Things I Wish I Said
Gracie Graham
Publication date: November 7th 2024
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Lung cancer patient Ryleigh Sinclair wants a boyfriend for the summer.
And my mother wants me to be the one to make her wish come true.
Me. The eternal pessimist. The guy who no longer believes in happy endings after my dad died of pancreatic cancer and my girlfriend dumped me in the same month.
But after weeks of spending time with Ryleigh, she somehow does the impossible. She fills the gaping hole of my father’s absence until I’m the one hoping for a miracle.
I’ve learned my lesson about wishes.
Happily ever afters are a lie.
Yet I’m the one wishing like hell for another outcome for Ryleigh.
I lost my father to cancer; I can’t lose her too.
“You make me happy.”
I swallow, afraid to move and the break the spell we’re under. “No, I don’t,” I say, my throat raw.
“You do. This last month, I’ve laughed more than I have since I lost him. You make me forget to be so damn sad all the time.” His other hand rises, and he drags his thumb over my lower lip while my heart crashes into my ribs.
“Grayson . . .”
“You asked me why I kissed you.”
I nod, my resolve to keep him at arm’s length crumbling.
“I kissed you because I couldn’t stand another second of pretending I didn’t want to. Because watching you flirt with Cameron drove me fucking crazy. Because when I touch you, everything else fades away. All the shit in my life feels bearable. Like I can move forward as long as I have you. Simply put, life is just better with you in it.”
A sob escapes the back of my throat, and then his mouth is on mine, and he’s kissing me like his life depends on it. Like we’re the last two people on the face of the planet and the world’s existence depends on us. Like he is the Earth and I am the moon, just caught up in his orbit.
Butterflies take flight in my chest.
My toes curl.
The pulse drumming inside my ears reaches an ear-splitting decibel.
His mouth slants, his tongue brushing against mine as his hand tightens around my waist, and I’m hit with the scent of leather and cinnamon, bringing me back to his bedroom the other night when I sat there and promised myself I’d help him.
Losing his father nearly broke him. I’d hate to think of what losing me only a year later would do.
I place a hand on his chest and push him away.
The breath rasps in and out of my lungs as I come back down to earth, staring into gunmetal gray. “I thought you didn’t believe in love and happy endings?”
“I believe in you.”
Gracie Graham is a contemporary young adult author who loves romance and writing fictional characters. She thrives on bringing angst and emotion to her books, and her greatest goal in life is to give readers a book hangover. When she's not busy telling lies for a living, she's likely wrangling her three kids, cooking subpar meals, over-caffeinating, and procrastinating. Feel free to reach out to her on social media.
