Page 197 - It Ends with Us

I look in the living room at the cathed ral cei ling s and the hu ge

wind ows overl ooking Boston Harbor.
“Lily?” he says from behi nd me. “You aren’ t mad, are you?”
I spin and face hi m, rea lizing tha t he’s been waiting on me to rea ct
for the past sev era l minu tes . But I’m complet el y speec hl es s.
I sha ke my he ad and bring my ha nd up to cover my mouth. “I
don’t thi nk so,” I whi sper.

He walks up to me and takes my ha nd s in hi s, pulling them up
bet ween us. “You don’t thi nk so?” He looks worri ed and conf used .
“Plea se give me a na ked truth, bec ause I’m starting to thi nk maybe I
sho uldn’t ha ve done thi s as a surprise. ”
I look down at the ha rdwood floor. It’s rea l ha rdwood. It’s no t
lamina te. “Okay,” I say, looking back up at hi m. “I thi nk it’s crazy tha t
you just went and bought an apartment witho ut me. I fee l like tha t’s

somet hi ng we sho uld ha ve done toget her.”
He’s no dding and it looks like he’s about to spit out an apology,
but I’m no t fini shed .
“But my na ked truth is tha t . . . it’s per fec t. I don’t ev en know wha t
to say, R yle. Ever ythi ng is so clea n. I’m scared to move. I might get
somet hi ng dirty.”

He blows out a rush of air and pulls me to hi m. “You can get it
dirty, babe. It’s yours. You can get it as dirty as you want .” He kisses the
side of my hea d and I don’t even say tha nk you yet . It seem s like such
a small res pons e to such a hu ge ges ture.
“When d o we move in?”
He shru gs. “Tomorro w? I ha ve the day off. It’s no t like we ha ve a
who le lot of stuff. We can spend the nex t few week s buying new

furni ture. ”
I no d, trying to run thro ugh tomorro w’s sched ule in my hea d. I
alrea dy knew R yle was off tomorro w, so I didn’t ha ve any thi ng
planned .
I suddenl y feel the need to sit down. There aren’ t any cha irs, but
luckily, the floor is clea n. “I ne ed to sit down. ”

R yle he lps me to the floor and then he lowers hi msel f in front of
me, still ho lding my ha nd s.
“Does Allysa kno w?” I ask hi m.