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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?

“I know you probably can’t forgive me,” he says, his breath puffing out in the cold air. “But I wanted you to know that I never spied, and I never would. I made up all of the reports.” He rubs at the cat scratch on his cheek, the little bag of Sprite and peanut butter cups smacking against his shoulder. “I like you too much to ever do that to you, which I know is messed up to say, because I shouldn’t be spying on anyone regardless, but . . . Here, though—at least take these and I’ll go.” He walks closer to the rail and holds up the bag. “I just wanted you to know that.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“You probably shouldn’t, but it’s the truth. I swear to you it’s the truth. I have the reports, if you want to see them. I wouldn’t . . . I wouldn’t do that to you. You matter too much to me.”

I should go back inside, go back to my room, hug my cat, and never talk to Ridley again. That’s what Jayla would do. But he’s standing here, looking wrecked, holding a bag of my favorite things, which I never told him about but he noticed anyway, telling me he didn’t spy and wouldn’t ever, and it’s everything I’ve been wishing for since that day in the rain and more.

The motion light clicks off—we’ve been still for too long—and the moonlight is just enough to make this moment seem magical.

“Come here,” I say, and I meant up the steps, but he jumps up and hangs from the railing instead, shoving his toes between the slats so we’re face-to-face. The light clicks back on, and it’s kind of perfect in a really strange way. I move my hand to pull him closer. He flinches, like I’d slap him, and my heart breaks. I would never.

“It would be so much easier if I hated you,” I say when he finally dares to slide his hand against mine. His thumb is rubbing over the top of my fingers, and it feels so warm on this coldest of nights.

“Does that mean you don’t?” he asks, and I don’t miss the hope in his voice.

“It’s actually annoying how much I don’t hate you. I can’t, not even a little bit, and I really tried.”

He’s trembling—from nerves or the cold, I don’t know—as I cross those final inches and press my lips to his. It’s nervous, tentative, but when his hand slides back to grip my neck, our breaths tangling like his fingers in my hair, we both smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Ridley