Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Mila shakes her head, and her eyes dart from the phone to me. “I thought…” she shakes her head again, as if she still can’t believe the evidence.
“Why did you think I was out with Jessica?” I ask.
Mila’s shoulders slump, and she looks defeated as she admits, “Before the attack, you were always out with a girl, and tonight I overheard Rachel and Summer say that Jessica was out on a date. I… I assumed.”
“You still think I’m fucking around?” Hurt blooms in my chest.
Christ, haven’t I proven myself over the past two weeks?
Mila closes her eyes and whispers, “What was I supposed to think? It’s not like we’re in a relationship.” And then she begins to ramble, “And it’s okay. I’m sorry I overreacted, and I know I can’t cling to you forever.”
I move forward, and when I frame her face, and she doesn’t pull back, the tension in my body eases a little. I lift her face to mine. “Mila, you can.”
She tries to shake her head, whispering, “You have your own life to live.”
Not able to hold it in anymore, I lean down until I’m eye level with her. “You are my life.”
I see the disbelief on her face, and stepping as close to her as I can, I say, “I love you, Mila.”
Shock ripples over her face, and her lips part, but then the disbelief settles back in her eyes.
“I love you.” I lean in and press a kiss to her lips. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”
Chapter 27
MILA
Jase loves me?
I keep staring at him while uncertainty and hope wars in my aching chest. It feels like I’m standing on an edge, and if the words aren’t true, I’ll fall.
How can he?
Is it out of pity?
The thought has the ground crumbling beneath my unsteady feet, and I gasp, “Why? Why would you say that to me now?”
“I flirted with you because my heart already knew what my mind couldn’t comprehend. Because that’s how much I fucking love you, Mila. It was inconceivable that one person could mean so much to me. I realized it the Thursday night before the attack. I was going to tell you that Friday.”
Three years of guarding my heart make his words sound like a dream. One, I’ll wake up from any moment.
My doubt has me saying, “What if it’s out of pity?”
“Do you honestly think I can breathe in a world without air? Because that’s what you are to me. The fucking air I breathe. Pity has nothing to do with my feelings for you.”
My eyes stay locked on his as my doubt begins to fade, and hope blooms into a flower that’s reaching for the sun.
“There will never be anyone else for me, Mila. It will only be you today, tomorrow, and every day after that. I want all your smiles. I don’t want you fighting with anyone but me because I’m a selfish bastard, and I want those fierce eyes of yours only on me.”
My sight blurs, and I blink the tears away, wanting to see Jase clearly as his words wrap around me, giving me warmth and security I haven’t felt for a long while.
My voice is hoarse as I say, “You really love me?”
The same look of awe Jase had earlier on his face as he watched me orgasm settles on his features, and the expression makes him unbelievably attractive. It’s fierce, lighting his eyes with flames. It’s intense and demanding – and everything I ever wanted from him.
His hands slip into my hair, and he leans close until I can feel the words on my lips. “You are the most important person in my life. I can lose everything. But not you. God. Not you.”
I don’t know how it happened, but a God fell in love with a broken soul. He collected every piece and put me back together, using my only dream as glue.
I can’t stop the tears of happiness as I press my mouth to his, and then I begin to rain kisses all over his gorgeous face as laughter bubbles up my throat.
I pull back, and I get drunk on the love shining from his eyes.
“Those eyes. God, your eyes give me life,” I whisper.
JASE
I glance around at the broken doors, and gripping Mila’s hand, I pull her to my room. “You should just move into my room, seeing as yours has been converted to a cave.”
Mila’s laughter bubbles like the finest champagne, and it etches a permanent smile on my face as I shut the door behind us.
She’s my fountain of life.
Mila climbs on the bed while I go to my walk-in closet. This time my eyes are locked on her face as I unbutton my shirt while stepping out of my shoes.
“Ooooh, I like where this is going,” she teases, lying on her right side and resting her head on her hand.