AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That ring.” He inclines his head to my hand. “Doesn’t get taken off. It belongs to you, and I meant it when I told you not to take that ring off again.”
He’s gone before my mind can catch up with my mouth and ask him how he managed to get it back on my finger and why he’s being so insistent about me wearing it.
What the hell is happening?
Our arrangement is over, right? I mean, I know it is.We don’t need to pretend, which means I don’t need this—I look down at the ring he slipped back onto my finger—anymore. For a moment I hesitate, before shaking my head and snickering at my foolishness, pulling the ring off my finger.
This means nothing to Sebastian. Well, Ithinkit means nothing to him. The fact he’s being so pushy about me wearing a fake engagement ring is messing with my head. I walk to my bedroom and put it on the top of my dresser.
* * *
I’m sitting on the back of Coco as we gallop through a field of wildflowers. Hills roll around us and in the distance, I see a house. I can barely make out a man standing on the porch but with his broad shoulders, tapered waist and height, I know it’s Sebastian.
He waves out over the field at me, and a smile breaks out on my face. My hair whips behind me as I kick at Coco with my heels urging her to go faster. I need to get to my man. I dig down as she picks up speed.
I’ve never ridden a horse this fast before.
It’s exhilarating.
That is until something scares Coco and the house seems to get further away as she rears back. I can’t hold on. I want to, but I can’t. My palms are slick with sweat and I’m sliding from the saddle, my feet leaving the stirrups.
I brace myself, waiting to hit the ground, but it doesn’t come, instead it’s like I’m falling from the sky. My stomach somersaults. My arms are flailing around, looking for something to land on.
“Bastian,” I scream.
It’s my own screams that wake me. I’m tangled in my sheets, my body slick with sweat as tears run down my cheeks. On autopilot I reach for my phone, which is charging on the nightstand and dial his number.
He answers on the third ring, the worry evident in his tone. “Alex, are you okay?”
My shoulders sag with relief at hearing his voice.
I can’t mask the sob that breaks free as I cry, “Bastian.”
“It’s okay, baby. I’m coming.”
I hear him on the other end talking to someone and it’s only then, as I pull in deep calming breaths, that the faint sound of music registers. He must have gone to the club. My eyes snag on the clock on my bedside table and it's then that I realize it’s two am.
“Bastian,” I murmur into the phone, suddenly feeling shy.
“Yes, princess?”
“It’s okay. If you’re at work, you should stay there. I’m going to try and go back to sleep.”
“I’m on my way.”
TWENTY-ONE
Sebastian
I’m sitting in a meeting with my club manager, Sam, when my phone dances across the table. Normally I’d ignore it, but as my eyes catch Alex’s name on the screen, my hand reflexively reaches out to grab it.
“Alex, are you okay?” I ask, trying to keep the concern building inside of me at bay.
It’s two in the morning. She should be sleeping, not calling me.
The line is quiet, and I wonder if she’s accidentally called me. That is until the sound she makes has my heart dropping to my feet. When she calls me by the nickname only she uses, I know I need to get to her.
I’m already grabbing up my wallet and keys from my desk when I say, “It’s okay, baby. I’m coming.”
