It Ends with Us

He wants to meet my mother?
We aren’t
even officially dating. I mean . . . I don’t 
care
if he meets my mother. She
would love him. But he went from not wanting anything to do with
relationships, to possibly agreeing to test-drive one, to meeting the
parents, all within five days? 
Good God
. I really 
am
a drug.
Me: Sure. Meet us there in half an hour.
I walk out of my office and straight up to Allysa. I hold my phone in
front of her face. “He wants to meet my mother.”
“Who?”
“Ryle.”
“My brother?” she says, looking as shocked as I feel.
I nod. “Your brother. 
My mother
.”
She grabs my phone and looks at the texts. “Huh. That’s so weird.”
I take my phone from her hands. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
She laughs and says, “You know what I mean. It’s Ryle we’re talking
about here. He’s never, in the history of being Ryle Kincaid, met a girl’s
parents.”
Of course hearing her say that makes me smile, but then I wonder if
maybe he’s doing this just to please me. If maybe he’s doing things he
doesn’t really want to do just because he knows I want a relationship.
And then I smile even bigger, because isn’t that what it’s all about?
Sacrificing for the person you like so that you can see them happy?
“Your brother must 
really
like me,” I say teasingly. I look back up at
Allysa, expecting her to laugh, but there’s a solemn look on her face.
She nods and says, “Yeah. I’m afraid he does.” She grabs her purse from
beneath the counter and says, “I’m gonna head out now. Let me know
how it goes, okay?” She moves past me and I watch her as she makes her
way out the door, and then I just stare at the door for a long time.
It bothers me that she doesn’t seem excited about the prospect of me
dating Ryle. It makes me wonder if that has more to do with her feelings
toward me or her feelings toward him.
• • •
Twenty minutes later, I flip the sign to closed. 
Just a few more days
. I lock
the door and walk to my car, but stop short when I see someone leaning

---

against it. It takes me a moment to recognize him. He’s facing the other
direction, talking on his cell phone.
I thought he was meeting me at the restaurant, but okay.
The horn beeps on my car when I hit the Unlock button, and Ryle spins
around. He grins when he sees me. “Yes, I agree,” he says into the phone.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me against him, pressing
a kiss to the top of my head. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he says.
“Something really important just came up.”
He hangs up the phone and slides it into his pocket, then he kisses me.
It’s not a hello kiss. It’s an I’ve-been-thinking-about-you-nonstop kiss. He
wraps both arms around me and spins me until I’m backed up against my
car, where he continues to kiss me until I start to feel dizzy again. When he
pulls back, he’s looking down at me appreciatively.
“You know which part of you drives me the craziest?” He brings his
fingers to my mouth and traces my smile. “These,” he says. “Your lips. I
love how they’re as red as your hair and you don’t even have to wear
lipstick.”
I grin and kiss his fingers. “I better watch you around my mom, then,
because everyone says we have the same mouth.”
He pauses his fingers against my lips and he stops smiling. “Lily. Just . . .
no
.”
I laugh and open my door. “Are we taking separate cars?”
He pulls the door open for me the rest of the way and says, “I took an
Uber here from work. We’ll ride together.”
• • •
My mother is already seated at a table when we arrive. Her back is to the
door as I lead the way.
I’m instantly impressed by the restaurant. My eyes are drawn to the
warm, neutral colors painted on the walls and the almost full-sized tree in
the middle of the restaurant. It looks like it’s growing straight out of the
floor, almost as if the entire restaurant was designed around the tree. Ryle
follows closely behind me with his hand on my lower back. Once we reach
the table, I begin to pull off my jacket. “Hey, Mom.”
She looks up from her phone and says, “Oh, hey, honey.” She drops her
phone in her purse and waves her hand around the restaurant. “I already

---

love it. Look at the lighting,” she says, pointing up. “The fixtures look like
something you’d grow in one of your gardens.” That’s when she notices
Ryle, who is standing patiently next to me as I slide into the booth. My
mother smiles at him and says, “We’ll take two waters for now, please.”
My eyes dart to Ryle and then back to my mother. “
Mom.
He’s with me.
He’s not the waiter.”
She looks up at Ryle again with confusion. He just smiles and reaches
out his hand. “Honest mistake, ma’am. I’m Ryle Kincaid.”
She returns the handshake, looking back and forth between us. He
releases her hand and slides into the booth. She looks a little flustered
when she finally says, “Jenny Bloom. Nice to meet you.” She places her
attention back on me and raises an eyebrow. “A friend of yours, Lily?”