Chapter 1

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Riley

CHAPTER 1

Overcoming multiple fears in one day has my head feeling fuzzy. This day has gone from sad and depressing, to shocking, to beautiful and with my hand in his. My heart belongs to him. Joshua Parker, my boyfriend, my best friend and just EVERYTHING. Then like a light switch is flicked, the night takes yet another turn I didn’t expected.

Imagining Josh having sex with Preslee is torture. Thinking that they shared something so intimate together and that a baby has been created is beyond brutal. But now I know the truth.

Josh never lied to me. He was never with Preslee, and my tortured heart and brutally beaten spirit has a flicker of hope. After I have the worst day, thinking the worst of Josh and finding out the worst about Dean, I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel—the light that Josh helped me run toward and not away from. I’m no longer lost and drifting. Josh found me. He knows what I need. He helps me release my doubt, my fear, and to embrace the future—the future that is meant for us.

As we walk away from the Cheesecake Factory where Josh just spoon fed me the most deliciously rich peanut butter cheesecake, I find my mind wandering to the things he said to me earlier tonight as we sat at the cemetery where our parents rest. I’m still stunned at how so much has changed in mere hours.

“Everyday for the rest of my life—if I’m lucky enough to keep you that long—I will not see that accident. I will see a beautiful girl who is lost in a sea of uncertainty and wants so badly to dive in but thinks she can’t, but you can and I will hold your hand when you do. I will see my best friend and the girl that I am desperately in love with. I will see you, Riley. Just you.”

I can’t believe how much time I wasted—lost without him—time spent held in the wrong arms. I’m still shocked to my core that Dean has been deceitful for so long. I don’t know what I did to deserve Josh still being here—waiting as I get my shit together and realize it is in his arms that I belong. With everything that has happened this past year, in just a few short hours, Josh has made it seem like a distant memory.

With stolen kisses at the table, longing glances in one another’s directions, and a simple touch like his hand in mine—I am completely and utterly lost to him.

“Are you ready to do this?” Josh asks, squeezing my hand and looking up at the ticket booth at the movie theatre. Right, I owe him a scary movie. I inwardly cringe even though I smile. It is an almost sincere smile, but I know it doesn’t quite reach my eyes. I really, really, really hate scary movies. But for him, will do anything. I will tackle every fear, but only with him because he makes me feel safe.

“No, but I have you to hold me. So, I will be okay, right?” I answer with what I honestly feel.

He smiles down at me and appears pleased with my answer. “I will always hold you, pretty girl. No movie required.” I think my heart just swelled in my chest with that statement. Always—yes, please!

I turn to him and wrap my arms around his neck; standing on my tippy toes where I can meet his stare. A curious and happy grin lights up his face as he peers into my eyes. It’s been so long since I’ve seen contentment in his gaze, and it warms my heart to see it. “Did you mean everything you said earlier tonight?” I ask, placing a contented kiss on his lips.

He wraps one arm around my waist and with the other he tucks a curl behind my ear. “I mean everything I tell you. Which part are you referring to?”

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⏰ Last updated: Apr 22, 2014 ⏰

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