Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Luke pulls the car to a stop outside my building. I stare up at it, knowing what is waiting up there for me.
An empty apartment.
“Thanks for the lift and the save,” I tell him as I take my seat belt off.
“Anytime. Do you want me to come up and keep you company for a while?” he asks.
“Yes.” My response is so quick and eager; it’s laughable. And he does chuckle. “God, I’m pathetic, aren’t I?” I groan. “I’m a grown woman, afraid to be alone in case I succumb to the urge and run to the nearest bar and drink myself into a coma.”
“You’re not pathetic, Ari. You’re human. And a brave one for admitting that you’re afraid.”
“Thanks.” I give him a sad smile.
“I’ve been there, remember? Hell, I’m still there. I know what it feels like. And, also, I can’t let you go to another bar, looking like that.” He gestures to my face, grinning.
“Jerk.” I chuckle.
“Come on,” he says, taking off his seat belt and turning off the engine. “You can make me a coffee.”
Luke follows me up the steps to my building and to my apartment. I unlock my front door, letting us in.
I kick off my shoes and go to the kitchen to turn the kettle on.
“You mind if I just take a quick shower and clean up?” I gesture to the mess that is me.
“Course not. Go ahead. Actually, are you hungry? I skipped lunch, and I’m starving.”
“I could eat. What are you thinking?”
“Chinese.”
“Sounds good to me. There’s Chinese takeout just on the corner of my block.”
“Perfect. You go take your shower, and I’ll go grab us some food. Anything specific?”
“Chow mein.”
“Egg rolls?”
“One for me.”
“Got it.” He heads for the door.
“You want some money?” I ask him.
He gives me a look that tells me it’s a definite no.
“Okay. Well, take my keys with you in case I’m still in the shower when you get back.” I throw them over to him, and he catches them.
“Back soon.”
I turn down the hall to the bathroom as I hear the front door bang shut. I close the bathroom door and turn on the shower to let it heat up.
I catch sight of myself in the bathroom mirror.
God, what a mess I am.
And I don’t just mean the state of my face.
I turn away from the mirror and strip off my clothes. I climb in the shower and put my head under the spray.
The feel of the hot water is just what I need to help clear my mind of my problems.
The only bad thing is, they’ll all still be there after this shower is done.
I turn my face to the stream, and I wash the makeup off my face. Then, I shampoo my hair before combing conditioner through it, followed by soaping my body clean with my favorite raspberry-scented body wash, and then I rinse off.
I’m conscious not to be too long in the shower, as I don’t want to be in my towel when Luke gets back, and I didn’t bring any clothes into the bathroom with me.
I turn off the shower and wring the excess water from my hair. I grab a towel from the rail and cover my body with it.
I’ve just opened the bathroom door when I hear a knock at the door.
Is that Luke already? But he took my keys with him, so why is he knocking?
Men. I give a mental eye roll.
“Use my keys,” I holler. “I just got out of the shower.”
No answer. But another knock.
Christ.
I tighten up my towel as I walk over to the door and swing it open. “You didn’t lose my ke—” The words die on my tongue at the sight of Ares standing in front of me.
“Hey,” he says. His eyes do a leisurely rake up and down my towel-clad body, causing goose bumps to break out everywhere on me, before settling back on my face. “I didn’t lose what?”
“Uh, what?” I stutter in shock that he’s here.
“You said, ‘You didn’t lose my…’ something. What was it I must have lost?”
“Uh…” Apparently, this is now nine-tenths of my vocabulary. “Nothing. I, uh, thought you were someone else.”
“Oh.” His eyes dim. “Are you expecting someone?”
“What? No! No, of course not.” My eyes dart to the stairwell.
Why am I lying to him?
Because you’re a flaky drunk and your sponsor just had to come and rescue you from a bar and he is still here because you can’t be trusted to be alone.
Ares’s eyes follow mine over his shoulder to the stairs and then come back to me. He gives me a suspicious look.
Crap.
“How did you get in my building?” I ask, my voice sounding unnaturally high.
“The main door was open. The security in your building sucks balls, Jailbird.”
I suck my lip into my mouth and nod my head in agreement.