Augustus stared at me.
"A break?"
I'd rehearsed those words in my head for the last several minutes. Hearing him repeat them made me want to take them back.
"I'm not saying we should break up."
"Then what are you saying?"
"That we need space to understand what we actually want. Without another date, another apology, or another night convincing ourselves everything is fine."
He glanced toward the windows. Shorebridge glittered beyond the glass, blissfully unconcerned that my love life was collapsing seventy floors above it.
"And if we discover we're happier apart?" he asked.
My stomach twisted.
"Then we'll have to be honest about that, too."
"You say it as though that wouldn't hurt."
"Augustus, I'm already hurting."
He closed his eyes briefly.
I hated that I could do that to him. Hated even more that part of me wanted to cross the room and apologize for suggesting something I desperately needed.
"I don't want to lose you," he said.
