Page 52 of Ruin Me Gently

You should get some sleep.

Lilith

And miss out on all this quality, late night banter? Tragic.

Silas

I’m being practical.

Lilith

Oh? My own personal stalker looking out for me? How sweet.

Silas

I take my job seriously.

Lilith

Mm. Do you take requests?

Silas

Depends on the request.

Lilith

Your name?

Silas

Goodnight, Lilith.

The screen dimmed, but I kept staring, thumb tapping absently on the side of the phone like I could somehow undo what I’d just done.

I scrubbed a hand over my jaw.

This was a mistake. I knew that. Knew it the second my finger hit send, knew it the second her reply came through, knew it the whole damn time I kept the conversation going instead of shutting it down. But now? Now I’d cracked open a door I had no business standing in front of, and she’d just pulled me right through it.

My stomach twisted, a sick kind of heat curling under my skin.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to hate me. Call the cops, tell me to leave her the hell alone, pretend I never existed. That would’ve been better. Would’ve made more sense. But she was talking to me. Asking me things. Giving me—fuck, I didn’t even know what.

My fingers clenched around my phone, every rational part of my brain screaming at me to stop this now before it got worse. Before I messed up even more than I already had.

I should delete it. Block her. Walk away.

But I didn’t.

Because maybe the real mistake was thinking I could stop now.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ionce read thatif you stare at your phone long enough, you can actually manifest a text message.

Total bullshit, obviously. But tell that to my brain, which had spent the last thirty minutes trying to make it happen anyway.

Not that I was waiting for a text. Because that would imply I cared. Which I didn’t. Obviously.

---