Page 39 of Leah

She was stunning.

Better than I remembered.

I couldn’t even open my mouth to speak for the longest time.

Was I dreaming?

Was this another fucking nightmare I was going to wake up from?

But I wasn’t reaching my hand out into the darkness; I was staring right at her, and she was looking back at me.

I’d been speechless, watching her sit there the entire time, looking fierce and gentle all at once. That’s what Leah was like. She was a walking contradiction; a hot liquid inside an ice block.

And so inconceivably beautiful.

It took everything in me not to touch her more.

I wanted to lick her skin and push her against a wall somewhere. I wanted to feel those soft lips roaming against my own, wanted to suck on her tongue and make her moan.

I’d been dreaming about it.

I had gazed at her face, roaming every inch of her skin, nearly shaking my head at what I’d imagined the other night. It didn’tcome close to the real thing. She’d been my muse, the face that burned me, gave me a spark, and drove me to pleasure.

And she just told me I was too late.

Karma.

That bitch packs a nasty punch, huh?

“I told you to leave her alone,” Rome growled out from behind me.

“I know,” I muttered in defeat. “I couldn’t help myself.”

He sighed, coming up to stand next to me. He stared at me hard for several moments, no doubt pitying my pathetic state.

“I told you to wait,” he continued on, not giving me one moment of relief. “We agreed.”

“She didn’t even read my letters,” I muttered, more to myself than him.

“That was part of the conditions,” he replied, shrugging. “Leah had to let you go. She loved you too much and you walked all over her.”

I glared at him, but I didn’t bother responding.

I might have been a hothead, but I knew not to demean myself by denying the truth when it came to her.

“I just thought…” I shook my head to myself. “I thought… with the way she was looking at me, that I had a chance, you know? I thought she wanted me.”

“She does want you.”

I scoffed. “You heard what she said. I’m too late. I’d been under the fucking assumption she’d hold on to me after all this time, not move on.”

Rome chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a fucking idiot, Carter. That girl has been in love with you since the moment she saw you. You were her childhood love. You were her fucking god. She might’ve wiped your asshole if you asked her to. Chicks don’t move on from the same kind of love she had for you. They mightlive with it, they might learn to love other guys, but they don’t move on. Inside, the what-ifs consume them.”

I stared up at him in disbelief. “I’m beginning to think you should be the one writing our lyrics, man.”

“No way,” he disagreed firmly. “I just hit some drums and watch you slay the crowd. I’m content never to want more than that.”

At this certain time, I kind of wished he did.

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