Copyright © 2018 by Monica James
Release date: October 17th
Pre-order now:
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ANwUzJ
Nook:
https://bit.ly/2MdZ8bb
iBooks:
https://apple.co/2vsniFg
Goodreads:
https://bit.ly/2OkbXOx
It doesn’t take me long to realize where we are.
Tears well behind my eyes as this place holds such fond memories, but
they have nothing to do with the infamous parties my classmates held here. The
winding trail soon levels out, and we’re on the paved path I used to escape
from London the night we got arrested.
This trip down memory lane leaves me winded, so I stop to catch my
breath.
It was pitch black the night the LAPD found us trespassing, the night
London saved my ass in ways unimaginable. However now, the pulsating sun is out
in full blast, so I take a moment to appreciate the low-hanging trees and the bursts
of color from each flowering shrub.
A wave of nostalgia knocks into me when images of lying beneath London
as he attempted to protect me from trouble flash before me. He could have let
me get caught, but he didn’t. He even shouldered the blame and went to juvie
for me.
And I thanked him by breaking his heart.
“Why?” I ask in a whisper. I’m not even sure he’s heard me, but when he
freezes, his shoulders raised, I know he’s heard me loud and clear. “Why are we
here?”
I stand my ground, refusing to move an inch until he answers me.
His body language is a warning…telling me he’s seconds away from
exploding. But I don’t take the hint.
“London, why?” I press, firing my question at his back as he stands
rigid, unable to face me. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” As a tear scores my
cheek, I wipe it away with the back of my hand. “Why did it have to be this way
for us? Why were we born to be each other’s enemy?”
A heavy sigh leaves him as he hangs his head low. But he allows me this
purge because this place is safe; it’s the place where I fell even deeper under
London’s spell.
“Everyone shaped us into the version they wanted. Everyone. Things could
have been so different for us,” I cry, unable to erase the vision of London on
top of me as he shielded me from harm.
My chest rattles with the strangled tears I attempt to hold at bay.
“No one wants us together,” I confess, hating how bleak I sound. I want
to add us being together isn’t that simple, but I suppose it never was. “My
parents hate you. Your parents hate me. Our parents hate one another. How is
this supposed to work?”
Just as I’m about to march toward him and beg him to tell me it’ll be
all right, he runs his long fingers through his hair, fisting the longer locks on
top of his head. “What do you want, Princess?”
His question stuns me because for once in my life, I’m given a choice
when it comes to London. “It’s too late for what I want,” I reply, but London
refuses to accept my answer.
He spins with a force so great, I retreat, fearful of what he’ll do. But
he marches toward me, gripping my upper arms as though I’ll run from him if he
doesn’t. I attempt to pry myself free, but he tightens his hold, rocking me
lightly. “Don’t you say that,” he exclaims with a passionate tenacity. “We are
not our parents. We are you and me, who we’ve always been, and fighting this,
Princess”—he shakes me once—“is like fighting nature. We don’t stand a chance.
I love you, Holland. So fucking much it hurts.”
A sob escapes me when his face twists in agony. “When you left me, you didn’t
just tear out my heart. You took me with you. I am nothing, nothing without you.”
His confession is too much, and I burst into ugly tears. “Yes. Things
could have been different for us, but it doesn’t matter. We can’t change the
past, but we can make our own future. Don’t let the sins of the past win.” His
words are exactly what I needed to hear, but we can’t ignore that the odds are
stacked against us.
He translates my withdrawal and shakes his head violently. “What do you
want me to say?” He abruptly releases me and rips his sunglasses from his face.
His eyes are begging me to believe him and not to run away—not again.
“London, I—”
But he refuses to listen. Instead, he drops to both knees, gripping my
upper thighs as he surrenders before me. The sight breaks me. His feral gaze holds
so much emotion. I can’t stand to see him so vulnerable. I attempt to pull him
up, but he stubbornly stands his ground.
“You don’t understand, Princess. I don’t exist without you. You are a
part of me.” He thumps his fist over his heart, pressing it hard against his
chest. “You always have been.”
“But other pe-people—”
“I don’t care about people!” he cries, staring up at me, squeezing my
legs. “I only care about you because it was always…it was always you. I love
you without apology, and that’ll never change. So whatever you want me to do,
I’ll do it because I can’t stand to lose you again.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment