Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” her dad says.
“Promise me that you’ll stop fighting, all of you,” Aspen says.
At first, there’s only silence.
“Promise me!” Her voice echoes through the woods, making the birds fly.
“I promise,” her mom says.
“Fine, I promise,” her dad says.
My mom’s nostrils flare. “Promise.”
Felix groans from the wounds on his body. “Fine. No more fighting.”
“Really? That quickly?” Silas growls.
“Yes. That quickly,” Alistair says. “It’s about damn time, actually.”
“I—” I can’t even finish my sentence without coughing up blood.
“Oh God, no, no, no,” Aspen murmurs, scrambling to take off my shirt. “We wasted so much time arguing while he’s bleeding. Everywhere. Help!”
My mom drops her gun and rushes to my side, supporting me, while her family pulls out their phones.
“Levi, stay with me,” Mom says.
“Please, please, Levi, don’t leave me,” Aspen begs.
And I wish I could.
I wish I could stay with her a little longer.
Just one second more.
“Please, Levi, I need you.”
My eyes are slowly closing despite my best efforts to stay awake.
My muscles are tired, and my body is shredded.
I can’t hold on much longer.
“Levi, c’mon, stay with me. Please, hold on. I need you with me,” Aspen cries.
Her voice fades away as I slowly disappear into a void.
My heart can finally rest in the peace it’s always craved.
CHAPTER 67
Levi
When I come to, there’s beeping all around me, and I’m not sure if it’s the relentless assault on my body that’s causing the giant headache or the constant noise from the machine.
How long was I out for?
God. Waking up after nearly being killed is no fucking joke.
“You’re awake …”
Her voice makes my eyes slowly open, and the first thing I see staring back at me are those ocean eyes, bringing a smile to my face.
“Hey, Firefly,” I mutter.
Tears well up in her eyes. “I thought I almost lost you.”
“I’m still here,” I respond.
She cries for a while, holding me tight, but then the inevitable anger takes hold, just like I’m used to from a Caruso. “You could’ve died!” She frowns, pointing at my chest. “Why did you let Silas kidnap you? Why didn’t you fight him off?”
“What was I supposed to do? Kill your brother?” I snort.
She slaps my chest. “It’s not funny.”
I laugh. “Making you angry is.”
“What the fuck, Levi.” She raises her fist, but it’s all an empty threat because she can’t even fight me when I’m at my weakest. Instead, she just grumbles like before. “You’re so, so, so, ahhh!”
“So, so, so …” I cup her face. “In love with you.”
Her whole body turns to mush just like her face when it rests in the palm of my hand. “It’s okay to be mad.”
“I was so scared,” she says, leaning into me. “You nearly—”
“I’m never leaving you,” I interrupt.
I don’t want her to think about what could’ve happened.
Whatever’s in the past is in the past, and I’m done lingering there where the ghosts remain.
“Pinky swear.” She holds out her pinky finger.
So I hold out mine too, and we cross them. “Promise.”
But before she can pull away, I drag her closer and smash my lips on hers. I’ll never get enough of the taste of her lips, of how easily she’s accepted me into her heart despite all the terrible things I did. And something about that makes me insanely proud.
“So… you love me, huh?” I murmur against her swollen lips. “I heard you out there in the woods.”
A blush spreads on her cheeks. “I …”
“How long have you been pining over me?”
“Forever,” she admits.
A devilish smirk forms on my lips. “Yet you couldn’t stop hiding from me on campus.”
“Because you got all beefed up, and it scared me to even look at you without feeling weak.”
I chuckle. “I got all beefed up because I thought it would finally make you look. Guess it had the opposite effect of what I wanted to achieve.”
She bites her bottom lip and squeezes my biceps. “I can get used to it.”
“Can you?” I squeeze them for her pleasure.
The soft moan that leaves her lips makes me wild. “Oh yes, definitely.”
And I pull her in for another fierce kiss, unwilling to ever let go of this firefly of mine.
Apollo
With two bottles of Coke in one hand, I open the door to Levi’s room with the other, but I stop the second I see them smooching like lovers, and I grin when they both look up at me like they’re surprised. “Well, don’t stop the party because I’ve arrived.”
“Sorry, forgot,” Aspen mutters, blushing like crazy, and it’s kinda cute.
I put the bottles down. “Forgot I was here with you?” I bring a fist to my chest to pretend I got stabbed. “Don’t hurt me, Freckles.”
“I could never forget you,” she responds, winking as I approach. “Like you’d ever let me.”
“Good point,” I say, winking back.
I grab her by the waist and pull her in for a very big kiss just to remind Levi that she isn’t just his. She’s mine too, and there’s plenty of her to go around for us three to share.