Page 153 of Tell Me I'm Enough

Tyler’s nostrils flare, but he backs up slowly like he doesn’t want to look weak.

He gives me one last softened look. “When you remember how good we are together, and the future we were supposed to build together…I’ll be here, waiting for you. I’ll keep waiting for you, Simone.”

I turn to face the house, not being able to watch him walk away, knowing it’s the last time I’ll probably ever see him, and see the future he ruined.

Mason stands there, waiting for him to be completely gone before he moves in front of me, scanning like he’s looking for a way to fix this for me.

He places his hands on my arms and whispers, “Look at me.”

I look up, trying to keep the tears down, but it doesn’t work. I close my eyes, trying to hide from the embarrassment until I feel fingers on my cheeks, wiping the tears away.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Talk to me.”

I just shake my head, not being able to get any words out.

“Are you okay?”

I swallow hard, giving myself a moment before I speak. “Yeah.”

It’s a lie.

But it’s a different kind of lie now. One that feels too scary to admit out loud.

“I really wanted to punch him in the face.”

A laugh escapes me—small, but it feels like relief. “That’s…that’s the most effort I’ve seen from him in over a year. And it was only after he fucked everything up.”

Mason’s face softens. He quietly wraps me in his arms, and I relax into it, as if all the tension melts away because I feel safe here—with him.

“Don’t let yourself feel guilty for turning him away,” he murmurs into my hair. “He made his own bed. You don’t have to lie in it with him.”

My eyes sting. My throat burns.

I pull back just enough to look at him, just as his hands lift to my face, cupping my cheeks. “You do understand that you deserve better?” he asks quietly.

His eyes are locked on mine. And my heart does something stupid again. Because all I can think is—

Kiss me.

Make me forget.

Make me feel wanted, like you couldn’t think about wanting anyone else.

But that’s not fair to him. Because Mason isn’t a distraction; he’s a person—agoodone. And I will never use someone like Mason to numb a wound Tyler carved into me.

So I just nod.

“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’m trying to believe that.”

Mason’s thumbs brush gently over my cheekbones. His gaze flicks to my mouth—so fast I almost miss it.

Then he lets go.

And somehow, that restraint is what makes my chest ache the most.

We stand there for a beat, the space between us feeling tense, before the world around us comes back into focus.

I hear Lani’s loud voice from across the lawn and try to pull myself together.