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"Don't start this again, Charlotte."
"But my parents want me to come home and work in the restaurant. Hell, they don't even know I'm in Paris."
I try to will him to turn around so I can glimpse the blinding smile he saves only for me.
"They don't?" Her voice drops, letting her disappointment seep through. "Charlotte, you said you told them you were taking summer classes.”
"I did. Just not where they were." I twirl a few strands of hair around my finger while my eyes focus on the way the muscles in his bare back flex as he flips something in a pan on the stove.
"Oh em gee! Someone needs to smack you upside your head." Maya’s groan brings me back to the present.
"I'm sorry." Tears pool in my eyes as all the emotions I've been trying desperately to keep in check come bubbling to the surface. "I just don't know what to do."
"Oh, honey." Her voice softens as I crumple to the floor.
My heart constricts in my chest as the expectations of everyone come crashing down around me. I gasp for air as a sadness unlike anything I've ever felt overtakes me.
"I love him so much." Tears pour down my cheeks as the weight of my feeling hits me.
I clutch the phone tightly, biting down on my hand, hoping to quiet the sobs bubbling from my throat. My heart feels as if it’s breaking in two. I want nothing more than to throw the bedroom door open, run into Bryce's arms, and beg him to bind us together in every way possible, but this is the real world. I have responsibilities to my family that I can't get out of.
Searing pain flows through my entire body as waves of agony pull me under. I’m just praying that I can hold on for just a little longer until the pain subsides. I yearn for numbness to cut me off from all these feelings that I'm so desperate to forget.
"Make it stop," I whine, wrapping my arms around my waist and attempting to hold myself together. "I just want the pain to stop."
"I wish I could," Maya's voice filters through the phone line. "Only you can make the choice to stand up to your parents. You need to tell them you don't want to work at the restaurant."
Tears stream down my face as I gasp for breath. "But they'll be so disappointed."
"I doubt your parents want you to be miserable for the rest of your life." I slam my eyes shut, plunging myself into darkness.
"Charlotte."
My eyes fly open as the sound of Bryce's voice envelops me.
"No,” I sob, shaking my head back and forth.
I feel his strong arms wrap around me, prying the phone from my hand and dropping it to the floor.
"Everything will be okay." He buries his nose in my hair, but instead of calming me, it ignites a rage inside me.
"Things will never be okay again!" I scream, pushing out of his embrace. "This is all your fault." I pound my fists into his chest repeatedly. "You made me love you. You made me want things that I never would've dreamed of having before I met you."
My hands fall to the side, dropping my head to his chest.
"And now it's all over."
"It doesn't have to be over, mon ange." He pulls me forward, wrapping his arms around me. "I love you."
He plants a kiss on each of my eyelids, the tip of my nose, and my cheeks.
"I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you."
A gut-wrenching sob escapes me as I bury my face in his neck. Snot and tears collect on his skin as I try to regain control of my emotions.
"Let me love you," he chokes out, brushing his lips against mine a few times before pressing them to mine.
I moan softly, nibbling on his bottom lip, and he immediately opens to me, his tongue sweeping through my mouth. I tug on the short hairs at the base of his neck, pulling him tightly to my body. I want to get as close to him as possible. To crawl into his skin and brand my name on his soul for all eternity.
