Page 153 of Come Break My Heart Again

“Is that all?”

“All?” The frostiness radiating off Ryder is affecting me too. Chilling me. It feels like I’m five steps behind and I can’t catch up.

“Yeah. I’ve got a busy rest of the day.” His voice is mocking, a tone I’ve never heard him use before. Bitter and brutal.

I pull my hands from my lap and rest them on the table. My fingers are so pale, like they’re lacking any blood at all. I reach for Ryder, and he pulls away.

“No touching!” one of the guards barks.

I blink back tears. “You don’t belong here, Ry.”

“I was always going to end up stuck somewhere,” he tells me. “Just like you were always going to attend a prestigious college and marry a guy who’s nothing like me.”

“Don’t say that. You’re wrong.”

“I’m realistic, Elle. We were fun. We were never serious, and we sure as hell were never going to last. Everyone knew it.”

I shake my head. “No. We—you’re just saying that because you’re here. But you can appeal. I’ll ask my dad to?—”

Ryder rests his forearms on the table. The more upset I get, the calmer he appears. “I’m guilty. I had the shit. I took the deal. There’s nothing to be done.”

My hands are trembling again. “Eight years for possession is crazy. There’s no way that?—”

“How did you get in here?” he asks.

I swallow. “I used your mom’s name. Stole her ID. They-they wouldn’t let me see you otherwise.”

“You can’t take a hint, can you?”

I stare at him, taken aback. “What?”

“They let us see friends and family to try to keep us from reoffending. An incentive to stay in line, get out of here as soon as possible.Idecide who can visit me, Elle. You weren’t supposed to get in here.”

“You … don’t want me to visit?”

I’m so confused. If I can’t see him here, I can’t see him at all. And not for weeks or months. Foryears.

“No.”

I search Ryder’s grave face for a sign he’s lying. Find none.

“You said you loved me,” I whisper.

“I got caught up in the moment,” he says quietly.

My eyes begin to burn, and I know I’m close to crying.

I refuse to do that here, to let Ryder see how deeply he’s cutting me.

I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. The flare of physical pain slices through the emotional agony, centering me. “I forgave you for breaking my heart once. I won’t do it again.”

Ryder nods, no trace of regret on his face. “I know.”

Then, he stands and walks away.

I keep waiting for him to look back, but he never does.

He disappears from sight, and my heart cracks in half.

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