Page 52 of Three Little Words

He frowned, tilting his head. “Bryn, what…”

“I wanted to say it back.” I swallowed. “I loved you, Benny. I…I never stopped. And I just poured everything into this. Into work, and my shop.”

Benny pulled his hand out of mine. “Are you serious?”

I looked up. “What? Of course, I—”

“You left because you thought I would hurt you first? Bryn, that’s a piss-poor excuse.”

I tensed, back straight, and looked up at him. “Benny—”

He shook his head. “I gotta think about this. I’ll talk to you later.”

He left the shop.

I swallowed, lingering by the door.

I could feel Marissa looking at me, but I didn’t look back.

I cleared my throat. “Um, I…”

“I got it.” Marissa smiled. “Go home. Take care of Bryan. I can run the shop one more day.”

“Okay. Thanks, Marissa.”

“No worries. See you later, Bryn.”

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