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

I squeezed my eyes shut, and I did as I was told.
Breathed through my nose, like Lila taught me. Like her
therapist had taught her.
Once my lungs stopped feeling like they were getting
crushed under a pile of rocks, I opened my eyes and stared
into Lila’s brown ones. Lila Garcia was the anchor; I was
the whole goddamn ocean.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” she questioned
softly.
“Thinking about what?”
“What it would be like if your father is dead? You’re
wondering why you care and why your chest aches.” She
nodded at where I was rubbing my chest – doing so,
unconsciously, until she pointed it out. Lila knew me too
well. She knew me better than I knew myself. To her, I was
an open book. I let my hand drop to my thigh.
“Do you know what I regret the most about my
accident?”
I didn’t respond. She took my hand in hers and slid her
fingers between mine, squeezing. “I never got a chance to
tell my parents how much I loved them. Our last moment
was us fighting… and me calling them bad parents. That’s
what hurts the most, Maddox. If I could go back in time, I’d
shout how much I love them. If I could go back in time, I’d
beg to just spend one more second with them. Just to see
their faces, to see their smiles and hear their voices.”
“It’s not your fault. The accident,” I murmured, looking
down at our entwined hands. Her smaller, paler one, in my
much bigger and rougher hand. We were perfect together.
Had been perfect together… until we weren’t anymore.
“I know. But I still feel guilt over our argument and our
last moments together.”
I frowned and looked up at her face. “My relationship
with my parents is not the same as yours, Lila. It’s a
different situation.”