Page 39 of Pretty Obsessed

I touched the door frame as I passed through it. It wasn’t much, but my father had built the cabin himself, over a couple of summers when I was a kid. He’d tried to get me to help but I was usually up a tree drawing or writing stories about aliens while he was hard at work.

He loved to tell me I always had my head in the clouds. Every board and nail had a memory to go with it, like the place was built from them. I wrote my memories and he carved and created his. I touched the rafter as I passed under it and set my bag down on the table.

A single tear streamed down my face. I wiped it away with my thumb and got to work putting away the supplies. I checked outside to make sure everything was secure so I wasn’t bothered by bears while up here. I checked the stock of firewood and carried some of it inside so I wouldn’t have to do it in the morning.

Will did a good job taking care of the cabin when I wasn’t around. He rented it out and cleaned it. I shouldn’t have worried, but it was habit and it would always be. My dad had spent years ingraining it all in my head.

It was time to face my fears and drown in words until I figured out my plot and maybe my life. A lonely process but a necessary one. I’d been floundering too long.

Seven

River Wade

His scent covered the linens as sleep faded, surrounding me, bringing back an infusion of the night before as I began to wake. One of the happiest nights of my life, and I couldn't be more excited for the light. I had time off, time to spend here getting to know Emory. I could make something of this. The timing was perfect. The universe smiled at me today. I was floating on the memories of last night.

I wanted nothing more than to convince Emory to spend the entire day in bed with me. I wanted him in my mouth again, and I wanted to be inside him. I wanted to try all the things I'd never tried with a guy. He'd awoken a whole other side to my sexuality, and I was into it. I'd always found guys attractive, but I'd never been with one.

I reached for him, eager to show the excitement and lust while he woke with me. Devastation met my fingertips. The bed lay empty. My eyes snapped open, like he'd appear suddenly, or be across the room watching me sleep. Anything other than his absence.

But he was gone. Vanished with the night without a trace for a second time. I willed the assumption to be false. He might be getting coffee. Or maybe breakfast. A shower? I listened willing my ears to hear something, any sign he was still in the room.

Silence.

Deafening silence.

My chest constricted and I couldn't breathe. I hadn't asked for his number or asked for another way to contact him.

He'd fled. Nothing more than a phantom.

Get up and check. I rolled out of bed, searching for any evidence he'd even been here. Not a stray sock or pair of boxers. Grabbing a pair of shorts, I slipped them on before venturing out into the main room. I didn't want to walk out nude in case Iris was still there.

It was as I feared. No sight of Emory. I pushed my fingers into my hair and walked over to sit next to Iris.

"He left." I didn't even try to keep the dejection out of my voice.

"I know." He fidgeted. "I asked him why and he said he had to work."

"But why sneak out?" I slumped back, closing my eyes.

"Maybe he didn't want to face you. People are weird with hook-ups. I've had some really strange ones who way overstayed their welcome, and others that ditched the second we were done and everything in-between," Iris mused with a laugh.

"How many people have you slept with?" I turned my head and opened my eyes honestly curious.

"No idea. I never kept count." He wasn't ashamed. The statement was genuine.

"Ballpark?"

"Do the math, at least one a night. Do you count orgies as more?" He tilted his head thoughtful. "This is not going to look good for me, let's forget you asked."

I stared for a minute doing the mental math. "That's… a lot, but it doesn't look bad… more…"

"What?"

"Filling a void."

He lifted a shoulder turning away. "We all have our ways of surviving."

I put my hand on his thigh. "We do."

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