Free Beautiful Chances (The Beautiful Series) by Alicia Rae Page B

tensed as the rest of my thoughts played out. “On the drive home, I took a normal route that we used all the time. We had about ten miles on the highway, and as we came up to a small curve, a car from oncoming traffic kept going straight, and it came into our lane. I tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. His headlights blinded me as his truck hit us head-on.”
    Tears streamed down my face as I thought of those last moments. The sound of metal was forever seared into my memory. “I heard Annie’s scream an instant before everything went black. When I woke up in the ambulance, my mind was foggy, but I remember trying to grab Annie’s hand in the stretcher next to me. Her body wasn’t moving,” I faltered, remembering that moment. “She never squeezed my hand back. After that, I only recall screaming loudly before the darkness took back over.”
    “Jesus, Lily.”
    Kyle looked in pain as I glanced back up at his face. His arms tightened around me, pulling me close, as he tried to comfort me. But this wasn’t something he could comfort or fix. It would always be with me.
    I continued on, desperately needing for it to be over. “When I awoke again, I was in the hospital, and my Aunt Lucie was sitting across from me. Tears were running down her face as she looked at me, and I knew right then that it was bad. My injuries were nothing compared to the pain when she told me…” Tears blurred my eyes, and I wiped furiously at them. “My mom, dad, and sister were gone…I was alone.”
    Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep breathing. “The nurse had to come in and sedate me to keep me from disrupting the other patients. As the funerals were quickly approaching, Aunt Lucie and my cousins all took turns checking on me and comforting me. Everyone tried to hold me and ease my pain, telling me that it would be okay, but I didn’t want them. I wanted my dad, my mom, and my sister. And it became painful for me to watch Aunt Lucie, Uncle Dan, and my cousins be a family…and to see the pain in their eyes, too. It reminded me too much of what I had done and what I had lost. For some unjust reason, I survived…and they didn’t.”
    I closed my eyes, tears freely streaming down my face, as I tried to block it all out. “It was just too much.” I remembered it all like it was yesterday—the deafening sound of metal crashing and my sister’s cries. It was my darkness to bear. It was my fault.
    “I’m so sorry, Lily. I wish I could take away the pain,” Kyle said, stroking my back. He gently kissed my forehead and then my temple. “But it doesn’t sound like any of it was your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”
    “Yes, it was my fault. I was driving. I should have swerved out of the way or stopped sooner. They should be here. I shouldn’t. They are gone because of me.” I closed my eyes in anguish, feeling pain…guilt…regrets…and darkness.
    Kyle’s strong hands grasped my arms and pulled me up onto his chest, his eyes unwavering. “No, Lily. It is not your fault.” His tone was firm and final. “I will not let you carry the extra burden of blame. It sounds like you loved your family, and your family loved you. They wouldn’t want you to be living your life like this. They would want you to be happy. So, we are going to start working on that…right now, in fact…starting with pizza,” he finished, trying to lighten the mood.
    “Pizza sounds good. Oh, that’s right! You brought some with you. Where is it? You should bring it in here, so we can have pizza in bed.”
    “I may have, er…dropped it when you attacked me at the door,” he replied, bashfully grinning.
    My heart skipped a beat at his adorable look.
    “Hopefully, it’s still edible,” he added.
    “Well, I hope so. We can’t waste pizza. And I did not attack you at the door. My senses…just naturally took over.” A blush crept up my cheeks.
    “Sure, they did.” He released a sexy smirk.
    Kyle shifted me over slightly, so he could