Page 64 of Rhys: and the girl who was always his

I clutch the blanket tighter around my body, my heart hammering against my ribs. I should’ve known this wouldn’t last forever.

That he would come for me.

ThatRhyswould come for me.

The door swings open, and the tension in the air shifts immediately. I can’t see Rhys from where I’m sitting, but I canfeelhim. The weight of his presence, the anger, the frustration. Thedetermination.

“Where is she?”

His voice is rough, strained.

Smalls doesn’t answer right away. “You need to calm down.”

A bitter laugh. “That’s not going to happen.”

Smalls exhales through his nose. “You should at least?—”

“I don’t need a lecture, Smalls. I needher.”

The words hit me like a freight train.

Before I can second-guess it, I stand, the blanket slipping from my shoulders. My legs feel unsteady as I walk towards the door, my breath caught somewhere between fear and anticipation.

When I step into view, Rhys’s eyes lock onto mine immediately.

And everything else disappears.

His expression is unreadable, but his chest rises and falls sharply. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. He looks like he hasn’t slept in a week. His dark eyes flick over me, taking in every inch as if confirming that I’m real. That I’m here.

That I haven’t disappeared completely.

“You left.”

His voice isn’t loud, but the words cut through me like a blade.

I swallow hard. “I had to.”

He steps forward, his jaw tight. “Why?”

I wrap my arms around myself, my voice small. “Because I didn’t want to hold you back.”

His laugh is hollow, sharp. “Hold me back? Jesus, Ally. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?”

Guilt claws up my throat. “Rhys?—”

“No,” he cuts me off, his voice rough. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to run and act like you did this forme. You left because you were scared, not because you didn’t want to be a burden to me.” He throws my words back at me.

Tears burn my eyes, but I fight them back. “I didn’t want you to feel stuck with me.”

His nostrils flare, his hands trembling. “Stuck?That’s what you think this is?”

I look away, my stomach twisting. “I don’t want to be a burden, Rhys. You deserve someone who?—”

“Don’t.”

His voice is sharp, desperate. “Don’t youdarestand there and tell me what I deserve. I’ve wanted you for years, and when I could finally have you, you left.”

Silence stretches between us, thick with everything we haven’t said.

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