Free Crashed into Love: Episode Three by Seline White

had come true. I was an accomplice in murdering my own sister, and Nina couldn’t bear to look at me.
    Tears clogged my throat as my head swelled with pressure. I hadn’t let myself break down since that night. Even at her funeral, I refused to shed one tear, but now, here at a table in a bar alone in Samoa, I wanted to gush it all out. I wanted the heaviness out so I had room to breathe.
    The pressure in my head didn’t subside, morphing from emotional pain to physical. I moaned, clutching my temples. White lights flickered like comets, and my tongue turned into a brick inside my mouth.
    A lacerating burn sliced along my injury.
    What was happening to me? Why did every inch of me weigh heavily with sickness? Lethargy and weakness all added weight to my shoulders, pressing me closer to the table. Pain roared and I would’ve given anything to be free of it.
    Something pulled at me to leave, to escape the island, to run far away.
    Don’t give up, Liam. Please!
    Whose voice was that? My own false wish that Nina cared for me? I let myself slip a little, succumbing to the urge to fold into myself like a discarded mannequin. To become lifeless and no longer suffer the jagged pain of grief.
    A hand feathered on my shoulder. “Liam… are you okay?”
    Nina’s voice was a lighthouse in the dark seas I floundered. I slammed back into my body. My eyes opened and I struggled to bring her into focus.
    “Come with me. We’re leaving.” She tugged me out of the chair, and I winced as trumpets blared in my head—a death march with added cymbals and drums.
    She came back.
    I cleared my throat, allowing her to tuck herself under my arm and guide me away. The bar faded behind us and the fale’s flickering lights became beacons in the night.
    My headache ebbed with every step. I clutched her harder. She was still here. With me. Not Nikolai. I wanted to crush her to me, to prove she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. My heart flopped at her feet in gratitude.
    She pulled the key from her pocket and unlocked her door. I glanced across the path at my own fale. Should I leave her alone so she could wade through my messy confession? Did she want me here? Or was she just being kind when I was at my lowest?
    Nina took the decision from my hands, pulling me inside. The moment the door closed, she was in my arms. Her head tilted up and she kissed my lips with a reverent urgency that let my grief unlatch a little.
    I kissed her back, hesitant at first, but harder as she whimpered, pushing her hands under my t-shirt and rippling over my stomach muscles. Her fingers tickled across my sides to my back, pressing me closer.
    Something released a trapdoor inside, and I gave over to the tidal wave of emotion. I groaned against her mouth, kissing fiercely, bruising my lips against hers. Her tongue speared into my mouth. I was consumed by her taste.
    I broke the kiss as she walked me backward to the bed. I needed to know she was doing this for her. Not me. That this wouldn’t be a pity fuck. I needed to see her eyes when I asked her. Holding her chin, I whispered, “Why are you doing this?”
    She frowned. “What do you mean? I want to be with you. Let me… please.”
    It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t see the answer I needed. “Are you doing this for me or for you?” I couldn’t stand it if she only slept with me out of concern. Nothing would satisfy me unless she wanted me for me. No other reason.
    She raised her hands and cupped my cheeks, staring hard into my eyes, truth blazed in her blue irises. 
    She kissed me before whispering, “I’m doing this for both of us.”
    I tackled her to the bed.
    She allowed me to be in control for only a moment, before her hands rolled me over onto my back and straddled me. Her eyes glowed as she pushed my t-shirt up. I obliged by ripping it over my head.
    The instant my shirt was off, her eyes fell to my jeans. I’d worn a belt tonight. Since we’d arrived on the island, I’d lost a bit of weight. I