There’s a beat of silence. Tessa must nod.
“I see.”
“What exactly do you see?”
I hold my breath.
“There’s something between them.”
“I already know that,” Tessa snaps. “I literally just said that.”
“Right, but he’s trying to shut it down,” Holt continues. “And not because it’s nothing.”
My heart slams against my ribs.
“Then, why?” Tessa demands.
Another pause and then…
“He thinks he’s protecting her.”
His words steal the breath from my lungs.
“From what?”
“From himself,” Holt says simply. “Luke doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. He wouldn’t. Not after…well, not after the way things ended with Cheryl. And you,” he adds gently.
My memory flashes back to the conversation we had about Luke’s ex—Tessa’s mom—and how things ended. My heart squeezes. It’s hard to breathe.
“But that means…” Tessa’s voice is soft, like she’s just working it out in her head. “That he must really care about her.”
It’s not a question, but it might as well be. Because if he did really care about me, he wouldn’t have hurt me the way he did.
“I think so,” Holt says. “So in his mind, the only way to protect her is to make sure she doesn’t stay.”
Something inside me breaks.
And that’s exactly what it feels like.
Broken.
Silence falls between them. I slump against the wall, whatever energy I had left seeping from my body.
Because now I know.
I wasn’t wrong. I didn’t imagine it. It was real.
And he ended it anyway.
He felt all the same things I did. The connection between us. The…love.
And he still chose to break me.
A sob builds in my chest, sharp and uncontrollable, it threatens to burst free. I clamp my hand over my mouth and force myself to back away down the hallway before it can escape.
I can’t let myself cry. Once I start, I won’t be able to stop.
No.
