Page 238
Chapter 238 of "Tempting Venom" introduces new challenges: Itās time to give up on the life that hurts to live.My vision blurs at... Keep following!
Itās time to give up on the life that hurts to live.
My vision blurs at the edges, the shapes surrounding me smearing into long streaks. The world tilts, going soft and so far away, like Iām watching someone else bleed out.
One shape sharpens.
Marcus.
Or my brainās last cheap hallucination of him.
His hairās a mess, his eyes wild in a way Iāve never seen before, his mouth moving so fast I canāt make out the words.
He looks terrified.
Thatās how I know itās fake. Marcus doesnāt getterrified.
Heās like a fortress.
Then I feel it as his strong, muscular arms wrap around me.
He feelsā¦real.
āPreston! Hang in there, okay? Iām hereā¦okay? Iām right here.ā
Why does he sound choked?
Donāt be like that, Marcus. You shouldā¦breathe. I got rid of me, soā¦so you should have one less problem in your life, yeah?
I reach for him, or I think I do, because tears shine in his eyes.
For me.
Why is he crying for me?
āBabyā¦pleaseā¦ā he begs, his voice raw and scraped. āDonāt leave me, pleaseā¦ā
Donāt cry.
My fingers twitch against somethingāair? His jacket? His face?
I donāt know.
āWe have so much we need to talk about, remember? You canātā¦just leave. Baby, pleaseā¦ā
For the tiniest, meanest heartbeat of a moment, regret slices through the calm.
Not about Violet.
Not about the bullet.
About him.
About not fighting.
Not staying.
Not dragging my broken, defective self through one more night beside him.
I shouldāve had him again. Properly. Without running afterward.