Page 397 of Releasing 10
Because itwouldhappen again.
That was the only thing I was sure of.
“I’ll never stop being sorry for betraying you,” she said, holding her head in her hands. “And I’ll never forgive myself for killing us.”
Jesus Christ.
I wanted to soothe her.
I wanted to wipe her tears and make her better again.
I wantedher.
But I justcouldn’t.
“It’ll be okay,” I strangled out, reaching over and snatching one of her hands up. “We can still be friends.”
“No, Hugh, we can’t,” she replied sadly, entwining her fingers with mine. “You can’t be friends with the person you’re in love with.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “And I’m always going to be in love with you, Hugh.”
I believed her.
I knew this girl better than I knew myself.
I could hear her truth.
I could see it in her eyes.
It mirrored mine.
I knew how she felt because I felt the same way.
It was a hopeless, desperate, frantic feeling.
It was fucking torture.
“We can try,” I heard myself offer, feeling panicked at the thought of this being it.Please, God, don’t let this be it. “Liz, it’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, it will, because I’m going to take a step back,” she declared and the way she said it made me think she had thought about this a lot. “I’ll take the sideline bench when it comes to our friendship circle, and I won’t interfere in your life.”
“Liz.” My eyes started to water. “I don’t want that.”
“Neither do I,” she squeezed out, sniffling. “But it has to happen.”
I knew she was right; we had to go in separate directions, but that didn’t make doing it any easier.
I couldn’t be sure if this was her plan, if she intended to break me down like this and shatter my resolve, but it worked.
“I know what you did,” she continued, gently squeezing my hand. “How you buried the rumors about what I did with him and covered for the disgusting way I treated you.”
“You weren’t well.”
“And you were the one caught in the crossfire, but you still protected me.”
“I’ll always protect you.” I swiped a tear from my cheek. “No matter what.”
Sniffling, she squeezed my hand again. “I want you to have the best life imaginable. Nobody deserves it more than you.”
“Liz…”
