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

He didn’t stop. “Remember what you said to me the first
time we visited your parents?” he asked, but didn’t wait for
me to answer. “You told me that you hated me before,
because I was a reminder of the boy who ruined you and
stole your life from you.”
Yes, I did say that.
I did hate him because the ‘Maddox Coulter,’ I met four
years ago, reminded me too much of Christian.
“Tell me, Lila,” he growled, his voice strained. His gaze
flitted back and forth, searching my face. “How could I tell
you the truth? How fucking could I? The person who killed
your parents was the same boy I grew up with. You would
have looked at me the same way you’re looking at me now.”
It was a sick twist of truth and our reality. Everything he
was saying made sense. But I couldn’t accept it. I needed a
reason to blame him, to hate him.
“Stop,” I said, my voice shaking. Tremors ran down my
body, and I felt so… cold.
Maddox manhandled me. He grasped my jaw and forced
me look at him, into his manic eyes. “Why did you help me,
Lila?”
Shut up. Please.
His fingers dug into my cheeks. It wasn’t painful, but it
wasn’t gentle either. “Why?” He breathed; his lips so close
to mine.
BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.
My heart stuttered. I felt dizzied…as realization dawned
on me.
I stumbled back, away from him. My gut twisted, a fiery
inferno from deep within me.
His arms fell to his sides, and he squeezed his eyes shut
against my rejection. His lips parted, and he whispered my
name… but I was already running away. From him.
From my truth.
From our reality.
From… everything.