*A Friends to Enemies to Lovers Romance*
Madalynn Reese never expected to see Liam Tucker again. Not after all of these years, and not after he broke all of their promises. But when she heads off to her dream college and runs into her ex-childhood b...
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Six years ago...
I sat, unmoving, yanking the blades of grass from the ground one by one. The ground was wet underneath me from an early spring rain, but I didn't care.
I was too busy creating rain of my own.
In the distance, I could hear my name being called out, but I remained still; the only thing that I could focus on was the feel of the earth beneath me, grounding me. I desperately wished the earth would open up and swallow me whole. I was full of sugar from that evening's dessert bribe, surely, I would taste good.
"Maddie?" Liam's voice gently swayed around me, pulling me slowly from the reverie I was in.
I blinked, the action causing a tear to escape my eyelash and make its way down my face to join the rest. I felt the grass next to me shift, letting me know Liam had taken a seat beside me. I didn't peer over at him, I couldn't, because if I did, the tears would start to fall all over again.
I am not sure how long we sat together in that field, silence softly touching us like dew drops in the early morning. But I knew he'd wait beside me forever if he could, just for the chance to be near me.
That's what made this so hard.
Leaving Liam was like leaving a piece of myself behind.
"We could run away. Go somewhere no one would find us. I could take care of you, Maddie. We could camp outdoors and chase fireflies all night, and in the mornings, we could go on countless adventures. We wouldn't have to worry about dumb rules or school or curfew. We could do whatever we wanted. Just me and you."
"Just me and you?" I finally glanced over at him; his face lit with that magic he always seemed to have within himself. I never knew it was really just pain like mine, masqueraded by hope.
"Always." He smiled, scooting closer and gently placing his hand over mine.
I studied him a moment longer, finding the cracks in the foundation of his face; the truth in his words were revealed as only a dream we both couldn't truly live in, only visit instead.
I turned away from him to face out into the empty field again. The small smile I had managed to give him, now replaced with a quivering lip.
"Shh, Maddie." Liam reached out, touching my lip, a lip that only once felt the presence of his own pressed against them. Neither of us spoke of our first kiss in the treehouse that one night, but I had spent the last year wishing we had and scared all the same if we did. Liam was my best friend. I hadn't wanted that to change.
But I guess none of that mattered now.
"Please don't cry. I'd do anything just to see you smile." His forehead crinkled, as his lips formed their own frown. I hated to see his sadness just as much as he hated to see mine.
"It's not fair, Liam. I don't want to move. Why will my mom move a state over for a man she barely knows, but won't even walk down the hallway for her own daughter?"
