Page 47 of Exes and Oh Hell No

Like we were two halves of a whole.

Inseparable.

I’m dangerously close to snapping.

One wrong word.

One wrong look, and I’ll fucking lose it.

“I-I… I should’ve given that back to you.”

For a moment, I forget to breathe.

Like she just ripped something vital out of me.

Slowly, I turn, my voice razor-sharp. “That’s all I was to you, huh? A piece of fabric? A fucking souvenir?” I can’t disguise the hurt on my face from her words.

Not when I’m feeling this raw.

She cringes, sucking in another breath.

“I meant that little to you, huh?” My voice is brittle and hollow. “You’d give it back because you can’t stand to be reminded of our history.”

Her eyes are wide as her mouth drops open.

She slowly shakes her head, her brows furrowed. “That’s why I didn’t.” Her voice is full of pain and grief.

She swallows hard. “I wore it after we broke up.”

Bowing her head, I hear her sniff.

Irrational anger barrels through me. “You broke up withme, not the other way around, Harper. I wanted us to work. I would’ve made us work.”

Her head snaps up. “I had to let you go. Look at me and look at you. There are a thousand women far more beautiful and cultured than I am. You were heading to the big leagues, and it was time to face reality. To shake the past like a snakeskin and embrace the wealth, the travel, and the beautiful women.”

“I didn’t want any of that.” My voice booms through her room, wafting into the hallway and shaking the walls. “All I wanted wasyou!”

I shake my head, disappointment flooding me. “I know your father criticized you way too often about your looks and especially, your body. But I’m nothim. I loved you for who you are and how you look. The inside and the outside, Harper.”

The past is being purged, regardless of whether I want to do this or not.

She started this… so I’m ripping the band-aid the rest of the way off.

“I always thought you were gorgeous, Harper. You’re a beautiful, strong, feisty woman with a huge heart. Your curves were a bonus to me. I love every fucking one of them because they’reyou. Just like I love the good and the pain-in-the-ass parts of you.”

Fuck.

I just said love.

Present tense.

The confession hangs in the air, thick and suffocating.

I didn’t mean to bare my feelings to her just yet, but something about her causes me to do things I don’t want to do.

She stares at me, her mouth and eyes wide.

Spinning around, I toss the sweatshirt in her suitcase, then grab bras, underwear, and some socks and toss them inside.

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