Page 9 of Beautiful Collide

I’m trapped.

Again.

Always trapped.

“You need to breathe.” An unfamiliar voice breaks through my haze. “Come on. Inhale.”

I shake my head back and forth.

“I promise you can,” he coos.

I try. I really do. But my breaths still come out in short, frantic gasps.

It’s pointless. I’m going to die in here.

“It’s okay. You can do it.”

The space around us feels dark, and the ringing in my ears intensifies as I search for something—anything—to calm me.

“Take a slow inhale for me.”

I do what he says, allowing him to guide me.

“That’s good. Now, slowly exhale.” The voice is closer now, almost as if he’s beside me.

“I can’t.”

“Yet you are.”

I can’t help but let out a shaky laugh.

“See? Even laughing is breathing.”

I hear movement, and then I feel his warmth. He must be right beside me, and that makes my heart beat even faster.

“Shh.” Rough fingers touch my hand. “In. And out.”

I hesitate at first but eventually follow his lead.

“In. Out.”

The tightness in my chest loosens. It’s definitely better than moments ago.

“Can you open your eyes?”

I shake my head, immediately dizzy from the movement. “No.”

“Come on, Molly. Please.”

His smooth baritone as he says my name forces an eyelid open.

I stare at him out of one eye. “You do know who I am.”

“You gave me your name,” he points out.

Shit. I totally forgot. I hate that I get like this. Panicked. Messed up. Unable to push myself out of it.

“You didn’t need to, though,” the new guy, whose name I’m still not privy to, admits. He squints, and small lines form at the sides of his temples. “Of course, I know who you are.”

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