Page 116 of A Bossy Roommate

I can almost feel his embrace. I can almost feel his presence. A man of unwavering determination, who doesn’t give up until the last card has been played.

“It was a decision of the heart, one I don’t regret and would do again,” he’d said at that last meeting. Those were his exact words.

More tears roll down my cheeks.

I should have waited until he’d returned before I left, but in my haste, in my panic, I’d packed my things. Now I wonder how I could have been so stupid. I didn’t even leave him a message explaining my reasons. If he finds I’m gone and all my belongings with me, he’ll assume the worst.

I ran.

I’ll never run again.

I remind myself that it’s never too late to do the right thing.

Wiping my face and mascara spiders, I grab my phone and dial his number. He doesn’t pick up. I try again, with no luck. In my “Recents,” I find that he tried to reach me earlier once.

It will be hard to face him, the hardest thing I’ll ever do, but I need to tell him how sorry I am for my actions that have drastically altered his future.

How do you even confess to someone that you obliterated their dreams? Is there a roadmap for that?

There are no words to rebuild what I’ve broken.

While I know it won’t alter the outcome, my confession will provide us with the closure we both need.

I’ll miss his unwavering determination, his emotional intelligence, the meaningful glances we exchanged, and his unique humor he reserved solely for me.

Quickly, I grab my bags.

I have to return to him at once, try to explain.

I should never have just left—not without talking to him first.

I reach for the door to open it, already firing up the Uber app. I’m startled by the huge, tall shadow standing in front of me.

Stumbling back, I drop all of my bags.

A face with dripping wet hair stares down at me.

Carter.

Through the heavy rain, I hadn’t heard his footsteps. I hadn’t heard anything.

“Eden, baby, what the fuck?”

Worry is written all over his face. I don’t know how he found me, and even when he asks me, I can’t get the words out. Not at first.

“Baby?”

“How did you…?”

“Find you? I made a fucking U-turn. I had an inkling, and then I saw your car.” The concern in his eyes, the way he reaches for my hand, doesn’t help. I inch back. “Were you running away?”

“No. I promise it’s not what it looks like,” I say as I step farther back. “I wasn’t running away. I mean, at first, I was, but just now, I decided I was coming back. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Panicked, why?” He steps into the room and closes the door, his jacket dripping. “Why did you panic, what’s going on?” He runs a hand through his wet hair.

“You’re wet…let me grab you a towel.”

“No. First, tell me what’s going on.”

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