Page 162 - It Ends with Us

Why is he buying me gifts? He ha s a girlfriend . I ha ve a boyfriend .

Our past ha s alrea dy caused eno ugh problem s in my pres ent . I
cert ainl y don’t need gifts to ex acerb ate tha t.
“Why are you buying me gifts, Atlas?”
He lea ns back in hi s sea t and crosses hi s arms over hi s ches t. “I
bought it three yea rs ago. I’ve been ho lding on to it in case I ev er ran
int o you.”

Conside rat e Atlas . He ha sn’t cha ng ed . Dammit.
I pick up the gift and set it on the floor behi nd my des k. I try to
rel ea se some of the tens ion I’m feel ing , but it’s rea lly ha rd when
ev er ythi ng about hi m makes me so tens e.
“I came here to apologize to you,” he says.
I wave off hi s apology, let ting hi m kno w it isn’t nec es sary. “It’s fine.
It was a misund ers tand ing . R yle is fine. ”

He laughs und er hi s brea th. “Tha t’s no t wha t I’m apologizing for,”
he says. “I’d nev er apologize for def end ing you.”
“You weren’ t def end ing me, ” I say. “There was no thi ng to def end .”
He tilts hi s hea d, giving me the same look tha t he gave me last
ni ght . The one tha t let s me kno w ho w disappoint ed in me he is. It
sting s deep in my gut.

I clea r my thro at. “Why are you apologizing , then?”
He’s quiet for a moment . Cont em plative. “I want ed to apologize
for saying tha t you sound ed like your mother. Tha t was hu rtful. And
I’m sorr y.”
I don’t kno w why I always feel like crying when I’m around hi m.
When I thi nk about hi m. When I rea d about hi m. It’s like my
em otions are still tet hered to hi m someho w and I can’t fig ure out ho w

to cut the string s.
His ey es drop to my des k. He rea ches for ward and grabs three
thi ng s. A pen. A sticky no te. My pho ne.
He writes somet hi ng down on the sticky no te and then proceed s to
pull my pho ne apart. He slips the case off and puts the sticky no te
bet ween the case and the pho ne, then slides the cover back over it.

He pushes my pho ne back across the des k. I look down at it and then
up at hi m. He stand s up and tosses the pen on my des k.
“It’s my cel l pho ne nu mber. Keep it hi dden there in case you ev er
need it.”