Page 61 of Her Pretty Words

He rests his hands on my hips, not bothering to step back to an appropriate proximity. “Then perhaps we can show her.”

“How?” I ask.

“Assholes like him can only pretend for so long. I’m sure we can break him in front of your parents if you give me some details about his personality.”

I sigh. Walter hasn’t cracked in front of them thus far, so I doubt he will now, but I say, “He looked pretty angry when I wiped his kiss off just now.”

His eyes flare with hatred yet again. “I might actually kill him.” He slowly collects himself. “Anything else?”

“When I said I wasn’t coming back to Idaho anytime soon, he told me I was begging for attention and that if I wanted it so badly, I should’ve gotten breast enlargement surgery.”

His grip tightens on my hips. “Torturously slow,” he says.

“His true colors show when he’s pissed off,” I say.

“I can work with that.”

Everything he’s ever done is tumbling from my lips. “You know, he never congratulates me when I accomplish something in my career? He treats my job as if it’s a joke.” I shake my head. “He never takes me anywhere either. It’s like he wants me to stay the same forever. Like the twenty-year-old girl I was when we met.” Relationships shouldn’t hold you back. They should inspire you to grow in every way a person can, like sunlight for a tree. But Walter isn’t the sun, he’s a weed shading me, so I’ll never touch the light.

“I’m no expert, but it’s obvious that he’s intimidated by your success. He wants you to feel small to compensate forhisshortcomings.”

He treats me the way he treatshimself, so I’ll never leave him. Because why would I leave when he’s led me to believe I’m worthless on my own? That he’s better than me in every way and I need him to thrive. He keeps me in the dark because he knows that once the lights are on, I’ll realize he was below me all along. A small part of me pities him, but he hurt me. He manipulatedme. But most importantly, he lied every time he said he loved me.

Someone who loves me will cheer me on from land as I touch the sky, and if I’m ever in a dark place, they’d show me the stars.

Grayson is watching me patiently, and I think back to the first day we met. He ordered my books, and now he has them displayed in his house. I saw him read words I’ve poured my soul into. I’ve heard the names of my characters on his lips. He held me as I cried the night I broke my grandparent’s ocean treasures, and he glued them back together the next morning before I woke up. He hosted my friends with no warning. His face lights up when I laugh, and he touches me like I’m something divine.

“Why are you so nice to me?” I ask.

His head tilts. “Why wouldn’t I be nice to you?”

“Because I certainly wasn’t. I acted like I hated you.”

He lifts a brow. “Acted?”

I glance at his orange wall. “We both know you never gave me a true reason to warrant hatred. You did, however, supply me with several to dislike you, but that’s neither here nor there,” I joke. “But the reasons you’ve given me to like you win by a landslide.”

“Don’t—” he says, holding up a hand. “Please don’t say any more. Walter doesn’t deserve you, but neither do I.”

“Why are you saying this?” I whisper.

“Because it won’t be long until I give you a true reason to hate me.”

I open and close my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“Let’s focus on getting rid of Walter, okay?”

No, it’s not okay, but what can I say right now? “Okay.” My voice is small.

Chapter 20

Grayson

When I was a kid, my mom took her wedding ring off a lot. Before swimming, doing the dishes, even riding her bike. It was diamond, the most durable stone, but she treated it as if it were as delicate as glass. Yet, I’d notice her holding her hand out and watching it sparkle in the light. I didn’t understand how she could love it yet hardly wear it.

Macy reminds me of my mother’s ring. She’s a diamond I want to keep tucked in a drawer because I’m afraid I’ll ruin everything. It’s not illogical. It’s a simple truth.

I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to Macy. I wanted to hang on to happiness so bad that I put off telling her the most important truth, and now, telling her would ruin everything good between us, because I waited too long. Ipretendedfor too long. Iliedfor too long.

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