Page 107 of The Problem with Falling
“Yes?”
“I’m leaving tonight.”
He let me go.
He stepped away.
I missed him already even though he still stood there.
“What?” he questioned.
“I think my time in Westin Lake is over. Listen, I had a great time getting to know you. I think you’re a great guy, and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. Time-out. What the hell is going on?” he shouted, mystified. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“Breaking up with you?” I huffed even though I wanted to sob. “Theo…we weren’t…together.”
And there it was.
The heartbreak.
It flashed in his eyes and rolled through his chest.
And the moment his heart broke? Mine shattered.
He started to close himself off again. I saw him retreating to the cold man I first met. “Th-then what have we been do-doing?” he quietly asked, stuttering through his words.
Oh, Theo. I am so sorry.
“We were just two people who had sex a few times.”
“Sex?” he blurted out. “This was just sex? You and me? Us? Is that all it was to you?”
I knew what he was getting at, and the uncertainty in the pit of my stomach hurt me because I saw it in his eyes…love.
It was there.
It was real.
Which meant it was time to do what I had to do.
“Yes. It was just sex,” I quietly agreed with a small nod.
That sliced through his spirit. I saw the hurt that pierced him, and I hated that I was the one who delivered it. But I didn’t know how not to hurt him. I didn’t know how not to run away.
Because Mrs. Lane was right.
I didn’t deserve love.
Especially from a man like Theodore Langford. Because he would’ve loved me completely.
“Willow,” he murmured, his voice soaked in heartbreak, “I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m sorry. I, well, if you could just…” He sighed and sniffled before clearing his throat. “Please don’t leave me,” he begged. “Just stay.Please,” he pleaded. “I don’t know what happened, but I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make this better. I’ll be whatever you need me to be in order to make this work. I’ll be better for you. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. Just…don’t go. P-please.Don’t go.”
Every piece of my soul died right then.
He was begging me to stay, which was exactly why I had to go.
I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest. “Sorry, Theo. I’m leaving. This is over.”
