Page 82 (1/1)

"You still love h for what I feel for you, Josh Walker A few e that"

"My headboard?"

Embarrassht you won division?" He still looked confused "Your headboard bangs against your wall, my wall"

His eyes widened, and he had the nerve to sht After the game, I only wanted to be with you, and I couldn’t, so I drove ten hours to my mom’s That wasn’t me The only woman I’ve ever taken to this bed is you I’d rather burn it than sleep here with anyone else God, I haven’t touched another girl in that way since ere together You can’t replace perfection"

The weight that held ainst hi second I breathe I will love you the rest of my life, December Howard, whether or not you’re around to witness it You est woh ht me down to his mouth

Before I lost all sanity, I pulled back "I can’t Loving you is so easy, and when you touchabout myself in you I can’t be what you need"

His eyes widened, taking on a desperate sheen, and his fingers tightened on my skin "December, you mean more to me than this, et out of that, but I’ll resign Just four years and I’ll coirl inside rasp for it, to clai, especially if it was for Josh But four years wasn’t enough for hi your back on this You said you were going career, and I won’t ever be the one who holds you down"

The tears that welled in his eyes, and the one that slipped down his face, were nearly"How can we love each other this much and not make it? Why does a love like ours hurt us both so badly?"

I brushed his tear away and checked my own "Maybe love this exquisite, this powerful isn’t htly for each other right now to light whatever path we’re heading down, but there’s no sustaining a fire like this"

He brought an "I’ll carry it with ainst the fla I know that’s Dece breath "Will you co?"

I shook my head "Dad’s coo"

He nodded, disappointment etched in the sad curve of his mouth, the diminished sheen of his eyes "Maybe it’s better this way I leave for Officer Basic Course two days later I guess this is a cleaner cut, right? So why the fuck does it feel like I’ ripped in two?"

"Because I ao, knowing if I stayed one uess if you put us together, we’d htened almost painfully in my hair It felt desperate, frantic, the need that clawed through me to be with him, to stay here forever But if he had this much of me no much would he have in three years? Seven? The day they caone? I wouldn’t survive it No At least noould live, even if it was halfhearted bullshit, and I’d settle for a love ten percent of this

"At least we had this Most people don’t get to experience real love, and we did You’re not going to be a regret, Joshua Walker You’re " I slipped off his lap and bent forward, pressing my lips to his incredible, inked skin where the flames and icea piece of my soul eet

I would never get over Josh Walker

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Welcome Home Center on Fort Carson could have lit the world for the a fro in the air The ss astonished me with sheer beauty This is what joy looked like

I’d never coone alone, needing that tiod-awful cookies that Dad would devour and claim were the best he’d ever had It was our tradition

I shifted inhs The as slowly putting my butt to sleep I played with the clasp of the purse inthe tiirl, about a year old, toddled up the bleachers, holding her mom’s hand, and sat tn Her tutu was red, white, and blue,the obnoxiously wonderful bow in her hair Herher foot, releasing nervous energy

I knew that feeling, what itwas about to be okay Thea half-existence and would start in earnest again Despite what I was here for, I s in some of that woman’s joy