Page 76 of Sin

What is one more wave crashing over me when I’m already drowning?

Chapter Thirty-One

Lily

Me: I can’t stay with a man who doesn’t respect my wishes.

My fingers tremble as I hit send, and a hollow ache settles in my chest. Packing up my things in Ethan’s room doesn’t take long, and yet it’s grueling.

His room became my haven, but I don’t belong here anymore. He made his choice tonight. Apparently, his principles are more important than my feelings.

As I step out into the hallway, my chest tightens. I don’t want to go back to my sorority house, even though I love my girls.

I love Ethan more. It’s excruciating that he couldn’t choose me.

When I open the door to my sorority house, Kinsley is sitting on the living room couch.

“Lily.” She jumps from her seat and walks toward me. “What’s going on? Is your week with Ethan up already?”

Her voice is so gentle, so motherly, that the facade I’ve been holding on to crumbles. My eyes grow misty.

“I had to leave,” I say. “I couldn’t stay anymore.”

Her eyes grow wide. “There was more to it than just him helping you out, wasn’t there?”

A lump forms in my throat, and I can only nod. Kinsley seems to understand immediately, because she nearly leaps on me. “I knew he was in love with you. I knew it all along. Oh, honey. What did he do?”

I lean into her warmth. “He can’t accept me as I am,” I say in a choked voice. “He wants to stick to his strict Ethan code regardless of how it affects me. It’s more important to him than a promise he made to me.”

She squeezes me tightly before letting me go and looking into my eyes. “He’s a stubborn guy. That’s for sure. But, Lily, I really think he’s one of the good ones. Maybe he just needs a little more time.”

“No,” I say firmly. “Something happened tonight. He…” I wince. None of this is going to make sense to her since I never told her the full truth. Oh well, I’ll tell her what I can. “He punched Mason because of me. On the sidelines after the game tonight. You might even see it on the news.”

She pulls away, her eyes growing huge. “He punched him? Because…Mason is your ex?”

I lower my gaze to the carpet beneath my feet. “It’s a complicated story, and I’ll tell you all of it when I’m ready.”

She nods slowly. “I always thought there was more to your breakup than you let on.”

My throat grows tight. “There was.”

Her expression softens. “Well, I’m here whenever you need me.”

I let out a heavy breath. For the first time in months, the idea of telling another person about what happened to me doesn’t fill me with shame. I can thank Ethan for that.

Maybe it’s a good thing that Ethan and I were thrown together, even if it ultimately broke my heart. He taught me I can’t stay bottled up forever, that all it does is make the pressure of my troubles build like bubbles in a shaken champagne bottle, ready to explode at any moment.

I might finally be able to sleep in my own dreaded bedroom tonight, but it’s little consolation.

I’ll miss those big arms wrapped around me, and the steady comfort of his heartbeat. But I’m strong enough to prioritize needs.

I just wish I didn’t have to.

Ethan

Her things are gone.

It doesn’t take a detailed search to confirm it. The few items she’d brought with her—her duffel bag, the toothbrush sitting on my sink, the clothes she left strewn on the floor after the last time I peeled them off—are nowhere to be found.

---