Love vs Lust for Love 2

Love's Gray Counterfeit

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“Why are you so worried about what everyone thinks? It’s no big deal; you’ve already done it once, right?”

Derek waits impatiently for Braeden to make up her mind. She looks down at the floor trying to decide.

“He’s right.” Says this voice inside. “Who are you kidding. What makes you any more pure now…what, ‘cause you waited a while? What’s one more time?”

Braeden straightens her dress with her decision and looks into Derek’s eyes. “Yeah, your right; sorry I don’t know why I’m being so difficult about this.” She says with a slight laugh as she playfully nudges him.

He laughs in reply and kisses her, pulling her towards the bedroom. They pass by a mirror and she sees the reflection of her dress. She had picked it out just for tonight. She kisses him back passionately and puts all worries in her mind to rest. Her thoughts trail off.

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“This could be something really good.”

It’s the next morning and Braeden wakes up. Derek has left. He stops calling her after that and avoids her at school for the next few weeks. Soon after she watches in shock as she sees him kissing another girl in the distance.

That night she goes home and sits against the edge of her bed. Her vision starts to blur as she sees the dress hanging in the closet from that night with him.

She stares out the window into the winter sky.

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A Hope for Forever - Michael

Several months had passed and Michael came into the picture.

Braeden hoped there would be a future with him…that they were going to be together in a forever kind of way. She could tell that in his mind she was the prize catch; she was flattered by his attention.

Day after day he expressed how much he wanted her, how beautiful she was and how she topped all of the other women he had known in his life.

Finally Braeden gave in and slept with him.

Justin stuck around for a few months, but as the time passed by it became obvious that sex was the only piece to their relationship puzzle. Finally she broke it off with Justin…she wanted something deeper than just sex.

Braeden couldn’t find the right guy and began to be convinced that she was destined to live the life of ‘friends with benefits’.

She came to the conclusion that marriage just wasn’t in her cards.

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Still though, she didn’t want to be seen as someone who slept around so she held out for a while. As the months went on the peer pressure increased. Her college friends began to tell her she needed to let out her sexual frustration. She finally gave in with a guy she had just met.

No matter how many times she had sex, it was apparent the empty feeling she had inside wasn’t planning on going away.

Years continued to fly by and due to the advice of those around her, Braeden made it a practice to test the waters, to try before buying in efforts to find Mr. Right.

Her philosophy became: “I’ve lived too long this way to change now.”

Each time she went through with it in the moment she felt beautiful and loved; but afterwards this feeling was always followed by a numb hollowness throughout her being.

Her intimate gift was never cherished; she yearned to find her perfect prince who would kill the vicious cycle and rescue her with his love; he seemed to be nowhere in sight.

CHAPTER 4

(Return from Love vs Lust 2 to Lust verses Love)

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