Page 354 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas

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Levi smirks. “You’ve called him worse.”

I almost laugh.

A smile even lifts the edges of my mouth.

But then the smile fades, and the weight of it all hits me like a punch to the chest.

It’s the truth. I’ve called him worse.

But this time, this time, for the first time ever, he bared his soul to me—his deepest secret. And I used it against him to protect myself.

My doubt, my disbelief, may have shattered everything between us.

60: SLAYED THE BUCKET LIST

HART

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I COME BACK slowly.

Like swimming up through tar.

My head throbs. Not a sharp pain, just a thick, sick pressure, like someone’s wedged a brick behind my eyes.

The first thing I know is her hand.

Warm.

Still.

Tangled in mine like she’ll never let go.

I can’t move or open my eyes right away, but I don’t want to. I’m okay if she’s here.

I try to swallow, but my throat burns.

I feel her breath, too, slow and even on my skin like her head rests close by on—

On what?

Where am I?

Plastic and bleach sting my nostrils. Something beeps steadily nearby. Cold air kisses my arms where the blanket doesn’t reach.

I blink hard. The light sears through my eyelids. Everything is blurred.

White ceiling tiles. White walls. White sheets.

I turn my head, just barely, and I see her, and my world feels better.

Jade’s curled in the chair beside my bed, head resting on her folded arms, at my side, fast asleep.

Her hair falls over her face, pressed against the thin hospital blanket covering my arm. One hand holds mine, her thumb resting across my knuckles.

God.

Her.

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