I Swear I Still Hate Him (Atlas Lawson) novel Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Atlas’s POV

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Rory’s garage looked exactly like the kind of place a man escaped to when life got too loud. It was massive, spotless in that expensive kind of way, and smelled like motor oil, leather, and polished steel. Vintage cars sat lined up like museum pieces, some fully restored, some half–open with tools spread around them like Rory had just stepped away for a second. He was leaning over the hood of a black Mustang, sleeves rolled up, explaining something about the engine that I was only half listening to.

Actually, scratch that. I wasn’t listening at all.

Because my left hand had been in my pocket for the last ten minutes, fingers curled around the little velvet box like it was the only thing keeping my pulse in check.

The ring.

I’d had it for almost a month. Bought it in Canada after one of our road wins. The guys had all gone out that night, bar, drinks, loud music, the usual post–win bullshit. I’d told them I’d catch up. I never did. Instead, I found myself standing outside this quiet jewelry store a few blocks from the hotel, staring through the glass like a man with no business being there and every reason in the world.

I went in. An hour later, I walked out with a diamond ring in my coat pocket and my heart beating like I’d just done something reckless.

Maybe I had.

But it never felt wrong.

Not once. Since then, the ring had lived in my wardrobe back at the penthouse, hidden in a corner behind old boxes like I was afraid even looking at it too long would make everything too real.

And now?

Now it was in my pocket. At our parent’s house. Six days before Mom’s birthday. Because apparently some part of me had started thinking that maybe… maybe soon. Maybe Emery’s no ring, no babies line hadn’t just stuck in my head. Maybe it had moved in and started paying rent.

“You’re not hearing a damn word I’m saying, are you?”

Rory’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and found him staring at me from across the hood, one brow raised, a rag thrown over his shoulder.

“What?”

He snorted. “Exactly.”

I let out a breath through my nose and looked down at the engine like maybe it would save me. “Sorry.”

9:22 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 202

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Rory rounded the car, studying me with that too–observant dad look he had perfected over the years.

“You’ve been distracted all morning,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

I almost smiled…Almost.

Instead, my fingers tightened around the ring box in my pocket. Rory noticed the movement immediately. Of course he did. His eyes dropped to my hand, then lifted back to my face.

“You in trouble?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“No.”

He waited.

That was the thing about Rory, he knew how to wait you out. Didn’t rush. Didn’t push too hard. Just stood there quiet enough to make the silence do the work for him.

It worked.

My jaw tightened.

I looked away, then back at the cars, then finally down at the concrete floor. And before I could talk myself out of it, before my brain could come up with some safer, smarter version of the truth, I heard myself say it.

“I still love Emery.”

The words hung in the garage.

Heavy. Permanent.

Rory went completely still.

For one awful second, I thought maybe I’d finally done it. Maybe I’d found the exact sentence that would get me punched in the face by my stepfather in a garage full of expensive cars.

He didn’t move. Didn’t yell. Didn’t even blink right away. Then, slowly, he straightened.

“What?”

I swallowed. There was no pulling it back now.

I took a breath and made myself say it again, steadier this time.

“I still love Emery.”

0:22 Fri Apr 24

Chapter 209

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Rory stared at me. My pulse was pounding so hard it felt stupid. The ring box pressed into my palm like a live wire. I braced myself. For anger For disgust. For she’s your sister now, what the hell is wrong with you?

hustesad, Nory just looked at me for a long moment and asked quietly,

time?”

That question hit harder than I expected. Because it wasn’t mocking. It wasn’t cruel. It sounded almost… sad. Like he was thinking about all the years in between.

I nodded once. “Yeah.”

Kory said nothing. The silence got heavier. I dragged a hand through my hair and looked off toward the workbench, then back at him.

“I never stopped.” I admitted.

That one felt bigger. More exposing. More dangerous. But if we were doing this, then fine. We were doing it.

“I tried.” I said, the words rough now. “I tried to move on. I dated other people. I kept busy. I told myself it was over, that enough time would kill it, that distance would fix it,” I laughed once under my breath, humorless. “It didn’t”

Rory’s face stayed unreadable, but his eyes sharpened just a little.

I looked down at my pocket, then finally pulled my hand out. The little velvet box sat in my palm.

Rory’s eyes dropped to it. And for the first time since I started talking, something real cracked through his expression.

Surprise.

I opened the box. The diamond caught the garage light and threw it right back at us.

Rory let out a breath.

“When?” he asked.

“Canada,” I said.

His eyes lifted to mine.

“After one of the wins.” I closed the box again, thumb brushing over the top. “The guys went out. I went to a jeweler.”

Rory stared at the box, then at me. “You bought a ring.”

It wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah”

Chapter 202

“For Emery.”

“Yeah.”

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He leaned back against the car beside him, folding his arms, and I could tell he was trying to piece together whether I’d completely lost my mind or whether this had somehow been right in front of him all along.

Probably both.

I exhaled slowly. “I know how this sounds.”

“No,” Rory said, eyes still on me. “I don’t think you do.”

That made my stomach tighten.

I nodded once, jaw locking. “Then say it.”

He looked at me fully now. And again, there was no anger. Just weight.

“You’re serious.”

I gave him a look. “You think I carry a diamond ring around for fun?”

That actually pulled the smallest hint of a smile out of him. Small enough I almost thought I imagined it. Then it was gone.

“You love her that much.”

This time I didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

Not maybe. Not I think so. Not I always cared.

Yes.

Every bit of me meant it.

Rory looked away for a second, rubbing his jaw, then looked back at me again.

And because apparently there was no point stopping now, I said the rest too.

“I know what people would say. I know what it looks like. I know the words they’d use.” I swallowed hard. “But

I love her. I loved her before any of this got complicated, and I still love her now.”

The garage felt dead quiet.

Then Rory asked, “Does she know?”

A smile pulled at my mouth before I could stop it.

9:22 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 202

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “She knows.”

His gaze dropped once more to the ring in my hand.

“Does that mean you’re planning to…”

I cut him off with the truth. “I want to marry her.”

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