doubt that I would have chosen him over Ryle. I barely even knew Ryle
at that point.
But Atlas didn’t say anything. He lied to me and told me he’d been
in a relationship for an entire year. Why? Why would he do that unless
he didn’t want me to think I had a chance with him?
Maybe I’ve been wrong all this time. Maybe he never even loved me
to begin with and he knew that inventing this Cassie person would
keep me away from him for good.
Yet, here I am. Crashing at his house. Interacting with his friends.
Eating his food. Using his shower.
I can feel the tears begin to sting my eyes and the last thing I want
is to stand in front of him and cry right now. I walk around the table
and rush past him. I don’t make it far when he grabs my hand. “Wait.”
I stop, still facing the other direction.
“Talk to me, Lily.”
He’s right behind me now, his hand still wrapped around mine. I
pull it away from him and walk to the other side of the living room.
I spin and face him just as the first tear rolls down my cheek. “Why
did you never come back for me?”
He looked prepared for anything to come out of my mouth other
than the words I just spoke to him. He runs a hand through his hair
and walks to the couch, taking a seat. After blowing out a calming
breath, he carefully looks over at me.
“I did, Lily.”
I don’t allow air to move in or out of my lungs.
I stand completely still, processing his answer.
He came back for me?
He folds his hands together in front of him. “When I got out of the
Marines the first time, I went back to Maine, hoping to find you. I
asked around and found out which college you went to. I wasn’t sure
what to expect when I showed up, because we were two different
people by then. It had been four years since we saw each other. I knew
a lot about both of us had probably changed in those four years.”
My knees feel weak, so I walk to the chair next to him and lower
myself. He came back for me?
“I walked around your campus the whole day looking for you.
Finally, late that afternoon, I saw you. You were sitting in the
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