Page 208 - It Ends with Us

And the magne t. How would he kno w tha t came from Atlas just by

rea ding tha t article?
He’s over reac ting.
I can hea r hi m following me as I walk toward the bed room. I swing
open the door and come to a sudden ha lt.
The bed is littered with thi ngs. An em pty moving box with the
words, “Lily’s stuff,” written on the side of it. And then all the cont ent s

tha t were ins ide tha t box. Let ters . . . journa ls . . . em pty sho eb oxes . I
close my ey es and brea the in slowly.
He rea d the journa l.
No .
He. Read. The . Journal .
His arm comes around my waist from behi nd . He slides a ha nd up
my stomach and takes a firm ho ld of one of my brea sts. His other

ha nd fea thers my sho ulder as he moves the ha ir away from my nec k.
I squeez e my eyes shu t, just as hi s fing ers beg in to trace across my
skin, up to my sho ulder. He slowly runs hi s fing er over the hea rt and a
shu dder runs over my who le body. His lips meet my skin, right over
the tattoo, and then he sink s his teet h int o me so ha rd, I screa m.
I try to pull away from hi m, but he ha s such a tight grip on me he

does n’t ev en budge. The pain from hi s teet h pierc ing my collarbone
rips thr ough my sho ulder and down my arm. I immed iatel y start
crying . Sobbing.
“R yle, let me go,” I say, my voice plea ding . “Plea se. Walk away.” His
arms are cutting int o mine as he ho lds me tight ly from behi nd .
He spins me, but my ey es are still closed . I’m too scared to look at
hi m. His ha nd s are digging into my sho ulders as he pushes me toward

the bed . I start trying to fig ht hi m off of me, but it’s usel es s. He’s too
strong for me. He’s ang ry. He’s hu rt. And he ’s not R yle.
My back meet s the bed and I frant ically scoot back toward the
hea dboard, trying to get away from hi m. “Why is he still here, Lily?”
His voice isn’t as composed as it was in the kitchen. He’s rea lly ang ry
no w. “He’s in ever ythi ng. The magnet on the fridge. The journa l in the

box I found in our closet . The fucking tat too on your body tha t used to
be my favorite goddamn par t of you!”
He’s on the bed no w.