He says, hot breath fanning my face. He kisses me gently—my eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth. “Oh god.” I exclaim and he chuckles.Then he pulls back and looks me deep in the eyes as he says “I love you so much, Leslie. But it’s gonna seem like I don’t in the next few minutes.” Whatever response I had t
LESLIE’S POV The fact that I spent all night being spooned by Kian makes me jerk up the moment I wake up the next morning and I don’t feel his warm body against mine. To top it all, the side of the bed in which he slept is already cool, which means he’s been out of the bed for a while. I am still
KIAN’S POVThe idea of going on a date with Leslie might seem sudden and unexpected to her. She may even think I have nothing properly planned out but that’s not true. I’ve played with the idea in my head long before we met again. I’d imagined taking her out to show her how much I cared about her.
“Okay, this might be a little out there, but I thought it’d be fun to do something that doesn’t cost a thing. Something that actually lets us learn a bit more about each other,” I say, reaching into my pocket.She raises an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued.”I pull out a folded piece of paper with a list I m
KIAN’S POVAs we pack up the remnants of our picnic, I catch Leslie giving me a curious look. “You’re not hiding more surprises, are you?”I grin, knowing exactly what’s coming next. “Actually, there is one more thing. But it might be a bit...out of character for us.”She raises an eyebrow, intrigue
“Did owning a company make you so damn competitive?” she teases, nudging me.“Who knew you were so good at dodgeball?” I retort, grinning. “Gosh, you would have been a nightmare to your classmates in high school.” She laughs, and it’s the kind of laugh that feels like it’s reaching right into my he
LESLIE’S POVWe stroll along the nearly empty street, our fingers entwined, and I can’t help but notice how natural this feels, walking with him in the quiet night air. My cheeks ache from smiling so much; I feel like a teenager again. “You’re keeping me guessing tonight, you know.”Kian looks over
“It was…a process,” I begin slowly, feeling his hand warm in mine. “The first year was the hardest. After I left I had to figure out who I was without you, without our history, without my father and every crafted part of my past.” Whenever I think of my father, my heart aches. I want to ask Kian ho
CHAPTER 99 ~SOPHIE~ The moment Sebastian disappeared down the street, a crushing silence fell over me, broken only by the unsteady rhythm of my breathing. My fingers twitched at my sides, my entire body locked in place as if moving would make the moment real, as if accepting that he had been
CHAPTER 98 ~SOPHIE~ In between the endless nightmares that were triggered by the events of the past week and waiting for Travis to reach out to me again, I had been pushed to the edge of insanity. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it did. It got worse. And now I was bolting out
CHAPTER 97 ~JUSTIN~ I’ve never been anyone’s first choice. Never. No matter how hard I tried, Jac always had the spotlight. He was the golden boy, the prodigy, the one with all the medals and accolades. Meanwhile, I was the kid bringing home crayon sketches and piano recitals that no one car
CHAPTER 96 ~SOPHIE~ There were many questions; like how on earth she was in a place that was at least an hour's drive from her family’s mansion, and why she was chugging down cheap beer when I have only ever seen her enjoy the finest wine. The longer we stood there, wordlessly staring at ea
CHAPTER 95 [ Punching Bag ] ~ELAINE~ (6) The moment I slipped through the gates and caught sight of my father’s car parked neatly in the driveway, dread curled deep in the pit of my stomach. I stopped dead in my tracks, my pulse quickening. They were home. They were never supposed to be hom
CHAPTER 94 [ The One Who Needs Saving ] ~SOPHIE~ I didn’t even blink when the words fell out of Justin’s mouth like he'd been holding them in for years. I just sat there, watching him like he had told me the most obvious thing in the world. If I felt remotely surprised, it was simply because I
CHAPTER 93 [ I’m Gay ] ~SOPHIE~ My scream echoed down the street, loud enough to wake the dead or at least give someone a mild heart attack. But the hand gripping my shoulder was barely even settled before instinct took over. I spun around, grabbing the wrist tightly and twisting it with all the
CHAPTER 92 [ Little Contradictions ] ~SOPHIE~ The faint neon lights from the cinema flickered on and off as I stood by the curb, watching the stream of people moving in and out of the building. I couldn’t remember the last time I watched a movie—couldn’t even remember the last time I did somethi
CHAPTER 91 [ The Man I thought I knew ] ~SOPHIE~ He said no. I never imagined that would be his answer. I sat there, stunned into silence, blinking at him like I hadn't heard him right. His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist, firm and unyielding as if he could anchor me to him by sheer