[BOOK2]
Friendship built their world. Love will break it open. ❤️
*****
I want her.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.
But I can't have her. Because the moment I admit that out loud, the moment I risk everything we've built, I could lo...
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I couldn't breathe.
Not really.
The second the door clicked shut, the dam cracked. I slid down to the floor, my back pressed against the wood, knees pulled to my chest as I tried to keep it together—and failed.
Theo had barely walked ten feet away and already I felt hollow.
And the worst part?
I did this.
I pushed him. Hurt him. Looked the boy I loved dead in the eye and shoved him away like he was the problem when all he's ever done is try to love me right.
And now?
Now he was gone.
Because I told him to be.
Becca sat cross-legged on the bed, arms resting on her knees, eyes locked on me. She hadn't said anything in a while. Just watched. Waited.
She always knew when I needed a second to fall apart first.
"You don't have to do this," she finally said, voice quiet but steady.
I shook my head, dragging my sleeves across my cheeks. "Yes, I do."
"You don't." Her tone sharpened, but it wasn't angry. Just... desperate. "We can find another way. Talk to him, Isla. You and Theo—together, you could burn Jake to the ground."
I let out a broken laugh. "That's exactly why Jake is doing this. Because together, we make sense. Because Theo's happy. And Jake wants to take that from him."
Becca climbed down from the bed and crossed the room. She sat beside me, pulling my hand into hers, thumb brushing gently across my knuckles.
"You told me everything, remember? After the last time you saw him. I know what he said."
I closed my eyes, the memory flashing like a bruise under skin.
I'd told her everything. Every word Jake had thrown at me. Every disgusting threat. The way he stood there so calm, so proud of what he was about to do.
He didn't want me. He didn't want anything—except to ruin Theo.
Because Theo had everything Jake never would.
Talent. Heart. Me.
Becca hadn't even let me finish before she stood up and paced, muttering under her breath about setting his car on fire and texting Lewis for help with making a body disappear.
But that fire in her—God, I needed it. Because I didn't have any left.
"Becca, I can't risk this." My voice cracked as I looked at her now. "Theo's future is on the line. If I don't walk away... Jake will pull the trigger. He'll make sure Theo never plays again."
