Hailee's POV
Nathan's breath stopped in his throat for a moment.
He stared right into my eyes, not blinking, as if he was trying to look deeper than my face—as if he wanted to see the truth hiding inside me. His fingers held my waist tightly, not softly at all, but tight, like I was something he could not lose again.
"Hailee…" he said, my name coming out in a rough, broken sound. It hit me like a punch. "Don't say things like that unless you want me to believe every word."
My lips opened, and air rushed out, but no words came. My heart felt like it had crashed against a wall inside me, a wall made of all the fear I never said out loud.
Then my body moved before my mind did.
I threw myself onto him, my knees hitting the mattress on both sides of his body so fast the bed shook.
He gasped—a horrible, painful sound—and his hands grabbed my hips fast, stopping me from landing on him.
