Page 50 of All The Happily Ever Afters

I know it’s not logical, and it’s not safe on my part. Not for my career, or for my heart. It’s reckless and naïve. But he’s so right that there’s something between us.Something more.

“I’m afraid,” I tell him, and my words seem to float between us. They’re riddled with the anxiety I feel. Knowing if I stay, it’s all for him. I’d be committing so much to and trusting a man I barely know. But a man who makes me feel alive and cherished. A man I want more from.More with.

“I want you, Lila, and I’m afraid to let you go again,” he says in a whisper. His weakness, his confession is what does me in.

I nod my head although there was never a question asked.

Nonetheless, it makes his expression change. “Stay with me?” he asks.

I nod again and say, “We can take it slow?”

He chuckles and breaks his gaze for a moment. “I’m not sure how slow, but I’ll do my best.” He lowers his forehead to mine and whispers, “I don’t want to scare you off again.”

“You didn’t,” I tell him honestly, gripping his arms and looking deep into his eyes. “It wasn’t you. It’s just this…”

“It’s intense,” he says the words I’m thinking. It is.It’s overwhelming. It’s too much.

“It’s perfect,” he whispers against my lips and then gives me a quick kiss. He breaks it before I’m ready and I find myself nearly falling as he pulls away. A rough chuckle spills from his lips as I touch my fingers to my mouth.

“We’re really doing this?” I ask him.

He takes my hand in his. “I want to,” he answers. “I want you.”

I could tell him so much more in this moment, but I’ll save it for a later date. “I want you, too,” I tell him.

He brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles.

“We have plenty of time, Lila. Let’s start with something to eat.”

ALEC

One week later

The truth and perception are two different things.

“You know the town will talk,” Drew says to my left as I look out over the ocean. We’re deep in the forest on the very edge of the property. My grandfather used to take me here. He said this was the best position on the island, the most powerful. Because it’s where the people come and go.

“They’re already talking,” he adds.

“I’m aware,” I answer, not bothering to take my eyes away from the crashing waves. A heavy sigh leaves me, knowing my love is going to have questions and there’s still a road ahead of us with twists and turns. But if they tell her anything that makes her question me, I’ll simply answer her honestly. I finally look at him, shoving my hands in my pockets as I say, “She knows I’m head over heels for her, and soon she’ll have a more important reason to stay.” I turn on my heels without waiting for him and walk back to the family lodge.

Lila will be back soon.

The sticks break under Drew’s weight as he hustles to catch up to me. “Are you sure it was wise?” he asks and I cock a brow at him, not knowing which part of this entire ordeal he’s talking about.

“Was what wise?”

“The fake birth control?” he asks and I don’t let my stride break. I don’t let him see that I’m affected in the least. I don’t know if the tradition had anything to do with what’s between Lila and me, but I’m too chickenshit to go against it. And according to legend, the bond must be sealed with conception before the next full moon.

Losing Lila wasn’t worth the risk. It’s one of a few lies. I may have deceived her, but it’s for us. She’ll forgive me because what we have is real. It’s so fucking obvious. I’ll never let her go.

I shrug as we come up to the back porch of the lodge and I climb the three stairs, gripping the wooden railing to keep me grounded. I’m not sure how she’ll react when she finds out I’ve lied.

But she knows the kind of man I am.

The kind who goes after what he wants.Whohe wants.

That day I took the tincture I was so sure I’d prove to my brother how foolish he was being. It only took one article to prove how wrong I was. Lila’s face stared back at me, and all I could do was read her articles. Everything she’d ever written, everything I could find online. I was infatuated the moment I saw her.

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