Tears of love

Prologue

Prologue.

I hear his footsteps behind me, and even though I don’t want him to see me like this, I can’t avoid it — he grabs my arm and forces me to turn around. His face is right in front of mine, and for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m suffocating just by having him so close.

How can someone you love hurt you so many times? Worse still, why are you so stupid to let them?

I pull my arm free from his grip and take two steps back.

I don’t want him near me.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I murmur, fighting back my tears, refusing to let them fall. “I... I finally get it, Jeremy. No matter how hard I try, I’m not the one who makes you happy—she is. And I’ll never be her. I’m done trying to fill a place that only belongs to her. There’s no way I can fight that.” I meet his eyes—eyes I love, but that now hurt so much to look at. “I mean nothing to you, and I’m tired of pretending otherwise.” I let out a weak, broken smile. “Go upstairs. She’s waiting for you. Stop wasting your time with me.”

A pathetic tear escapes, and I wipe it away before turning to head for my car. But his voice stops me.

Still, I don’t turn around.

“I never meant to hurt you, Aurora,” he says, and I do everything I can to stay on my feet, not to fall apart. “I was honest with you from the start. This is your fault—I never asked you to love me.”

A shaky, broken laugh slips from my lips at his words.

Because he’s right. He never gave me a reason to believe he felt anything for me.

I was just someone to pass the time with. A distraction.

I am his dirty secret.

“I know,” I whisper, not sure if he even hears me—and I don’t care. I just want to get away from him and heal this wound on my own. Even if it’s the last thing I do, I have to get over him. I have to forget him.

I get into the car, and without looking back, I drive away from the person I love—the one I gave everything to, the one who left me empty.

Because while I gave him everything, he gave me nothing.