Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (hardest books to read txt) 📕

She closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth, pushing a stream of tears down each cheek. “I can’t promise you that. I don’t know...I don’t know what I'd do if you leave. I-I...”

“I love you, Lia.” The words sent a blossom of warmth through my chest. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it. I’ve felt it for a long time, but my brain had a hard time catching up with my heart. There were some things I had to work through on my own before I could accept it.”

“Amaya,” she whispered. The name sounded like a forbidden prayer on her lips

I nodded. “I know that she’s still waiting for me, somewhere. But she would want me to be happy in the life I have now. She’ll always hold a special place in my heart, just like Alda.” I gave her hand a squeeze. “Just like you.”

“You don’t talk about Alda very often,” she stated sadly, seemingly as a question.

“She was like a daughter to me,” I answered. “In the end, I failed her. Not because of how things ended in Hedaat, but because…” My throat tightened, threatening to silence me. “Because I didn’t tell her how special she was to me before it was too late.” I coughed away the lump in my throat. “If I do have to leave here, I’ll leave knowing I didn’t make that mistake again.”

The words were too much for her. She leaned forward and hung her hands around my neck as she cried. “I don’t want you to leave,” she managed to whisper.

I rested my head against hers and felt a tear stream down my face. “I don’t want to leave you. I want to stay here, and show you the world, and take you on all of the adventures you could ever want.” I cradled her face in my hands and found it hot with tears.

She raised her head and looked into my eyes, our faces only inches apart. “You promised you would.”

My jaw clenched as I nodded, not trusting myself to speak without my voice breaking. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I couldn’t force the words out. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wish I hadn’t gotten you caught up in all of this. I want to make you happy for the rest of your life. When my voice failed me, I instead leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. It only lasted for a moment, but I felt as though it somehow conveyed all of the thoughts stuck inside my head, unable to be articulated.

I pulled back a few inches and found a look of pure shock on her face. Her eyes fled my gaze as her face flushed, and it looked as though she was considering something. Before I could ask what was on her mind, she flung herself onto me, banging her head against mine slightly as she returned the kiss. Our weight shifted, and I fell helplessly backwards into the grass as she pushed against me.

Where my kiss had been soft and fleeting, Lia’s was full of energy and passion as a month’s worth of repressed feelings was finally released all at once. Her fingers dug slowly through the hair on the back of my head while her other hand pressed firmly down against the center of my chest. My brain fought valiantly to process all of the sensations in real time and think of the implications, but it gave in to my rapidly growing sense of desire.

All of the feelings I had locked away and compartmentalized since meeting her broke free immediately. The memories of changing clothes beside her and curling up together at night took on new meaning as I became acutely aware of her body mounted on top of mine, her chest heaving with impassioned breaths and her legs shifting around my waist. My hand caressed the side of her face as I leaned into the kiss, while my other hand fought for purchase beside me in an attempt to prop myself up. The smell of her hair and the taste of her lips screamed at my brain to shut down entirely and run entirely on instinct.

I managed to gain leverage with my free arm and pushed off hard, rolling us over in the field. Carefully lowering her head down to the ground, I propped myself up on my elbows and hovered a few inches over her on all fours. My mouth opened to speak, but she grabbed me by the collar of my leather armor and pulled me back down for another kiss. I laughed against her mouth and kissed her back for a few more seconds. Her tongue appeared against my lips, sending my eyebrows up in surprise as I marveled at her confidence with a smile. I felt her smile as well, and we both laughed softly.

It was harder than I had expected to pull myself away from her again. “Lia, we should probably, uhm…” I giggled as a surge of giddy energy tingled out through my body. “We should probably head back to camp soon.” I dove down for another quick kiss. “Not to say I’m not enjoying myself. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

My heart skipped a beat as she stared up at me with sultry eyes and shifted her shoulders back and forth. “But I don’t want to leave yet.”

Has she always been this...forward? Am I really that oblivious? “Well, neither do I. But we should.” I put a finger on her chin and traced it down her neck to the top of her armor. “I promise that I’ll find us a time to continue this, er, conversation.” A devious grin spread across my face as I rocked back to my knees and stood up. Lia put on an exaggerated pout and held up her hands pitifully. I chuckled and pulled her