve past me, sep arating them just as quickly as it started .
They ’re pushed apart agains t opposite walls, staring ea ch other
down, brea thi ng hea vily. I can’t ev en look at ei ther of them .
I can’t look at Atlas. Not after wha t R yle just said to hi m. I also can’t
look at R yle bec ause he’s probably thi nk ing the absolute worst
possible thi ng right no w.

“Out!” Atlas yel ls, point ing at the door, but looking at R yle. “Get
the hel l out of my res taurant !”
I meet R yle’s ey es as he beg ins to walk past me, scared of wha t I’ll
see in them. But there isn’t any ang er there.
Onl y hu rt.
Lots of hu rt.
He pauses as if he’s about to say somet hi ng to me. But hi s face just

twists int o disappoint ment and he walks back out int o the res taurant .
I fin ally glanc e up at Atlas and can see disappoint ment all across
hi s face. Bef ore I can ex plain away R yle’s words to hi m, he turns and
walks away, pushi ng thro ugh the kitchen doors.
I imm ed iatel y turn and run after R yle. He grabs hi s jacket from the
booth and walks toward the ex it witho ut ev en looking at Allysa and

Marsha ll.
Allysa looks up at me and ho lds her ha nd s up in ques tion. I sha ke
my hea d, grab my purse and say, “It’s a long story. We’l l talk
tomorro w.”