Page 162 of Forbidden You

“Hey,” I say before holding still in anticipation.

“How are you?”

My heart is dying to hear what he has to say, hoping and praying he’s going to give me the words I’ve needed from the start. But there is also a big rock of rage that’s had a permanent place inside of me ever since I walked out of his front door. I’m too stubborn to just let that go.

I roll my eyes. “That’s why you’re calling, Bodi?”

“Yes.” He sounds resolute, but it’s quickly followed by an uncertain; “No.”

A small breeze moves past my spine, causing a shiver to ripple through my core.

“I’m sorry.”

Two words. They should mean the world to me, but for some reason, they are not enough right now. I want him back. I love him. I care for him. But he betrayed my trust by treating me like an inconvenience and it’s not fixed withI’m sorry.

That’s too easy.

“For what?” I question with a sharp tone when he stays quiet.

“For everything. I never wanted to hurt you. I just–I was confused.”

Confused?He seemed pretty clear to me the last time I saw him.

The day I bolted out of his apartment, leaving my heart behind.

Asshole.

“You ghosted me, Bodi.”

“I know.”

“Your father died, and all I wanted to do was be there for you. To be there formy friend, but you ignored me like I was nothing.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” I rebuke, sharply. “Because you didn’t even let me say goodbye to him, Bodi. I got the message, I really did. But the last weeks he was alive I spent a lot of time with him. You didn’t even give me a chance to say goodbye.”

Silence.

“You hurt me so much.”

“I wish I could take it all back,” he whispers, cueing emotion to fall over the rim of my eyes so I shut them to hold them back.

“But you can’t.” They fly open as I snarl. “You fucked up, Bodi. You don’t even realize how much.”

Breaking up with me was ripping my heart out. Ghosting me when his father died was putting my heart through a fucking shredder. It destroyed my trust once again, and I can’t settle for words any longer.

He once promised to never hurt me. He broke that promise.

“There’s so much I need to tell you, Kayla. I just don’t want to do it over the phone. You deserve more than that.”

He’s damn right I do. “What are you saying, Bodi?”

“I’m saying I’m sorry. I’m saying I’m serious. I’m saying I want you, and only you.”

The air is knocked from my chest. “Do you mean that?”

“Every fucking word.”

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