Page 104 of Wells

I step back from the door frame, and the movement makes him start forward, half a step, like he thinks I'm about to slam it in his face.

I want to.

I have wanted to do nothing but delete his number, forget the name Wells Stone, and never speak to him again since I left his apartment at one this morning.

"Cera."

His voice comes out rough when he says my name, like he's asking permission to keep talking.

I shake my head.

"No. There's nothing to say, Wells."

"Listen to me, please."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now."

"Cera—."

"Get out of my building, Wells."

He doesn't move. His hand comes up and braces against the door frame, and the vein in his neck pulses. His breathing picks up slightly, enough that I can hear it over the drone of the fluorescent light in the hall.

"Let me explain."

"How do you explain a lie?"

"I didn't lie."

My laugh comes out broken. I know I probably look and sound like a crazy person, because I am. This has pushed me over the edge.

"You didn't lie? Are you serious right now?"

"I never told you I wasn't him."

"Because I didn't know to ask, Wells. Withholding information is lying. Don't insult me on top of everything."

His mouth tightens, and his hand drops from the door frame. His eyes move past me into my apartment, scanning the room like he's looking for something he can fix or defend against.

"Let me come inside so we can talk."

"No."

"Then hear me out."

My voice climbs and the pressure builds at the base of my skull, the kind that comes right before I lose control completely.

"I told you to leave."

His voice rises to meet mine, and I'm suddenly aware we're both too loud for this hallway, for this building, for the people on the other side of these doors who can probably hear every word.

"You can't throw this away without understanding everything that led to this moment."

"I don't owe you anything."

"You don't owe me anything, you're right. But I'm asking."

A door creaks open down the hall. I don't look but I know we are drawing looks now. A woman's face appears in my peripheral vision, eyes curious. We're making a spectacle.