Page 106 of Collide
“When you looked at me…” His voice catches. “It wasn’t like everyone else.”
He steps closer. The air sharpens.
“You didn’t flinch. You didn’t perform. You just saw me.”
He shakes his head, jaw tight. “And I hadn’t had that in a long time.”
His voice drops, almost a whisper. “It felt like a clean slate. And I was selfish. I didn’t want to lose it.”
My breath stutters.
“Your innocence…” He exhales like he’s afraid to finish the thought. “It captivated me. You make me look at the world completely new. Everything is sharper, rawer, when I’m with you.”
A muscle jumps in his cheek. His hand lifts, hovers near mine, but he holds himself back.
“I want to show you everything,” he murmurs, voice low and aching. “Corrupt you. Keep you. Make you mine until there’s no part of you untouched by me.”
He draws a shaky breath, his eyes burning into mine.
“I tried to stay away. I told myself you were too young, that it was wrong, but the moment you looked at me with those beguiling eyes, Elena…” His voice fractures, raw. “I was yours.”
My eyes widen. I’m at a loss for words.
“No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fight it. I don’t think I can give you up. I’ve never wanted anything, anyone, more desperately in my life than I wantyou.”
He. Wants. Me.
For a moment, my heart stops. He wantsme.
Something unravels in his face—tightness loosening, the strain of holding something in too long. His mask drops, and for the first time since I learned the truth, Iseehim.
Not the actor.
Not the handsome, confident man who shook my world and inspired lyrics to bloom in my heart.
Just him.
The way his shoulders tilt forward like he’s bracing for rejection. The flicker of shame in his eyes when he looks at me, then away. The hunger beneath it all. Not for fame, not for control—forconnection.
Like me, he’s been lonely, searching for something real.
My fingers curl at my sides. My ribs ache from holding it all in.
The walls around my heart crack, just enough.
Enough to let him in.
He sighs, running a hand through his damp hair. “I’m sorry for lying—or omitting the truth. But I’m not sorry for the circumstances that led me to you. Everything else was real, Elena. The moments we shared, the conversations we had—those were all me. I just wanted you to know who I am.”
His eyes are wide, the passion raging behind them.
“Darling,please.I don’t want this to end. I’m not ready for this to end. I’m begging you—just give me another chance.”
My breath hitches.
For the first time in my life, I feel like I am standing on the edge of something unknown—something terrifying and exhilarating all at once. And against all logic, I want to fall into it.
So, I do.
