Riches |The inheritance games|

Chapter 92

The Archer by Taylor Swift

All the king's horses, all the king's men, couldn't put me together again, 'Cause all of my enemies started out friends. Help me hold onto you.

TW: Taking advantage of someone emotionally vulnerable.

Grayson:

I hover above her, pressing our lips together. "God.. I'm so.. glad.. I have you." I say between kisses, barely getting a word out at a time before reconnecting our lips.

Paris separates our lips, I watch her eyes flick between mine. Something shimmers behind those beautiful eyes. Those eyes that make me warm inside. The eyes I could get lost swimming in.

I let out a low laugh at the look she's giving me, pure amazement as she watches me carefully. Her pink lips part slowly, my eyes focusing on nothing but her lips. 

"I love you." She whispers.

I feel my head burn at the words alone. I feel dizzy. My heartbeat is pounding against my chest. I swallow, only feeling more shocked when I see the pure joy on her face. The anticipation she feels, she expects me to say it back. She's waiting. I need to say something. But my lips are dry, it's exactly then that I realise I can't say it back.

I try to build up the courage to say it back. Why have I not said it yet? Just say it Grayson. It's just three words.

But I can't.

It's not that I don't love her. I adore her in every way, she's the best thing that ever happened to me. So why can I simply not force those words to leave my mouth?

Because she's not the only person who's said it to me. My brothers and I never really say those words, though it's more of an unspoken thing. I never had any other family to tell me it. The only person who ever spoke those words to me was Emily. 

"Grayson?" Her voice sings softly in my ears, a symphony blessing my ears every time she opens her mouth. "Em?" I reply with a subtle smile. We're kissing, I'm hovering above her on her bed, wearing nothing but underwear. 

Emily's red lipstick spread over my cheeks, blending with the sweat from the passionate moment. "I love you." She whispers with a mischievous grin. Her cold eyes glancing between mine. 

I bite my lip and hold back the smile. She loves me. I've never heard those words spoken directly to me before. "I love you too." I reply simply. Although when I say it, it's more of a compliment than a comment. Do I love her? I guess I do now that I've fucking told her that. She giggles and brushes our noses together, pressing our lips back together.

I look down at Paris, the memory ripe in my mind, haunting me much like every other memory with the same girl.

"Oh." I manage to whisper in a shaky voice. My face goes cold, my eyes dead as I look down at same face from my past. I'm no longer looking at Paris, the girl I adore. Instead I stare down to the face of the girl from my past who I loathe, Emily Laughlin. 

Why did I have to choose to fall for a girl with the same face? 

I know it was cruel. I know it was a mistake. But even still all I can see is Emily and I feel no remorse pushing myself off the bed and grabbing my shirt from the floor.

I need air. I'm sweating and panicking. It feels like a panic attack. I haven't had one in years. I suppress those ideas and focus on buttoning my shirt once again.

"What?" Em– Paris murmurs. I can't shake the feeling no matter what that this is Emily. She's here. I know Paris. But this isn't Paris. The ghost that haunts me every night is here.