BooksBarbecue
Back Nobody in Particular
Chapters (61)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  4. ONE DANNI
  5. TWO ROSE
  6. THREE DANNI
  7. FOUR DANNI
  8. FIVE ROSE
  9. SIX ROSE
  10. SEVEN DANNI
  11. EIGHT ROSE
  12. NINE DANNI
  13. TEN ROSE
  14. ELEVEN ROSE
  15. TWELVE ROSE
  16. THIRTEEN ROSE
  17. FOURTEEN DANNI
  18. FIFTEEN DANNI
  19. SIXTEEN ROSE
  20. SEVENTEEN DANNI
  21. EIGHTEEN ROSE
  22. NINETEEN ROSE
  23. TWENTY DANNI
  24. TWENTY-ONE DANNI
  25. TWENTY-TWO DANNI
  26. TWENTY-THREE ROSE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR ROSE
  28. TWENTY-FIVE DANNI
  29. TWENTY-SIX ROSE
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN DANNI
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT ROSE
  32. TWENTY-NINE ROSE
  33. THIRTY DANNI
  34. THIRTY-ONE DANNI
  35. THIRTY-TWO ROSE
  36. THIRTY-THREE DANNI
  37. THIRTY-FOUR ROSE
  38. THIRTY-FIVE ROSE
  39. THIRTY-SIX DANNI
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN ROSE
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT DANNI
  42. THIRTY-NINE ROSE
  43. FORTY DANNI
  44. FORTY-ONE ROSE
  45. FORTY-TWO DANNI
  46. FORTY-THREE ROSE
  47. FORTY-FOUR DANNI
  48. FORTY-FIVE ROSE
  49. FORTY-SIX ROSE
  50. FORTY-SEVEN DANNI
  51. FORTY-EIGHT ROSE
  52. FORTY-NINE ROSE
  53. FIFTY ROSE
  54. FIFTY-ONE ROSE
  55. FIFTY-TWO DANNI
  56. EPILOGUE ROSE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  58. Also by Sophie Gonzales
  59. Praise Page
  60. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  61. Newsletter Sign-up

She stares at me, and I despise it, because she’s mesmerizingly beautiful, and I wish she wasn’t. And all I want to do is roll back time by half a minute and somehow turn a moment into an eternity, erasing the “after” altogether. I may only get one life, but if I had the choice, any choice in the matter at all, I would spend the rest of it kissing her—every wretched second I have left—just so I would never have to face breaking apart for the last time, knowing that eventually even the memory of her taste will be lost to me.

“I did want to be with you,” she says. “I just wanted to get the breakup over with before it could hurt too bad.”

“And did it work for you?” I ask. “Because it’s hurt me quite effectively.”

“All I have done is hurt,” she says, and her voice cracks. “I thought it would be okay, because it was early, but I’ve never been less okay in my whole freaking life. I hate it, and I hate myself for choosing it, because it sucks. It was the wrong choice, and I keep waiting for it to get easier, and it’s not happening.”

“So, what’s the point?” I ask her.

“There is no point! I’m already screwed. I was screwed from the second I kissed you. I think I was screwed from the second I met you. You’re going to hurt me either way, and the worst thing is, if it means I can have you now, I don’t even think I mind anymore, because whatever happens months or years from now can’t hurt worse than this.”

She catches her breath, and I once more resist the urge to touch her. I don’t trust where it will lead, and I need to know exactly where we stand first. “What do you want, Danni?”

With a sigh, she raises her hands then lets them fall limply to her sides. “For things to be simple.”

I survey her soberly. “Well, I can’t give you that.”

“What can you give me, then?”

“Me,” I say. “Just me.”

She takes my hands, and I don’t tear them away, but I avert my eyes, to be safe. “Is that enough for you?” I ask over her head. “Being with me isn’t easy.”

“I don’t think it will be,” she agrees softly. “But being without you is impossible. Hurt me later, please. Not now.”

At this, finally, I look at her.

This time, she kisses me first.

This time, I’m not afraid for it to end.

TWENTY-NINE ROSE

“I want to tell you something. Both because we’re friends, and because it affects you.”