Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
The secret truth was it was never about his age but wanting to protect Julie from a relationship that wasn’t making her happy.
Or is that an excuse to justify this feeling…the feeling that won’t go away, that makes it difficult to think about Felix without collapsing into a heap of emotion?
“Julie?” I ask when she doesn’t say anything.
“Mike called earlier.”
“Okay.”
“And he said some crazy stuff. Bad things. About you. About what was going to happen to you tonight. I’m so sorry.”
“Mike is a computer programmer,” I murmur. “And you broke up ages ago. What does he want with me? And anyway, what could he do, really? He would’ve done it by now.”
Julie breaks down into sobs. It comes so violently. It’s like part of me feels it, my throat getting tight, my chest aching.
“Julie?” I say.
She replies, but I can’t hear her through all the crying. I can’t even make out a single word. It’s all so jumbled.
“Just please come home,” she says finally. “I can’t do this over the phone.”
“I’m leaving right now. I’ll be home soon.”
“Okay…see you very soon.”
I hang up the phone and walk toward the street, thoughts of networking forgotten.
It was a pointless activity after Felix left anyway since all my thoughts were focused on him, the brief time we spent together.
So much more impactful than any other conversation I’ve had.
Ever.
And it’s not like it was super deep or anything.
But we could’ve talked about anything, and it would’ve hit me like this. It’s just him.
My body shivers with new feelings when I think about dragging my fingernails down his back, over his muscled skin, and then massaging him down even further.
I’d grab his manhood, get him ready for our future, for the soul-searing lovemaking that will bring us to the next chapter in our lives.
No, I can’t think like that. It’s wishful thinking, silly fantasizing.
As I walk down the street, I try to work out what Julie’s talking about, thinking maybe that will distract me. But I know that’s impossible.
The best I can do is focus on something else and hope Felix fades while knowing I never want him to.
Julie.
I silently scream her name.
A negative thought slithers into my mind.
She may have taken something Mike said and fixated on it. She’s done it a few times since her dad’s death, going over and over phrases, seeing meanings that aren’t there. I keep trying to get her to see a therapist, but she refuses every time.
But overreaction or not, I need to get home. She needs me.
I want to help her long-term, to make it, so she never spirals, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon her tonight.
And there’s a chance something terrible really has happened.
I can’t keep letting myself assume every problem she has is because of what happened with her dad or the grief she’s suffering through.
My car comes into view – well, Mom’s car – and I find my thoughts returning to Felix. I can’t stop them, even if I try…even if I attempt to force my mind to stop it. I can’t.
It’s only him, just my man.
As I approach my car, I freeze.
My whole body stiffens up, even as I scream at myself to move, to do something.
I can hear somebody walking up behind me, but time feels like it’s slowed right down, but it’s also like the person is moving too fast for me to react.
In the reflection of the car, a man’s silhouette appears behind me.
CHAPTER
SIX
Felix
She spins on me, her hands raised, giving me a view of the blue butterfly that started all this.
She looks ready for a fight, and despite everything, I can’t help but smirk.
Her sassiness burns up through her, making her cheeks turn a tempting shade of pink, causing my savage mind to spirit away to carnal places.
I’m thinking about my woman, lying on her back, with that same sassiness bursting through her.
I imagine her moaning, staring up at me, and nodding as she gets closer to the end.
Nodding because she knows what the orgasm means, the shared crescendo.
She knows I want to put a baby in her.
And she wants it too.
She lowers her hands when she sees it’s me. As she takes a step back, her cleavage shifts around, stirring the hunger awake again. Or maybe it was never sleeping and always will be alert when I’m with my woman.
I need to try and tame it if that’s possible.
For now, anyway.
“Do you always sneak up on people in the dark?”
It’s probably best if I don’t answer this honestly. Yet.
“Freya, I need you to listen to me.”
She flinches at the firmness in my voice, looking closely at me, slightly smiling as if she thinks this is a joke.
Her smile disappears after we gaze into each other’s eyes for a few seconds longer.
“I’m listening,” she murmurs.
I scan the street constantly, listening for cars and anything out of the ordinary. But it would be so simple for a shooter to hide in one of the windows overlooking the street, not revealing themselves until the last second.