Page 135 of Forbidden You

“Too much detail.”

“Sorry, but I’m just freaking out,” I cry.

This is exactly what I feared, but it just doesn’t add up. None of it does.

“Because you love him.” Her tone is matter-of-fact, and I almost jump out of my skin in shock.

“Don’t say that out loud!” I pause, then run my hand through my hair. “But yeah, I do.”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, it feels good to confess my love for him to her. After my conversation with Agnes, I thought about it a lot. Denying it makes it only harder. She convinced me to be brave and take the bull by the horns, so to speak, but I wasn’t prepared for the bull to pierce me through the gut.

“Ah, Kayla!” Rae squeals with more excitement than I feel right now.

“There is nothing to be excited about, Rae. Not if he doesn’t want me.”

“Are you kidding me? Have you seen the way he looks at you? The boy loves you just as much.”

“Yeah, well, he has a funny way of showing it, then,” I tell her, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know what happened?” I whine. “Last week it was all fine, but today he’s cold, distant. Like something changed.”

“Maybe he’s just not feeling alright? Did something happen?” Rae offers, but I shake my head, the tears now coming through without any restraint.

“The doctor had a conversation with him about his dad’s condition. He’s not well, but he said it was nothing new. He said he was fine. I know he’s worried about him, but he has been for as long as I’ve been living with him, so it’s not that.”

“Maybe there is something more going on?”

“It’s me, Rae. I know it.” My voice breaks and she stays quiet.

Her pity is tangible, even though she’s 500 miles away and, for the first time, I don’t even have a snarky comment to burst this bubble of discomfort. Something is wrong; I can feel it in my gut.

Bodi is closing off to me.

He’s creating a distance to do the one thing I always knew was coming.

He’s ending it.

He’s endingus.

“It’s not, sweety. Look, I’ve seen how he looks at you. I saw the look on his face when you gave him his birthday present. I heard how he took you to the carnival, even though he hates it.”

“So?”

“So, people don’t do that for people they hate. They do those things for someone they love.”

The lump in the back of my throat grows to the size of a golf ball, and I do my best to swallow it away as I walk into the building.

I want to believe everything she says, but I can’t get rid of the look on his face just now. It was…harsh. Detached.

“You don’t know that, Rae. Just because I fell in love with him, even though we all fucking know I shouldn’t have, doesn’t mean he fell in love withme.”

“Why shouldn’t you have fallen in love with him?”

“Because we are not a good fit.”

She snorts. “Don’t you dare throw that bullshit at me about how you are too young? That’s just his cop-out and you know it.”

“Do I? Because he’s been pretty clear about it from the start. I thought we got past it, but it was the first thing he threw at me while he shoved me out the door.” I push the elevator button while I wipe my tears off with the back of my hand.

“What did he say?”

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