Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
I’m frozen for the rest of the period, unable to focus, take notes, or even pretend I’m paying attention.
When Chip tries to talk to me after class, I just shoot him a half-hearted smile before fleeing, promising to call him later. But instead, I walk the few blocks to Mr. Phillips’ apartment building.
“Hi,” I greet the doorman. “Evie Jones for Stone Phillips,” I say with as much confidence as I can muster.
But the old man just shoots me an inscrutable look, stiff in his red and blue uniform.
“Mr. Phillips isn’t available,” he replies politely, turning back to his newspaper.
“But you didn’t even call upstairs!” I gasp. “How do you know he’s not available?”
The doorman just shoots me another impenetrable look.
“This is the end of my shift,” he responds, coldly this time. “I’d know if Mr. Phillips was home.”
I gasp. It’s four in the afternoon. Where could my lover be? But try as I might, I can’t wring any answers out of the doorman.
“Please,” I beg, close to tears. “Just tell him that Evie dropped by, okay?”
The old guy finally relents a little, nodding reluctantly. “Fine. I’ll give him the message.”
With that small consolation, I trudge to the front door and let myself out onto the sidewalk. Manhattan suddenly appears gray and featureless. Where is Stone? He’s been missing for days now, suddenly unavailable, and I’m unable to reach him in the only ways I know how. I almost resolve to camp out in front of his building, except that seems too pathetic. Besides, the doorman already hates me and is staring at me menacingly through the glass-paned windows. So instead, I take a deep breath and force myself to start walking, placing one foot in front of another even though I feel sightless and numb.
Where is my lover? We’d had an incredible time together, our minds connecting and our bodies attuned to one another like two halves of a whole. But where is he now? Why is he inaccessible? My heart fills with dread and I shiver uncontrollably although it isn’t cold out. I just want to know where my man is … and if we can be together going forward.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Evie
A year later …
Chip slings his arm over my shoulders, almost squashing me.
“Heya, big girl,” he greets, nuzzling my hair fondly. “Ohhh, you smell good.”
I smile wanly because since we both matriculated at State, Chip is my wannabe boyfriend. He isn’t my actual boyfriend; I can’t go that far, and I make sure he knows it.
“I can’t, Chip,” I’d explained halfheartedly one night. “I just can’t.”
“Is it me?” he’d asked, pained, his hulking form looking awkward on the small dorm couch. “Is it something I did?”
And I’d shaken my head miserably.
“No, it’s me,” I’d choked. “I’m just not ready.”
Chip had perked up at that.
“Well, no worries. That’s nothing that time can’t fix,” he’d said eagerly, sitting up straighter. “If we hang out a lot together, I’m sure you’ll feel more ready as the year goes by,” he’d added with a hopeful look in his eyes.
And I hadn’t been able to take the puppy dog smile, or how his eyes had pulled down at the corners. So I’d nodded silently, unable to explain my feelings and how tangled my thoughts were. Because even though it’s been a year since Stone disappeared, my heart’s still with the alpha male. I think of him every day as I lie alone in my dorm bed. My body still catches fire when I dream of the big man, his touch and his caresses.
In fact, there’s been more than one instance when I’ve moaned his name in my sleep.
“You say some weird things in your sleep,” my new roomie Cara had remarked one day, shooting me a curious look.
“Oh really?” I’d asked nonchalantly, my heart thumping. Oh god, hopefully I hadn’t screamed anything like “Touch me Stone!” or “Take me here!”
But Cara had just shaken her head and buried her nose in her book again.
“Yeah, you said the ‘The elevator’s on fire’ or something like that,” she’d commented eventually, avoiding my eyes. “It was weird.”
I’d colored. It had probably been something along the lines of “My body’s on fire” or “My pussy’s on fire,” but it was a good thing Cara had interpreted it as “elevator.” I prayed that I wouldn’t sleep talk again and give myself away.
But that’s the extent of my interaction with Stone these days – all in my dreams. I simply had no idea where he’d disappeared to. Our biology sub had become permanent, and I’d never had a chance to spend another darkened afternoon in the locked classroom again.
Instead, my life had become totally mundane. I’d graduated from Spencer and enrolled at State, going through the motions by dutifully attending class, studying, and even half-heartedly making friends. But I’m so distracted that my new friendships are shallow in nature; the girls are more study buddies or casual acquaintances. My only real friend is still Mindy from back home.