Page 154 - It Ends with Us

Shi t.

The waiter tries to cover for Atlas’s ha sty ret rea t by smiling and
sho wing way too many teet h. “Enj oy your des sert ,” he says, scuffling
off to the kitchen.
“Bummer,” Allysa says. “We find a new favorite res taurant and the
chef is an assho le. ”
R yle laughs . “Yea h, but the assho les are the bes t ones . Gordon

Ramsay?”
“Good point ,” Marsha ll says.
I put my ha nd on R yle’s arm. “Bathro om,” I tel l hi m.
He no ds as I scoot out of the booth, and Marsha ll says, “Wha t
about Wolfgang Puck? You thi nk he’s an assho le?”
I walk across the res taurant , hea d down, fast paced . As soon as I get
int o the familiar ha llway, I keep going . I push open the door to the

women’s res troom and then turn around and lock it.
Shi t. Shi t, shi t, shi t.
The look in hi s ey e. The ang er in hi s jaw.
I’m rel iev ed he walked away, but I’m ha lf-conv inc ed he’s probably
going to be waiting outside the res taurant when we lea ve, rea dy to
kick R yle’s ass.

I brea the in my no se, out my mouth, wash my ha nd s, rep ea t the
brea thi ng . Onc e I’m more calm, I dry my ha nd s on a towel .
I’ll just go back out there and tel l R yle I’m no t feel ing well. We’l l
lea ve and we’l l nev er come back. They all thi nk the chef is an assho le,
so tha t can be my ex cuse.
I unl ock the door, but I don’t pull it open. It starts pushi ng open
from the other side, so I step back. Atlas step s ins ide the bathro om

with me and locks the door. His back res ts agains t the door as he
stares at me, focused on the cut nea r my ey e.
“Wha t ha ppened ?” he asks.
I sha ke my hea d. “Nothi ng .”
His ey es are na rro w, still ice blue but someho w burni ng with fire.
“You’re lying , Lily.”

I muster eno ugh of a smile to get me by. “It was an accident .”
Atlas laughs , but then hi s face falls flat. “Lea ve hi m.”
Le av e hi m?