After Reading My Boyfriend’s Mind, I Dumped Him for Good Chapter 13
“Then you think I’m annoying?”
“I don’t!” Atticus’s eyes flew wide open.
“And you hate me?” He looked completely lost. “Cece, what are you talking about?”
I knew what I’d heard.
Grinding my teeth, I finally blurted everything out.
“You called me disgusting. You said-‘why do I keep running into her everywhere?”
“You complained about me sitting next to you. And you called me… an asshole.”
The hospital room fell silent.
Atticus looked more confused than ever. “I didn’t…”
After a long pause, his alcohol-soaked brain seemed to creak back to life. Then something occurred to him.
“I’ve only ever called one person an asshole.” He lowered his head. His ears turned red.
“And I only did it in my head. It was Jake.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“Because he was trying to steal you.” His voice sounded aggrieved.
“Someone who flirts with another guy’s girlfriend-that’s an asshole.”
The drip of the IV suddenly sounded deafening.
A strange feeling crept into my chest. Something had been off from the very start.
“Atticus.” I stared at him. “Think a thought.”
He looked up at me, confused. “Like what?”
“Think…” I apologized silently to Jake. “Think-Jake is an asshole.”
[Asshole.] The thought echoed clearly in my head.
We fell silent again.
I rubbed my forehead. “Now think, ‘Cecilia’s so annoying.”
Nothing happened.
Slowly, I lowered my hand and looked up.
Atticus stared back at me in confusion.
“I can’t think that.” His answer came immediately.
“Cecilia isn’t annoying.” He paused. “Atticus’s annoying.”
I froze. Meanwhile, he kept talking, sounding increasingly miserable.
“Atticus’s awful. I’m so annoying.”
“Why am I so stupid? Why am I so terrible? Why can’t I say anything romantic?”
“Why am I so bad with words? Why is there something wrong with me…”
The strange knot that had been lodged in my chest finally unraveled.
And then it hit me. Every thought I’d heard was only half of it and even had some mistakes.
Who the hell invented a mind-reading system that only delivers half the damn sentence?!
The instant the realization clicked into place, a shameless voice suddenly sounded in my head.
[Sorry, our bad. This thought-hearing system is still in beta-full and clear sentences coming soon. Unlock the complete version now for just $4,999.]
I nearly laughed from sheer disbelief.
Seeing my expression darken, Atticus immediately reached for my hand.
“I’ll get better.” His voice was hoarse. “I’ve already started seeing a therapist.”
He looked at me anxiously. “I even bought a bunch of books on how to express yourself.”
His eyes were red. Like a stubborn child terrified of being abandoned.
“I’ll learn how to talk. I’ll learn how to say things right.” He swallowed hard.
“So… can you not leave me?”
Even after he finally fell asleep, his hand remained wrapped tightly around my wrist.
I’d expected a parent to show up. Instead, it was the housekeeper-Mrs. Doyle.
She smiled warmly when she saw me.
“Miss Sterling?” Her voice was gentle. “Would you mind chatting with me for a bit?”
Atticus had never talked much about his family.
All I knew was that he wore designer clothes and obviously came from money. I’d figured he was just some
spoiled rich kid.
What I hadn’t expected… was that he might be the most pitiful rich kid I’d ever met.
