Page 130 of Be With Me
“It’s over.”
My stomach plummeted to somewhere in the vicinity of my shoes.
“We both know there’s nowhere for this to go from here.”
I stared at him, stunned. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
In the bathroom, I'd given myself a pep talk, psyching myself up to be honest with him. To tell him the truth about how I’d fallen for him.
Because if we were ready to admit it—to say it out loud—there had to be a way to make it work. I didn’t have a plan. Just a desperate desire to try, and a bone-deep faith that together, we could figure it out.
I thought Romolo would want to try too. By now, I trusted my intuition when it came to him.
Something must’ve happened in the last few minutes that had set him off.
But I wasn’t going to give up on us that easily.
"I asked you a question before I went to the bathroom.” My voice sounded far steadier than I felt. "Answer it."
He strode toward the minibar. “What do you want me to say?” His hands shook slightly as he unscrewed a tiny bottle of whiskey and sloshed the amber liquid into a glass. “That I wish we had more time?” He tossed the shot back, his throat working as he swallowed. “We both knew this was never going to work long-term.”
A hollow ache bloomed inside my chest. “Rom, just answer the question.”
How do you feel about me?
His gaze flicked over me. He shrugged. “You were a good fuck.”
The world blurred at the edges, tears stinging my eyes. His words cut deep. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation for why he was being such an asshole.
Breathe. Just breathe.
He didn’t mean it. I knew he didn’t. He was angry. Lashing out. Scared.
Scared ofwhat?
The desire to understand him steadied me, even as my eyes burned.
“Bullshit.” I took a step forward, hands clenched at my sides. “What happened out there?”
He gripped the edge of the minibar. “Nothing happened. Let it go, Mia.”
“Why should I? Why should I let you lie to me?”
“All we had was sexual chemistry. It would have fizzled out sooner or later. Go home and tell Jenny we’re done.” He swiped a hand across his mouth, like he was trying to erase the taste of those ugly words.
Rom was a good liar, but even he couldn’t reduce us to two people who'd only slept with each other.
“Something triggered you out there. I wish you would just tell me what it was instead of pushing me away.” I took a breath, steeling myself. “Rom, I care about you. I…” The word I was looking for got stuck inside my throat.
Why was this so hard? Why was I so scared?
I wanted him to say it first. I’d spent my life telling my dad and my stepmom that I loved them only to get nothing in return more often than not. There was a fear embedded deep inside me that no one would ever say it to me and mean it.
And right now, when he was like this?
I couldn’t do it.
Romolo exhaled, staring down into his empty glass. “Let’s play it out. Pretend I say the words you want to hear from me.” He pushed off the bar and stalked toward me until he had me backed against a wall. His arms caged me in, his palms flat against the wall on either side of my head. “Then what?” he demanded.
