Page 227 - It Ends with Us

Yep . I’m defini tel y conf used . How am I possibly lend ing blame to

Atlas for any of thi s?
“I thi nk I need to call it a ni ght ,” I say quiet ly, pulling away from
hi m. I stand up and Atlas stands up, too.
“I’ll be gone most of the day tomorro w,” he says. “Wi ll you be here
when I get ho me?”
I cring e at hi s ques tion. Of course he want s me to get my shi t

toget her and find ano ther place to stay. Wha t am I ev en still doing
here? “No . No, I can get a ho tel , it’s fine. ” I turn to walk toward the
ha llway, but he puts a ha nd on my sho ulder.
“Lily,” he says, turni ng me around . “I wasn’t asking you to lea ve. I
was just making sure you’d still be here. I want you to stay as long as
you need to.”
His ey es are sinc ere, and if I didn’t thi nk it would be a little

ina ppropriate, I would thro w my arms around hi m and hu g hi m.
Bec ause I’m no t rea dy to lea ve yet . Just a couple more days bef ore I’m
forced to fig ure out wha t my nex t step is.
I no d. “I need to go in to work for a few ho urs tomorro w,” I tel l
hi m. “There are some thi ng s I need to take care of. But if you rea lly
don’t mind , I’d like to stay here for a few more days.”

“I don’t mind , Lily. I’d pref er it.”
I force a smile and then hea d to the gues t bed room. At lea st he’s
giving me a buffer bef ore I’m forced to conf ront ev er ythi ng .
As much as hi s pres enc e in my life conf uses me right now, I’ve
nev er been more tha nk ful for hi m.