Page 81 of Falling for Her (Boston Love)

Clare’s eyes bounced from Mandy to me, then back to Mandy. She slowly shook her head. “No, I never thought that.”

“Shut up, Mandy,” I said as I made my way toward her. “Clare, weneedto talk.”

Her head slowly turned back to me. A smile played over her face, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. “I guess it worked, didn’t it?”

“No, Clare, let me talk to you, please.”

Moving quickly across the living room, Clare headed to the door. Mandy grabbed my arm and attempted to keep me from going after Clare.

“Let her go, Wes.”

Jerking my arm free, I followed Clare out into the hallway. “Fuck, Clare, will you please stop?”

She kept walking toward the elevator.

I was only wearing sweatpants and nothing else. My neighbors were going to think I was crazy as I started making my way to her, calling out her name again. “Clare!”

Spinning around, she wiped the tears from her face and held up her hand, stopping me in my tracks. “Stop. Please. From what I saw, you got what you wanted.”

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “What you saw was Mandy kissing me. I don’t want this, Clare. I wanted to talk to you about Mandy–”

Clare’s phone rang and she quickly answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is Clare. I’m on my way.”

Turning on her heels, Clare quickly started toward the elevators.

“Was that the hospital?” I asked as she hit the down button.

“Yes, I have to call my brother.”

For once the fucking elevator appeared quickly. Clare stepped in and I put my hand up to keep the doors from shutting.

“Wes, please just let me go. I can’t deal with this right now. I have to get to the hospital. The only thing I care about is my parents. This whole fake dating bullshit is finally over, and now I can go back to my normal life. You got what you wanted…now leave me alone.”

“Is that what you want? Me to leave you alone?” I asked, sounding slightly panicked.

I watched as her chin wobbled and tears pooled in her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I want this to be over and I don’t want to see you for a while.”

My hand dropped, and I took a step back as the doors slowly closed. And in that moment, I realized what heartbreak really was, because my heart had never hurt so much.

Clare

Moving On

“Clare, sweetheart, you do not have to hover around us.”

I tucked the pillow behind my mother’s back and smiled. “With Tim gone, I’m all you’ve got.”

“We have each other,” Dad said from across the room.

Turning to face him, I put my hands on my hips. “And you’ve only been home from the hospital a week. I don’t have anything else to do or anywhere to be. I like taking care of you both.”

I picked up the tumbler from the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.

“Why does it feel like you’re hiding here?” my mother called out.

Ignoring the ache in my chest, I forced myself to laugh. “Hiding from what?”

“More like from who?” Mom added.

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