76

For a long time, they just stared at each other in silence. Mia didn’t understand what was happening. What was he doing? Her vision flickered, and Ryan suddenly spoke up.

“Just hear me out Mia, okay?” He pleaded, his eyes wide and shining.

She thought about protesting. She thought about walking out. But instead, she found herself nodding.

His shoulders seemed to relax.

“Thank you. Listen, I know you’ve told me you’re going. And I know you’ve told me that we’re not going to be together anymore, but I can’t let you go, not without telling you everything. Not without telling you exactly how I feel about you.”

Mia swallowed. His eyes were boring into hers, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t look away. It had felt such a long time since she’d allowed herself to be lost in them. She was hypnotised.

“I know we had a bad start. A very bad start. And I know that