Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
A knot forms in my chest, hard and unyielding. My hands clench at my sides, my breath coming faster as I take a step closer to the base of the cliff. “You’re going to get yourself killed! Just come down—please!”
He just shakes his head, and the wind catches the edges of his voice, carrying a note of something I can’t quite place. “I can’t, Lila. Not this time. I need to do this—alone.”
There’s a hardness in his tone, but beneath it, I hear something else—something raw and unsteady. It hits me like a punch to the gut, and for a second, I want to scream at him, to drag him back down to solid ground where I can make him understand. But I can’t take this from him. This is his fight, just like facing my own fears is mine. So I swallow the ache in my throat and force myself to stand still, watching as he pushes upward, his muscles flexing with each deliberate movement.
Minutes stretch into an eternity, every breath tight and shaky in my chest. My eyes track his progress, my heart leaping with every precarious shift of his weight, every slip of his boot against the rock. And then, finally, he reaches the summit. A triumphant shout rips from his throat, echoing across the cliffs, and my breath catches, a wild mix of relief and something hotter, fiercer.
He stands at the top, arms spread wide like he’s embracing the sky, the sun painting him in shades of gold and crimson. For a heartbeat, he looks untouchable—like the daredevil I met that first day, the man who seemed so far out of reach. But then he starts his descent, each movement careful and measured, and I know I can’t wait for him to come to me. Not this time.
Before I can second-guess myself, I grab the rope he left behind, my hands trembling as I wrap my fingers around the rough, braided surface. The fear that’s always clawed at my chest when I’m near the edge fades into something else—something urgent and uncontainable. I start climbing, the adrenaline thrumming through my veins, pushing me upward with every pull of my arms.
My breath comes in short, hard bursts, my legs shaking with the effort, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop, not until I reach him, not until he hears what I have to say. The wind cuts against my cheeks, the cool air stinging my lungs, but all I can think about is the way his eyes looked when he told me he needed to do this alone—like he was terrified of needing anything else.
“Lila, what the hell are you doing?” His voice slices through the air as he spots me, surprise flashing across his features, followed quickly by irritation. He pauses on the ledge a few feet above, his arms braced against the rock, his chest rising and falling with the exertion.
I grit my teeth and glare up at him, my cheeks flushed with effort, my breath coming fast. “You don’t get to have all the damn epiphanies, Holt!” I shout back, my voice cracking with the emotions I’ve been bottling up for too long. “I’ve got things to say too!”
Holt’s lips twitch, like he’s fighting back a smile, but there’s a wariness in his eyes, like he’s bracing for whatever I’m about to throw at him. He waits until I reach the ledge beside him, our faces inches apart, our breaths mingling in the cool mountain air. My hands grip the rock edge behind me, my knuckles white, but I refuse to look away.
I take a shaky breath, gathering every ounce of courage I have left. “I’ve been running,” I admit, my voice barely more than a whisper, but the weight of the words presses between us, heavy and unyielding. “Not just from you, but from everything. From feeling like I’m never good enough, like I’m always chasing some impossible version of who I’m supposed to be. And being here, with you... it scares the hell out of me because it’s real. You’re real.”
His expression softens, the tension in his jaw easing, but there’s still that shadow in his eyes. He leans in closer, his voice dropping to a rough murmur that sends a shiver racing down my spine. “And what if I told you that I’m scared too? Scared of needing someone again, scared that maybe... you’re the one thing I can’t walk away from.”
The words slam into me, raw and unfiltered, and my breath catches, my hands trembling against the rock. I reach up, cupping his jaw, feeling the rough scrape of stubble beneath my palm, grounding myself in the solidity of him. “Then we’re both idiots, because I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since the moment we met.”