Read Online Forbidden by Abbie Williams - Free Book Online Page B

of perception. The gray-violet tint seemed to be simultaneously dimming her insides; surely she was not the same person she had been only a few minutes earlier.
    â€œYeah,” he agreed in a low voice, unable to tear his own gaze from her face. “You’re right.”
    â€œI’m sorry about your father,” she added quietly, still looking away.
    Matthew suddenly reached for her shoulders and gently turned her to face him again. He moved slowly to cup her face with infinite tenderness, and she closed her eyes and he knew he had to stop now. But for this last sweet, forbidden moment he cradled her jaw in his huge hands, his nerves singing with the contact, and he whispered, “I remember you.”
    Her eyes flew open and she looked into him, feeling as though their very souls were touching through their eyes. Her heart thrummed against her chest, trying hard to push her forward and against his own beating heart. “What do you mean?”
    â€œWhen you were little you came to my mother’s funeral,” he said, so softly. “I remember you from then. You hugged me. I was so sad at the funeral…it was raining that day, really hard rain, and your mom walked away without you…she was talking to someone…and we were kind-of left there, standing in the rain. I had an umbrella, and you walked over and put your arms around my waist…”
    The memory at once gushed into her mind and she shuddered with its impact, needing to be fully in his arms just one more time. He crushed her to his chest again, rocked side to side, and she clung like the child she had once been, seeking to comfort and be comforted by the little boy who couldn’t seem to stop crying that cold rainy day long ago. She hadn’t understood then, and understood even less now…only felt. He felt right, and that was it.
    â€œMatthew,” she said again, holding him, pressing against him, and for a split second she knew he was going to kiss her, bring his beautiful lips against hers. Unconsciously she pressed closer, her lips parting. But in the next second he made a sound low in his throat, a tortured sound, and put her down, turned away. She felt stabbed and said to his back, “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…”
    He stood with his head in his hands for a moment, then said, “We better get back.”
    She followed him back through the woods in silence, hearing only the clubbing of her injured heart, the fiddling of a thousand and one crickets. Just before they came into the clearing, he said quietly, “I’m sorry, too, Bryce…more than you’ll ever know.”
    ***
    Wilder was on the porch with the twins when they emerged from the forest, and Bryce got a grip on herself with every last ounce of willpower she possessed. Two feet in front of her she sensed Matthew doing the same. He waved at his older brother and called out, “Hey, you save any for us?”
    â€œUncle Matty, you missed supper!” Emma scolded as they reached the glow of the porch light. She and Wilder were sharing the swing, and Cody was lying flat on his back, observing them upside-down, his head hanging down the top step.
    â€œI know, pumpkin,” he said, pausing politely to let Bryce pass up the steps first. She couldn’t even bear to glance at him, and instead focused on Cody.
    â€œYou’ll get a headache like that,” she told him.
    â€œNaw, I’m used to it,” he responded brightly. Bryce hesitated, nerves jumping, on the porch; Matthew was still standing on the grass, and with the steps between them, they were the same height.
    â€œI guess you’ve properly introduced yourselves, then?” Wilder asked, and the nature of the question was softened by the way he ruffled Emma’s hair while asking. Bryce tried to let her shoulders relax.
    â€œSure did,” Matthew replied easily.
    â€œI’ve never seen a real lake,” Bryce supplied.