Slow It Down

[UPDATED WEEKLY]

"You may be his world, but you're the only thing that ever felt like home to me."

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Some people never get second chances. Lilah never thought she'd get one with her brother's best friend.

Lilah is quiet, kind, and inexperienced in love. Jackson is all rough edges-tattoos, a bad reputation, and a long history of girls who never stay. They're total opposites, and after years of silence, they're inconveniently forced back into each other's lives as reluctant project partners.

Once, Jackson was the boy who helped pull Lilah out of the darkness when she was struggling. He was her best friend-her only friend growing up. Then he walked away without a word. Now, four years later, he's cold, distant, and impossible to read. And if he hates her, Lilah's determined to hate him right back.

But when old wounds resurface and secrets unravel, the line between love and hate starts to blur. The boy who once protected her is still in there somewhere-hidden beneath his walls, his reckless reputation, and the weight of a lifelong secret he's been barely holding together that he refuses to talk about.

Because some second chances come with a price. And this time, it might be her heart.