All-American Princess - Maggie Dallen Page 0,43

her eyes. “I don’t have a choice.”

“Sure you do,” I said. “You can leave Brandon alone. You can let him and his family make their own decisions.”

She pressed her lips together in annoyance, and I took a step closer.

“You can go home without him.”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “I can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

She didn’t answer, but I saw a flash of pain in her eyes. “You don’t understand my family.” She shook her head. “You don’t know my father.”

I took another step closer, and we were almost touching. The air was thick with tension. “Then explain it to me.”

She shook her head, and I caught a glimmer of frustration. No… desperation. “I can’t go back without him.”

“Why not?”

“He won’t take me back.” Her voice cracked a little, and my heart slammed against my ribcage. I was desperate to hold her.

But if I held her now, I didn’t know if I could ever let go.

She bit her lip, and I saw the tears hovering on her lashes as she said it once more. “I can’t go back without Brandon.”

“Then don’t go back.”

She blinked rapidly. “What?”

Certainty shot through me as I gave in to temptation and pulled her into my arms. Sweet Jesus, it had been two weeks since I’d held her last, and it felt like an eternity. This felt like a homecoming. Pinedale might be where I’d grown up, but this right here… this was home.

“Stay here,” I said. My voice came out low and raw, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“I can’t—”

“Why not?”

She licked her lips as her hands moved over my chest. My arms tightened around her, and I heard her shaky exhale. “My family. My friends,” she started.

“You said yourself your father wouldn’t want you to come back,” I said, my hands clenching in the material of her shirt as need coursed through me. “But I want you here.”

Her gaze flickered over my face, trying to read my sincerity. “I don’t fit in here.”

“You’ve never tried.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

I leaned down until our noses nearly touched. “To me it is. I want you. I want you here, in my life.”

Her lips parted as she gasped, and I couldn’t blame her for her shock. What I’d said was crazy; what I was doing was nuts. I barely knew this girl, but the way I felt about her was real. Undeniable.

And I was done trying to fight it.

I was through trying to resist. I lifted one hand to the base of her skull and moved in slowly, giving her every chance to back away, to tell me to stop.

But she didn’t try to stop me, and I was done holding back. For the first time in weeks, I gave in to the overpowering need, and I kissed her.

Fourteen

Lila

His mouth crashed against mine, and I was lost. The kiss was frantic and messy as desire swept away every thought, leaving behind only sensation and raw emotion. Need. Lust. And something else. Something that made my heart ache in my chest. Something new and unfamiliar and painfully sweet.

I clung to him, actually letting myself believe for one moment that he could solve all my problems. That I could stay right here in his arms where nothing could hurt me. Where I didn’t have to pretend to be anything I wasn’t or try and fail to live up to expectations.

But reality set in when he pulled away just long enough to trail kisses along my cheek, my jaw.

He was kissing away my tears.

I hadn’t realized that I’d started to cry until that moment.

“Don’t go back,” he said softly, his warm breath making me shiver as his lips moved down to my neck.

I bit my lip to keep from saying something stupid. From making a promise I couldn’t keep. I won’t go back. I’ll stay here… with you.

God, it was tempting. Not that I loved Pinedale or anything—I didn’t. But this guy made me feel something I’d never felt before. Something so unfamiliar I couldn’t even place it. When he was around, I felt safe. When he looked at me, I felt seen. When he listened to me, I felt heard.

When he held me in his arms like this, there was no place else I wanted to be, no one else I wanted to become. I didn’t have to be on guard at every moment. I didn’t have to be skinnier or prettier or more stylish or wittier.

I was enough.

For the first time in my life, I was