Page 161 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

My voice barks out of me on impulse, but I fight instinct right now.

No one ever gets reason across when they’re furious, and the same

applies here. I need to keep calm, and even though I don’t want him

or care if I change his perspective on what happened, I just want him

to hear me.

Please, for once, I just want him to hear me.

Something tells me in ten years together he never heard a word I said

to him.

“I needed you, and I felt like I was dragging you down with me. So

yeah, that last day you were here, I asked you to leave. I even sent

Ainsley away when she tried to make food for me. I was trying to

isolate myself so I wouldn’t bring anyone else to my level, but I

realize now that wasn’t what I wanted at all.”

“What did you want, ladybug? Tell me.”

“I wanted you to stay, even if I told you to go. I wanted resilience and

assurance, and I wanted unwavering, undeniable support. But you

left. You walked out of my house and went back to your life like it

was nothing. You slept with Farrah and tossed me to the curb as if I

was a crutch that got you far enough and then didn’t have any more

use for you again.”

He bows his head a little bit, rubbing his nose with his wrist. “Oh, I

didn’t… I didn’t know that, Leah.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have expected you to read my mind. That wasn’t

right. But I have someone now who comes back to me, Ryan. If I ask

him for space, he’s still within arm’s reach if I need him, and when he

needs me, I’m there. It’s the kind of love I’ve wanted.”

His eyes lighten, and he pulls his focus to mine. “Did you say you love

him?”

Even with the false engagement, I can see that Ryan hasn’t believed

any of it until now.

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