Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
“Have a good night, Sailor.” I vanished into the garage and closed the door.
* * * * *
I sat nursing a beer while watching shit TV.
I’d cooked a vegetable burrito and chased it down with a bag of corn chips. I now contemplated going to bed at eight p.m., all so I could stop thinking about what my neighbour and her cat were doing.
It wasn’t often that I felt lonely.
I worked too much to even contemplate the word.
But tonight…Christ, I ached with it.
I wasn’t just jealous of X anymore; I was jealous of a tiny orange puff ball called Peng.
You could install a camera in her kitchen…that way, you can at least watch if you can’t be with her.
Groaning, I tossed my glasses onto the couch and rubbed my eyes.
No way.
I wouldn’t step over that line.
Even if I sat in my empty house like a loner, fighting every instinct to go next door, I wouldn’t spy on her just because I needed her.
My phone buzzed beside me.
I snatched it up far too quickly.
Lori: I know you’re probably going to say you’re out of town or too busy or you’ll come up with another million excuses after what we did last night, but…I baked you a cake to say thanks and…I want you to come over.
“Fucking hell, this just keeps getting worse.”
Tossing my head back against the couch, I groaned at the ceiling.
There had to be a word for this irony.
As Zander, I wanted nothing more than an invitation to spend time with her. As X, I should turn down her offer and disappear.
I wanted so badly to say yes but rationality gave me all the reasons I should say no.
The faintest whiff of chocolate slipped through my open living room window, tormenting me with unwinnable temptation.
Lori: If it will help you make the right decision, I didn’t know what you liked so I went with a foolproof gooey lava cake. I’ve just lifted it out of the oven so…if you want a piece, it needs to be enjoyed now. I’ll also throw in a scoop of ice cream—your choice of vanilla, rockyroad, or butterscotch.
My fingers typed without any input from my brain.
I literally had no willpower, summoned against my better judgement and hypnotised by an evening with her instead of being alone.
Me: I’ll be there in fifteen.
* 33 *
Sailor
You Have a Choice
I SENSED HIM BEFORE I SAW HIM.
Peng did too. His little ears sprang up and he scrambled off the couch, tearing toward the back door as if his long-lost littermate had returned.
Huh, that’s strange.
Peng hadn’t met X yet. Why did he react so—
Wait, they met briefly last night.
X had said he’d heard Peng crying outside, and that was why he came to check on me. I assumed he’d brought the cat in with him because all the windows were closed and the kitten safely tucked inside when I woke from my post-orgasm glow.
The quietest knock rapped on the back door as I padded barefoot into the kitchen. The dense sugary smell of chocolate permeated every inch, overshadowing the usual scents of thyme and oregano.
Brushing down my blue jumper that I’d shrugged into after getting a chill, I second-guessed my inappropriately short Sailor Moon night shorts. The tiny crescent moons seemed juvenile and far too young for the type of behaviour I hoped X would be open to indulging in once I’d fed him my thank-you cake.
I smirked.
Apparently, I was making a habit of thanking men with baked goods. Jim had enjoyed his peach upside-down cake so much, he’d begged me to make another, and I had every intention of making something for Zander after he let me tag along on the back of his bike today.
He’d gone fast but not petrifyingly stupid.
The fields had zipped past in a blur of patchwork green, all while fresh air blew away the shadows in my mind. I felt windswept and suntanned, and after a nice long shower and a cuddle with my best-friend, Peng, I floated with freedom I hadn’t felt in well…ever.
You should’ve accepted his invitation to hang out at his house.
I stiffened, recalling the way my instincts flared with warning.
I liked Zander. I might even be at the point of admitting I’d always had a crush on him, but the thought of being alone with him…at night.
I couldn’t.
It would prove Milton’s judgment and jealousy were founded. That every kick and punch he’d given me had been justified because I did fancy my saintly neighbour, after all.
No.
It was too big a step, too soon.
I was getting better, but…I wasn’t at the point of being alone with Zander despite every piece of me desperately ready to be alone with X.
It didn’t make sense.
I shouldn’t be afraid of spending a quiet evening with the guy I’d known all my life, yet be so turned on at the thought of making out with a masked stalker who refused to tell me his name.