Page 167 of Wish You Were Mine
“Then don’t,” I pleaded, even though we both knew that wasn’t an option anymore.
She shook her head against my chest, her shoulders trembling. “We don’t have another choice.”
And she was right.
So, for another long moment, neither of us moved. We just stood there, grief pressed between us, holding each other like we could freeze time, like maybe if we stayed like this long enough, the rest of the world would forget how to pull us apart.
But the seconds still ticked by, regardless. And goodbye didn’t stop coming.
“Tell your dad…thanks,” I said eventually, the words bitter on my tongue. “For sparing me my job, I guess. Even if it cost me everything else.”
“I will.”
She took a step toward the door.
At the threshold, she paused and turned back, eyes shimmering. “I guess I’ll see you in class, Professor Park.”
And just like that, I was no longer “Owen” to her. Not even “Theo’s friend.”
Just a guy standing at the front of her classroom three times a week.
I swallowed hard and managed a single nod. “See you in class.”
What else was I supposed to say?
She lingered there, her hand hovering near the doorknob, like maybe she wasn’t ready to end this either. Then, in a swift, almost desperate motion, she stepped closer and pressed a trembling kiss to my cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice splintering. “For showing me what it’s like to be loved by someone safe. Even if it was only for a little while.”
My throat burned as I tried to hold myself together.
And then she slipped out the door, quiet as a heartbeat, the soft click of the latch feeling final in a way I wasn’t ready for.
I stood there frozen, my stomach twisting like something vital had been ripped out of me.
Because the truth was, everything I wanted had just walked away.
And just like that night ten years ago, when I lost my dad and Callie...I couldn’t follow.
53
LUCY
When I got home,I barely made it three steps inside before Nora looked up from the couch.
Her eyes widened when she took in my puffy face, the slump of my shoulders, the way I couldn’t quite breathe right.
“Oh no, baby,” Nora said, her voice cracking the second she saw me. “It didn’t go well?”
“No—” I shook my head, but the word sounded more like a wounded sob. “I had to break up with him.”
“Oh, Lu…” Her expression crumpled with heartbreak on my behalf.
Then she just opened her arms.
My bag hit the floor with a thud. I walked straight into her hug, folding into her like I was a kid again.
She wrapped me up tight, her arms a cocoon, and I cried.
