Page 68 of Flynn

“What choice? Do you love Sofia?” I demanded.

“Yes, of course I do.”

“And did you mean it when you asked her to marry you?” I said again, refusing to let him take this conversation any further down this ridiculous path.

“Yes, I meant it.”

“Then there is no choice to be made here, Ellis. If you love her and you want to marry her, decision made.”

He hesitated and raked his hand through his hair. “But… you and me—”

I pushed past him for the door. “No.”

“Wait,” he called.

“No, we’re not having this conversation.”

Ellis slammed his hand down on the door before I could open it and looked down at me, eyes blazing with desperation.

“Move away from the door, Ellis.”

“Is there a single part of you that misses us? Is there a part of youthat thinks you made a mistake breaking up with me?”

I shook my head, astounded. “No, Ellis. And how dare you ask me that when you’re about to marry my best friend. What the hell are you thinking?”

“How did me dating Sofia not piss you off?” he argued angrily, pushing away from the door.

My gut hollowed suddenly, and a sickening shiver slowly swept over me.Oh, God.

“You… Ellis, tell me you didn’t start dating Sofia to make me jealous.”

He didn’t look at me right away, but when he turned back around, his expression was drawn and desperate.

“You just walked away, Chiara. And you looked happier for it. How the hell is that even possible? I thought for sure it was all for show, like maybe you wanted me to fight for you, that maybe I hadn’t done a good enough job in making you realize how much I loved you.”

“No,” I whispered softly, my stomach knotting painfully. “Ellis… no.”

He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair again. “I thought… maybe you didn’t know how good you had it. That maybe seeing me with someone else and how happy I could be with her would make you jealous and you’d come back. I waited, Chiara. I waited for you to see and come calling, but you seemed even happier that I was with her.”

I pressed a hand to my stomach and shook my head.What the hell?

My vision swam, and I turned for the door. Nausea roiled in my stomach, on the verge of tears. How the hell was I meant to tell Sofia?

“I love her,” Ellis said before I could turn the doorknob. “I love Sofia now. It didn’t happen as fast as it did with me and you, and it feels different. But I love her, and I want to be with her. I justhad to check one last time,” he said as if that excused everything he’d told me.

I looked at him over my shoulder and felt ill. “You don’t deserve her. Sofia deserves so much more than being your second choice.”

“You can’t tell her, Chiara. Please, promise me you won’t say anything. I love her. I promise you I love her,” he told me, hurrying over to me, but I was done waiting.

I yanked open the door and hurried out into the hallway only to come to a dead stop at the sight of Sofia and Flynn. Sofia’s face was stricken, pale, and with tears pooling in her beautiful eyes, but her gaze was locked over my shoulder on Ellis.

“Sofia,” Ellis said her name, and there was a strange echo. Glancing down, I saw she was on a call with her sister who had the laptop screen up. Oh, God… Chloe. I’d forgotten she was there.

“Chloe called while I was out,” she said in a raspy whisper, holding up the screen for Ellis to see. He turned to see the laptop set up on the desk on the opposite side of the bed and I’d never seen someone lose color so fast.

“Sofia, wait, you don’t understand. I—” Ellis said.

“I heard everything,” Sofia cut in, her voice ravaged, and my heart broke a little. I glanced at Flynn whose gaze moved between me and Ellis, and it was unreadable again. What did he think about all this? Did he hear it all too?

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