Page 106 of Love Unwritten

“Are you still upset with her about what happened with Nico?” she asks without any judgment.

“No. I’ve let that go.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

My lips press together. “Nothing.”

She chuckles to herself. “Right. Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

My aunt said the same thing all my life, but I’ve never taken her up on the offer. When I was younger, I did it to protect her from knowing the truth about me, but now I am too proud to admit my struggles.

In some ways, I’m just like my uncle and Julian, with a hubris that has caused me nothing but trouble.

Only because you’re too stubborn to ask for help.

I run my hand through my hair. “I appreciate it.”

Her small sigh of disappointment makes my chest uncomfortably tight. “Of course. I know you’re all grown up now and don’t need me—”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

I consider changing the topic but decide against it at the last moment. “To be honest, I don’t know how to talk about everything.”

“Well, you’ll never learn unless you try.”

I take a few seconds to think up my reply. “Things between Ellie and me are…”

She sucks in a breath. “Yes?”

“Tense.”

“Oh.” Her earlier enthusiasm is wiped away.

“It’s not that I don’t like her as a person…”

She jumps in to talk when I don’t finish my sentence. “But you’re not interested in her as more.”

That isn’t true, but just because I’m attracted to her doesn’t mean I can do anything about it. Yesterday’s conversation made that perfectly clear.

“I can’t be,” I answer honestly.

Her confirmatory noise eases some of the tension in my shoulders. “After everything you’ve been through, I understand why.”

I’m surprised by her statement. “You do?”

“Yup. If I had my heart broken by someone I loved and trusted, I wouldn’t be willing to part with it again.”

My aunt may not know all the sordid details of my divorce, but she can connect the dots on her own with whatever information she has.

“But…” She lets the word linger in the air, earning a scowl from me. “If I met the right person, I might end up changing my mind.”

The problem is that Ellie may be the right person, but that won’t change the fact that I’m all wrong for her.

Even though I’m wishing that wasn’t the case.

CHAPTER THIRTY