DARE-TO-LOVE-TRUTH-AND-DARE-DUET-COLLECTION-by-Lylah-James-pdfarchive

Maddox wasn't complicated in ways everyone liked to
believe. Once I got to know him, I really saw him, the real
him, and realized that he only hid behind a mask.
“You can't do this, Maddox. You can't be an asshole and
then ask me to stay with that look on your face.” Like a
kicked puppy, a lost boy, a broken man. My sweet Maddox,
with a heart of gold.
“Don't wanna lose you,” he mumbled. Maddox grasped
my hand in his, albeit clumsily, because he was still really
drunk. Our fingers interlaced together, and his hold
tightened.
I gave his hand a squeeze in comfort and in warning. “I
don't do toxic relationships.”
His eyes cracked open, and he gave me a small smile.
There was something melancholy about it. He had the
appearance of a desperate man, starving and reaching
blindly toward something, but it always escaped out of his
grasp before he could grab hold. Maddox was breaking my
heart, and there was nothing I could do to end this
suffering.
“We're not in a relationship.”
I knew that but I still asked. Maybe I was a glutton for
pain. “Then, what are we?”
His gaze fixated on me again, eyes so blue they looked
like the midwinter sky – beautiful yet dreary. “You're...
more,” he whispered the confession. “Don’t leave, Lila.”
He said my name like a prayer, as if he was whispering
all his hopes to heaven.
With that said, he closed his eyes again, and this time,
he was no longer conscious. I looked down at our hands,
and I swallowed back my tears. “What are you doing to me,
Maddox?”
Before I could think twice about my actions, I climbed
under the comforter and joined him. His body was still cold,
but slowly regaining its warmth. Under the strong smell of