The silence after Ryan read the message felt suffocating.
Anna watched him, her breath caught in her throat, as the muscles in his jaw tightened. His eyes stayed glued to the screen, unblinking, unreadable, as if staring hard enough might somehow change the meaning of what he’d just read. But it wouldn’t. The truth was out. And he should have told her the rest long before Brenda ever sent that message.
All the progress they had made in the past hour evaporated. Anna could feel herself pulling away again, retreating into that familiar space of doubt the same doubt she had been fighting ever since she saw him with Brenda, ever since those messages started arriving.
“Ryan…” she whispered, stepping toward him slowly, almost cautiously. “What does she mean? What… what haven’t you told me?”
