“I think you better go,” he said, dragging me toward the door.
I fought against him. “Just give me one more minute,” I pleaded, fighting against him, fighting to stay in the room when he was trying to throw me out.
I latched onto the doorframe. “Evie!”
She turned and looked at me with tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I’m sorry for everything. This is all my fault, and I know that. I know how badly I fucked everything up. I’ll go.”
With that, Gabe stopped trying to pull me from the room. He released me even though I could feel him behind me.
“I’ll go, but before I do, I need to finish this.”
She stared at me, her bottom lip trembling. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Fuck, I hated to see her cry. It was all my fault.
“If anyone deserves to be at that school, it’s you. Don’t let me fuck that up for you. You worked hard to be there. Go back. I’ll leave.”
“You need to fucking leave, Elliot,” Gabe said from behind me.
“I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to. I turned in my key. I don’t have a place to live.”
I shrugged. “If I’m not teaching there, then I don’t need a place there. Take my apartment. It’s the least I can do.”
“I’ll never be able to afford your apartment, Elliot. Just… drop it and go.”
“I own it. I won’t charge you to stay there. You can keep it as long as you’re enrolled. Go back on Monday. I’ll be out by then.” I turned and found Gabe.
“You were teaching at her school?”
I turned back to her, ignoring him. “I know you hate me. I get it—I really do. But know that I never lied to you, Evie. I meant every word I ever said. I’m sorry that I fucked everything up. I just hope that eventually, you’ll be able to believe that.”
Her lips parted. I thought she was going to come to me and tell me she loved me too, but she stayed rooted in her spot, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
I made to leave, my heart shattering, before I turned back one last time and looked at her from over my shoulder.
“One last thing,” I choked out. “I fucking love you, Evie, and I will always love you. You will forever be my girl.”
Without another word, I turned and walked away from one for the last time.
EPILOGUE: TWO YEARS LATER
EVELYN
“I miss you too, Maddy,” I said into the phone as I walked down the busy New York City sidewalk. “I promise, I’ll be home for Christmas and we’ll hang out so much that you’ll be sick of me.”
“Not possible,” she argued. “Stan is excited to meet you, so don’t skip out on me. Okay?”
“I’d never do that,” I said, stopping to look at the dress that was being displayed in a boutique window. “I can’t wait to meet your soon-to-be husband. And we’ll have one more crazy drunken night because I’m sure you’ll probably be with child once you come back from that romantic honeymoon of yours.”
She laughed at that. “Don’t even joke. We have a plan. No children until we’ve been married for at least five years.”
I turned away from the window and continued on my walk home. “I hope he knows how lucky…” The words fell from my mouth, and my feet stopped moving when my eyes landed on a familiar face that I hadn’t seen in nearly two years. I’d know those steel-gray eyes anywhere, though. Even two years later, they still haunted my dreams. “ I-I have to go.”
“What? What happened? Are you okay?” Maddy asked, panic filling her voice.
Elliot stopped directly in front of me. He had both hands tucked into his coat pockets, and his lips were turned up in a nervous smile. His cool eyes raked over me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll call you later.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up before she could object.
