Page 101 (1/1)
"He did that," I countered "He could have chosen Rachel" The same way you could choose me God, even when I was this utterly destroyed, I still looked for his excuse
"I’ive hi her on board so he’d have a chance with her Yes, I used you, and that is unforgiveable, but I had the best intentions"
"Well, you knohat they say The road to hell is paved with good intentions So you did it for Rachel, and for Landon, you say But you still lied to ot so close? To make sure I’d stay when she didn’t show up? To keep me happy? Did you ever honestly care about a the pieces around like none of us are real people with real feelings"
"Of course I care about you!" His brow puckered "It’s co clear fro ree to stay when she got here? When she realized that you’d caged her on a ship with the one guy who broke her heart so badly that she can’t speak his na there was someone who destroyed her, who dropped her and never looked back, and I can tell you that Rachel isn’t a forgiving person There’s no way she would have agreed if she’d known he was here…if she’d known you were here"
"I know"
"Da for the first tiet to Rachel She’s my best friend!"
"And he’s mine!" he countered He took a stuttered breath "The first ly beautiful woman I’d ever seen Then I found out you ell, you, and I knew I couldn’t touch you, that I had to put that instant connection somewhere far away before we ended up here Yes, at first I wanted you to understand us, like us, want to help us so that you wouldn’t run when Rachel couldn’t make it, and I prayed you’d be the one ould convince her to stay when she showed up But I never expected you You had me from the first moment you hooked onto that zip-line with me Hell, maybe even before that"
"It doesn’t matter" I shook my head "None of ityou say? It was all a lie"
"No," he said, cos for you Not what happens the moment I look into your eyes, or I touch you I swear to God that none of that is a lie All of it is real--way too real"
"What a ahen he stepped closer "Are you seriously pulling the it-started-as-a-gaame, I swear Yes, I wanted to keep you happy, at first because I needed Rachel to get here, and then because I love to see you smile I kept you close because I needed you to feel invested in ades, all of it--and then because I couldn’t bear to not be around you I don’t knohat you’re supposed to do I can only tell you what I hope you’ll do I hope you’ll forgive me I hope you’ll look at me and see that the only truth that matters is that e are is extraordinary and epic, and worth the shit we’re going through That someone planted that picture so you’d see it, so you’d walk away froe us Please see it, Leah"
"Why would I?" I threw in his face
"Because you love me!" he shouted back
God, I did I loved him so much that I wanted to believe hi, or that someone had planted it Wanted to believe that it was out of love for his friend that he did this to h Not when he’d used otten real," had never clued h," I replied Not when he still needed ot here Not when he kneith one phone call I could destroy his plans He still neededthis
His eyes ild for a ather hi stilled, as if the second hand agreed not toHe’d finally said it, but now I couldn’t trust hi "No," I replied "Love doesn’t lie, et what it wants If you loved me, you would have told me about Rachel If not at the start, then at least in Istanbul, or before I gave myself to you in Mykonos Love means that you put someone else above yourself, above what you want, and you never did that Rachel was your endgame--for Landon or not--and I was never above that consideration You never once put et Rachel on board Love doesn’t do that"
God, I’d given hi Not justI kept locked so deep that even I forgot it was there And he’d only been after Rachel
"Maybe your love doesn’t, because it’s perfect You are basically perfect, Leah But my love is ly selfish, because I need you I need you ades So yes, I’m in love with you, and maybe you don’t like that because you can’t control it, but it’s the truth You can choose not to forgiveyou"