~ASHTON~

"Hazel," I whisper, my voice soft with a mixture of restraint and longing, "I need to put some distance between us. Just until the effects of the fruit leave you."

"No!" she cries out suddenly, her voice echoing in the quiet forest as she instinctively grabs my hand with urgent desperation. "I need you, Ashton. I need you."

My jaw clenches tightly, muscles tightening as sweat beads form on my forehead, a sign of the internal struggle raging within me. I desperately try to ...