Booktree.ngIt-Starts-with-Us-Colleen-Hoover

“Atlas…” I say his name like something awful is about to follow it up,
but he interrupts me.
“Lily.” He says my name with a smile, like nothing I could possibly add
to his name would be awful.
“My life is complicated.” I don’t intend for it to come out like a warning,
but it does.
“I want to help you uncomplicate it.”
“I’m scared your presence is going to complicate it even more.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I’ll complicate your life or Ryle’s life?”
“His complications become my complications. He’s the father of my
child.”
Atlas dips his head ever so slightly. “Exactly. He’s her father. He’s not
your husband, so you shouldn’t allow your concern for his feelings to
persuade you to give up what could be the second-best thing to ever happen
to you.”
He says that with such conviction, my heart feels like it’s tumbling down
my rib cage like a Plinko chip. The second-best thing to ever happen to me?
I wish his confidence in us were contagious. “What’s the first-best thing to
ever happen to me?”
He looks at me pointedly. “Emerson.”
Hearing him call my daughter the best thing to ever happen to me makes
me damn near melt. I hug myself and hold back my smile. “You’re going to
make this difficult for me, huh?”
Atlas slowly shakes his head. “Difficult is the last thing I want to be for
you, Lily.” He moves and the door begins to open, spilling light into the
closet. He faces me with one hand on the door and the other on the wall.
“When’s a good time to call you tonight?” He seems so at ease with this
conversation, it makes me want to pull him back into the closet and kiss
him so that maybe some of his assurance and patience will seep into me.
My mouth feels like cotton when I say, “Whenever.”
His eyes settle on my lips for a beat, and I feel the look all the way to my
toes. But then Atlas closes the door, shutting me alone inside the closet.
I deserved that.
A mixture of embarrassment, nervousness, and maybe even a little bit of
desire is flooding my cheeks. I remain unmoving until I hear the faint chime
of the front door being opened.