Crash Into You

Chapter 49

Isaiah

I BUNCH RACHEL’S HAIR IN my fist. The silky strands rub the spot between my fingers and I press my lips to her head. My heart hurts and soars and hurts again, all at the same time. I said I love her. Love her. Each repeat of the words confirms something I didn’t know or want to know and I scramble to figure out if I want to embrace it.

Love her.

Rachel.

Love has always been a dirty word. My mother said she did what she did because she loved me. Beth took the words I said to her and twisted them into saying it was only friendship. She broke my heart. My mother broke my heart. If I love Rachel she’ll have more power than both of them combined because this overwhelming pulse in my body...this overwhelming need to protect her and hold her close...

I nuzzle into her hair and close my eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of jasmine. I should let her go, let her go, just let her go. Walk away now. Hang on to what’s left of my sanity.

But as Rachel presses tighter to me, I know I’m too far gone to stand a chance alone. I’m in love, fucking in love, and I pray to the God that abandoned me years ago that He doesn’t use this to destroy me. “I love you.”