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Back Verona Comics
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  52. CHAPTER FIFTY
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  55. RESOURCES
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

She doesn’t answer me at first, just squeezes me tighter. I think for a half second that I’m going to cry, but this isn’t the time, so I blink hard and open my eyes wide and try to suck the tears back into my eyeballs before she notices. She keeps hugging me, and I focus on the ceiling, which is full of brilliant green glowing stars, because it’s easier than facing her.

I should feel relaxed, accepted, proud of myself for being vulnerable, excited that I didn’t scare her off. But I’m not. I’m antsy, freaked out, on edge, and the longer she doesn’t talk, the worse it gets. My brain spins out in a thousand directions, each one worse than the last.

She’s only being nice because she feels bad.

She wishes you would leave already.

She still hates you and can’t figure out how to say it.

“I should probably go,” I say, even though it kills me, even though I haven’t told her half the things I’d planned to.

She slips down beside me and tilts my face toward hers, brushing some hair off my forehead. “You could stay.”

Confusion etches lines across my forehead. “What?”

She takes a long, deep breath, watching me, appraising me, her eyes focused on mine. “I said you could stay. If you want.”

I smile before I catch myself, and then my stomach sinks. I know what this is; this is Gray and concrete goals all over again. This is pity. I shake my head. “I’m fine, Peak, really. You don’t have to babysit me.”

“Good, because I’m not,” she says, with just enough attitude that I sort of believe her.

“Why, then?”

She presses a kiss to my nose and pulls me closer. My heart is pounding, clawing at my skin to get to her. I wonder how she can stand it. “I like you, okay? That’s why.”

I bring my arm up around her, letting my fingers trail over her skin, trying to be cool, to be nonchalant, to act like my entire body isn’t on fire right now. “I like you too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Jubilee

MY PHONE IS buzzing somewhere in the background, and I chase the sound back to consciousness with a little sigh. I roll over, half expecting Ridley to still be there, warm and drowsy, with his arms tucked behind his head, just the way I left him. But there are only cold sheets.