Inches To Go – Zoe Everly

The SUV screams around the final corner, tires smoking as I careen into her neighborhood. As I hurtle towards the little bungalow with the yellow shutters, the porch swing where we’ve whiled away so many lazy afternoons. Talking and laughing, dreaming out loud of the life we could build. The love we could nurture, fragile and precious as a newborn flame. I’m almost home, Lila Rae.

Almost back where I belong, in the circle of your arms. In the sweetness of your smile, the fire of your kiss. In the rightness of us, two broken halves made whole. Just hold on. Please, sweetheart…just hold on a little longer. I’m coming to lay my unguarded heart at your feet, to vow you my life and my soul and every shard of light you’ve birthed in my battered chest. I’m coming to claim you, in all the ways that matter.

In all the ways I should have from the start, before the doubts crept in. Before the world tried to tear us asunder, to deny the truth we both knew bone-deep. That we are inevitable. Written in the stars, carved into the very fundament of creation. That there is no force on this earth or any other that could keep me from you, not for one more minute.

One more breath, drawn in a world where you are not mine. Where I am not yours, body and blood and beating heart. Now, and for all the days to come. I love you. The words are a roar, a whisper. A promise, fierce and fathomless as the ocean.

As the boundless expanse of the sky, stretching out before us in an endless vista of possibility. I love you, Lila. And I will spend the rest of my life proving it, if you’ll let me. If you’ll take my hand and jump, into the glorious unknown. Into the future we could forge, the dreams we could bend reality to match. I’m ready, baby. Ready to be brave, for the first time in my sorry life. Ready to stand tall and proud at your side, come what may.

Ready to come home…and never look back. The SUV screeches to a halt, gravel spraying as I throw it into park.

wake slowly, surfacing from the depths of the most restful sleep I’ve had in years. The pale light of dawn is just beginning to peek through the curtains, casting the room in a soft, hazy glow. But it’s the warm, pliant body nestled against mine that truly anchors me, grounds me in the perfect, precious reality of this moment.

Lila. My love, my heart. The woman who’s brought light back into the shadows of my world, who’s shown me that it’s possible to heal, to hope. To love again with a depth and ferocity I never knew I was capable of. She sighs in her sleep, nuzzling deeper into the crook of my neck. Her hair spills across the pillow in a wild chestnut cloud, the silken strands tickling my skin.

I run a reverent hand down the slope of her back, marveling at the supple warmth of her, the way her curves fit so perfectly against the hard planes of my body. It’s a miracle, having her here. Feeling the soft puff of her breath against my throat, the flutter of her lashes against my collarbone. A dream made flesh, every fantasy I never dared to voice come to stunning, breathtaking life.

I want to freeze this moment, to suspend us in this bubble outside of time where nothing exists but the push and pull of our breathing, the whispered secrets of our hearts. Where the demands of the world, the pressures and pains of our pasts, can’t touch us. But even as I try to hold onto the peace, the hazy contentment…reality begins to bleed through. The insistent buzz of my phone on the nightstand, the throb in my shoulder, a dull reminder of old injuries and older fears.

The weight of all the things left unsaid, the wounds still festering beneath the surface of this newfound bliss. As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Lila stirs, her nose scrunching adorably as she drifts into wakefulness. Her eyes blink open, hazy and unfocused, before settling on my face.

And god, the way she looks at me…like I’m a revelation, a wonder. Like I’m everything.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 7c2f02e81ee2dba7
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,281,726 bytes (1.222 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 77
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 114.78 minutes
• Total Words: 22,956
• Total Characters: 127,292
• Average Words per Page: 298.13
• Average Characters per Page: 1653.14

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