AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The silence surrounding me, the perfect cocoon of sweet silence, makes me hear my inner thoughts so much clearer, and it’s in the stillness of the night, in the warmth that envelops me, that I find myself feeling a sense of loneliness like I never have before.
But Reed isn’t going to be the one to cure me of my loneliness. I don’t think I could survive another broken heart. It almost killed me the first time, a constant throbbing reminder of everything I’ve lost. I can’t replace that feeling by making the biggest mistake of my life–that being making starry eyes at an oversized rock star whose oversized ego barely fits into this penthouse apartment.
Still, it’s really hard walking away from him.
The elevator ride to the ground floor seems to take twice as long as it did on the way up. The doors chime softly as they open, and I step out into the grand foyer, making sure to fix the bird’s nest that is currently my hair. My makeup is smudged. I have chocolate around my mouth. And when I look up and notice the same guy as before sitting behind the enormous reception desk, this couldn’t feel more like a walk of shame if I tried.
“Good night,” I offer politely with a quick nod as I trot past him.
“I think you mean good morning, Miss Thomas.”
Ah, crap. He’s got me there. It is morning. I hesitate slightly, my shoes catching on the polished tile floor. “Just so you know, this isn’t what it looks like, this… uh, I mean…”
The gentleman lifts his shoulders, not an ounce of judgment. “Not sure what you’re referring to, miss?” He smiles quickly, nods just once, and then presses a buzzer which opens the front doors to the building. “Have a lovely day now.”
I’m quiet for a moment, watching the gentle rain fall outside, making the street and the sidewalk beyond the foyer glisten. A cool breeze blows through the open doors, and I wrap my cardigan a little tighter around myself as I walk out into the cool night air.
The streets are all but empty, save for a couple of street sweepers and taxi cabs, and as I hurry toward my parked car, I can’t stop my mind from drifting back upstairs to the man asleep on his couch. Alone.
He’s all alone.
Just like I am. Alone.
And maybe that means something. Or maybe it doesn’t?
Maybe Reed feels just as alone as I do?
Is that why he wanted me to stay with him last night? The question hangs in the air between yesterday and tomorrow, and I may never know for sure.
Or maybe I already know the answer.
Reed
Quinn banging on my front door wakes me from the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a really long time. I know it’s Quinn because he does that really irritating knock everyone knows. You know the one; you probably learned it when you were five fucking years old.
I grumble a response and climb off the couch, heading for the front door.
Wait.Shit.
Memories from the night before come flooding through my head and I spin in one full circle. I must have fallen asleep at some point throughout ourThe Fallmarathon last night, and I’m guessing Brinley must have slipped out of the apartment at some stage without waking me.
That’s just fucking great.
I don’t like the thought of her driving home alone so late at night, especially given her seedy neighborhood. I would have offered to drive her home, or at the very least called her a cab so that I knew she was home safely.
I register that last thought as I rub my eyes and open the front door. What the fuck am I thinking? I’ve never given a shit about how a woman has gotten home from my apartment before. Why now? Concern is an act spared solely for relationships. For girlfriends.
And I don’t do either of those things.
The apartment is impossibly quiet though, and I don’t like that I’m no longer warm and cozy under the blanket. I can’t smell her perfume any longer, and I experience a bizarre sense of loss as I stretch my arms above my head and tell Quinn he better have a damn good reason for waking me up so early on a Saturday morning.
But Quinn is totally tripping out, barging into my apartment like he fucking owns the place. He grabs me by the shirt and pushes me backward into the wall behind me.
“What the hell is your problem?” I shout. My voice is hoarse, a man functioning on four hours of sleep. “Dude, seriously?”
“What are you doing, Reed?” he asks sharply.
I pull my arm away from his death grip. “What are you talking about?”
