Faded Pages (From Yesterday To Always Book 1) by Madilyn DeRose

Author:Madilyn DeRose [DeRose, Madilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Emilia

His lips were soft on mine as my hands gripped his shoulders. For a minute, I melted into him, my lips devouring his hungrily. I wanted to lose myself in his kiss, but instead, I pulled away from him.

“What are you-” I started.

“You tried to kiss me,” he reminded me. “Just a few minutes ago.”

“I was being impulsive,” I argued.

“You’re reckless,” he said, eliciting an angry grunt from me. I tried to move away from him, but he squeezed my thighs tightly and pinned me against the edge of the pool. “You’re irresponsible, emotional, and sometimes you’re downright difficult.”

“Why are you doing this?” my voice cracked.

“Because you’re all of these things and more, but do you know what you’re not? You’re not too much, you’re not unlovable, you’re not crazy or bad or any of those negative things you tell yourself every day. I will never ask you to be anything different.”

Tears sprang to my eyes. I wiped them away quickly and sniffed. He was pushing me, testing me, making me face my own demons. It was like twisting a knife in my gut.

“What’s the point of all this?”

“You and Mason are destroying each other. You barely eat, you’re drowning yourself in things that offer momentary relief from your pain. You’ve been cut off from all of our friends since you’ve been with him. You’re different.”

“There are other reasons I've become this way,” I spat, pushing hard on his chest. He didn’t budge, which just infuriated me more.

“I’m trying to prove a point, Em.”

“That you’re an asshole?”

“That you don’t know what you want. When I kissed you, you completely gave yourself to me for a moment, until the guilt kicked in. You can’t see what's going on right in front of you and what's actually hurting you.”

“You hurt me,” I accused.

His expression looked sad. “You’re right, I did. I also own that. If you let me, I'd spend my whole life making that up to you and I'd never ask you to change for me. Has anyone else given you that same assurance?’

No, they hadn’t. In fact, no one had so ruthlessly called me out like that, then built me back up in the same breath.

“It’s cold,” I said instead.

He stared at me for a long moment, then nodded. He set me on the edge of the pool again and I immediately missed the warmth of his body on mine. He climbed out and I stood to follow him.

We walked in silence up the stairs. When we reached the back door, he pulled me inside and rushed off to find a towel. I stripped down to my underwear and wrapped myself up tightly.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, walking into the kitchen and rummaging through a cabinet.

Instead of responding, I walked up behind him and touched the colorful tattoo on his forearm. He turned around with a look of surprise. His chest was bare in front of me and he still wore the same soft shorts, which were wet and pasted to his body.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.