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“But you didn’t,” he states before tilting his head toward the ceiling as if he’s praying for strength.

My lips part, but I quickly realize that I don’t really have anything to say to that.

No, I didn’t tell him.

I knew I was in the wrong, but I continued to keep the secret.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, but I’ve already lost him.

He’s shut down, and I could beg and plead all night, but it’s not going to get me anywhere.

“I think it’s for the best if you just go.”

Pain rips through me.

“No, please,” I beg.

But despite my words, the pleading, desperate tone in my voice, he doesn’t so much as look back at me.

Aware that I don’t have any other option, I step around him and head toward the door, my shoulders lowered and my chest aching.

Cooper has been the best thing that’ve ever happened to me, and I fucked it up.

A little hope surges through me when I get to the door and his voice cuts through the heavy silence.

“Just tell me one thing.”

“Anything. You can have anything.” And I mean it. Anything he wants. It’s his. Not that I have all that much to give in the grand scheme of things.

“When did you figure out it was me?”

A heavy sigh passes my lips. I’m aware that this isn’t going to make it any better. But he deserves the truth now, even if I know it’s going to hurt.

“The night of Fletch’s birthday party. I recognized your tattoos.”

“That’s why you followed me and invited yourself into my Uber.”

The shame that hits me in that moment is almost unbearable.

“Yes,” I state. “I needed more, Cooper. I still need more.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you spent the last few weeks lying to me. You can see yourself out.”

And despite my heart screaming at me to stay and continue to try and plead my case, I hold my head as high as I can and do as he says.

I’ve always been powerless but to follow his orders, and nothing has changed.

Every step I take gets harder as the distance I put between us becomes unbearable.

But I need to give him what he needs. I need to give him space to process all of this. And then, if he decides that this is where we end, then I have to accept that.

I made my bed. Now, I have to lie in it.

No matter how much it hurts.

It wasn’t until I walked down Cooper’s front yard that I realized I had no way of getting home.

I pulled my cell from my pocket and called an Uber, but there weren’t any cars close, and I ended up sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for almost an hour. And the best part? It started raining. And I don’t just mean a little rain. I’m talking torrential downpour that resulted in rivers running down the sides of the roads, soaking me through in seconds.