Hearing those words did something weird to my stomach. I grinned and kissed his palm, tucking my head in his chest. Ethan was asleep with his arm loosely wrapped around my waist when I thought about all the events that happened that day.
I knew that I needed to stay away from any close romantic relationships. Either I would hurt that person, or that person would end up hurting me. It wasn’t worth it for all the pain and hurt. All I wanted was to feel normal again without having any romantic feelings for anyone at all. I needed to be stronger than before and not fall for it. I don’t want anyone to hurt me like that again.
Like Paul had when we were thirteen. Like the passing of my mom, my family pushing me away, and leaving Ethan when I was eighteen. Like how Jake hid being a father. I w
