Chapter 3

Dead silence.

He hesitated.

"Don't be crazy, babe. Would I be doing all this if I didn't care?"

What about Sophie?

Is that love too?

I swallowed the words.

I asked something else.

"Are we official?"

A heavy sigh through the wood.

I could picture his face.

Brows knit.

Patience running out.

"Does it really matter, Ava? We have so much history. Why do we need to put a label on it?"

Classic Liam.

Never making promises.

Never owning up to his shit.

Just deflecting.

Gaslighting me with that soft voice.

Making me the crazy one.

The boy I grew up with.

The center of my universe.

Rotten to the goddamn core.

I wiped my eyes.

Matched his soft tone.

"Okay. I get it."

He mumbled a few sweet nothings.

Walked away.

His footsteps faded down the hall.

I pulled up my dad's text thread.

My hands shook.

"Dad. I made a mistake."

"I'm doing the Paris program. I'll send the application tomorrow."

"Right after my birthday party, I'm out of here."