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Please don’t be cancer, please don’t be cancer.
He didn’t even text me back. He left me on read. Why would he do that?
Fuck the diet, I’m getting tacos tonight.
Voices that didn’t belong to me fluttered through my mind, a stream of uninvited consciousness that had me clenching my eyes shut and curling my hands into fists. It’d been happening more and more lately, and I had the tumor to blame. Not only did it give me sometimes debilitating headaches or make me throw up my guts, it was slowly chipping away at my sanity.
Just ask her. Just ask her. Say something.
That voice stood out among the rest, and something about it sent warm shivers down my spine. It was deep and rough and something about it gave me the odd sensation of endlessness…like an ocean who's seen every stage of the world.
Wow. I really am losing it.But that voice…it was familiar and swam into my mind like warm tendrils reaching out to gently pull me back, back, back…
I turned around, opening my eyes, somehow knowinghe’dbe there.
The man from the other night, the one with the dark chocolate eyes, shoulder-length dark hair, and tattoos peeking out from underneath the leather jacket he wore. The one who’d stolen my breath the second I’d laid eyes on him, and was having the same effect on me now as he stood a few feet away.
“Hi, Aquaman,” I said, arching a brow at him. Ajax. His name was Ajax and there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d forget it or him ever in my life. “Am I in your way or something?” I asked, stepping to the side of the path.
“No,” he said, and that voice matched the one I’d heard in my head seconds ago. It sent the same heat gliding over my body, but maybe that could be chalked up to him moving closer to me.
I had to arch my head to meet his gaze. He was so damn tall and his chest strained the thin white T-shirt he wore beneath the leather jacket. I could see the hint of ink through the white T, but couldn’t make out what it was.
I held his stare, not hearing anything inside my head, at least for the moment, so that was a relief. “All right, then,” I said, turning back around and heading down the path.
He followed me, his long gait eating up the distance until he was at my side.
I reached in my bag for my keys—the same ones he caught the other night with uncanny reflexes—and chided myself for not instantly threading them through my fingers. I mean,hello, this guy could easily snap me in half. Where were my self-preservation skills at?
Oh, right. Three months.
“Did you just get bad news or something?” I asked as I headed toward where I’d parked my car. “Do you need someone to sit and listen? Is that why you’re following me? Because we can sit if you need to.” I paused, motioning toward the bench I’d seen him at the night before.
Ajax shook his head, so I kept on walking.
He followed me every step of the way, all six-foot-seven, with muscles for days and smelling like a dream.
I stopped near my car, folding my arms over my chest, my mind flipping back and forth between the shock of the news and the utter acceptance of it.
Die. I was going to die. And it could be any moment, any next breath I took.
“Ohmigod,’ I said, laughing. “Igetit.” I looked him over once more, noting the black leather pants, the black ink, his endless eyes, and the general aura of darkness around him. “You’re an angel of death, aren’t you?”
Ajax’s eyes widened, something like amusement flickering there.
“Well,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re just going to have to wait. I was promised three months, and I’m sure as hell going to spend them wisely.”
“I’m not an angel of death,” he said, then shrugged. “I mean, not technically.”
I arched a brow at him. “Okay, then,” I said. “Have a good night—”
“Wait,” he said, stopping me with a gentle grip on my elbow.
Heat lashed up my arm and across my chest, my lungs expanding like they’d been allowed to take in more oxygen. The smell of cedar and moss swirled my senses, and I swear my knees shook. I should’ve jerked my arm from his grasp or smacked him with my keys. I should’ve been doinganythingother than turning into a puddle from an innocent touch.
A slow, almost dangerous smile shaped his lips as he released me.
“What do you want from me, Ajax?” I asked, finally giving voice to the name we’d joked about the other night. “You followed me for a reason, and if it’s not to take my soul, then I’dloveto know what.” My shoulders dropped. “You’re not selling something, are you? Because I’m all up to date on extended warranties.”
