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The sky opened up A thunderclap boomed so loud and deep, I felt it in my chest The surface of the water rippled, and then came the rain, cold and relentless Every drop sent the river water splashing back up at us, but it still wasn’t enough to interrupt the staring contest that was soat each other It was a challenge A warning

A power struggle

“You could have told ain, fully prepared to keep up the fight I needed it It’d been too long since we had a true blow out, not since the night of the carnival and I craved the back and forth between us that needed to happen

The night I gave him my heart

“No,” he barked “I couldn’t have told you” He raised his voice overme so close, that I could feel he was as affected by ainst irl I am, my knees trembled and started to buckle

“Why?” I spat It was hard to concentrate on our words when I kneas going on just beneath the surface The rain was pouring down so hard itunderwater “Why couldn’t you?”

“Because I couldn’t risk it! If you knew the truth, you would’ve… I just couldn’t risk it,” King said

“Risk what? What couldn’t you risk?” I prodded

“Losing you!” he boo wrapped an arainst the soft spot betweento his every word, his every touch A place that craved him almost as much as my heart did

He cupped s around his waist “There was one point I’d made the decision to tell you the truth I owed you that much But then all the shit went doith Isaac and Preppy, so when Iyou a favor by giving you your life back and getting you out of all the shit that ca in mine”

I squeezed ainst his hardness Ime my life back,” I corrected I placed my pal for any sign in his eyes that what I felt for hi, but instead what I found was a resounding need to fix as broken between us Tears for’s lips parted He ran his thu his head as he kissed his way up my arm