AllFreeNovel
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Touching the button, I start to speak, but Allison is faster.
“It’s Allison,” she calls out as if I don’t have a camera and screen to see her.
“Come on up,” I murmur, touching the button to open the door for her. I watch as she tugs it open and slips inside the building.
She’s going to know something is wrong with me the instant she sees my face. I run my fingers through my hair like a comb and whimper when they get caught in the tangles. It doesn’t take her long to reach my floor. Looking through the peephole, I watch as she steps off the elevator and moves toward my door.
I inhale a deep breath and hold it for a moment, then plaster on a fake smile, twist the knob, and tug the door open. She stops in front of me, her eyes finding mine and narrowing for a brief moment.
“You need to talk. Thank God because I need to talk, too. I brought dinner. I know you never eat on the weekends, so here I am.”
Stepping to the side, I allow her to walk past, and she does. But Allison doesn’t just walk, she breezes. She’s confident and sexy, even in her slouchy wide-leg jeans and oversized, off-the-shoulder, thin gray sweatshirt.
“I am a wreck,” I whisper.
She hums as she moves through my kitchen. “I found out that I can’t get a loan,” she cries out.
I know she isn’t trying to say that whatever she’s going through is worse than what I am going through. She’s instead commiserating. She lets out a sigh as she takes two plates out of the cabinet and sets them down on the countertop as she begins to riffle through the bags, taking boxes out.
“You never have wine, but I brought some mainly because I need it. Want to join me tonight?” she asks.
I think about her question. Normally, I would decline. But I think a glass of wine might help calm me down a bit tonight. I’m just way too spun up. Then I’m going to have to vocally admit what happened, how much I liked it, how I’m anticipating him coming back, and at the same time, how absolutely anxiety-filled it makes me.
“Wine me,” I say.
Allison laughs softly, then she takes out two wineglasses. “It must be legit if you’re agreeing to wine.”
“Not just agreeing,” I say. “It’s a need.”
“Shit, maybe you should go first.”
She thrusts a plate of food toward me, and I wrap my fingers around it, holding it against my belly. Turning from her, I walk over to the breakfast nook table and sink down in my usual chair.
Allison walks over with her plate, sets it down, then comes back with two glasses filled to the top with red wine. Standing up, I hurry over to the drawer and grab a couple of forks, then return to the table.
I reach for the glass of wine in front of me and bring it to my lips, taking a healthy drink before I place the glass back down. I stab a piece of lettuce from my salad, bring it to my lips, and lift my gaze, looking across the table. Allison stares at me.
“What?” I ask.
“I think you need to talk to me,” she says.
I watch as she lifts her glass to her lips and sits back in her chair, her gaze focused on mine and only mine. She is here to listen to me, and I shouldn’t even have said anything because she came here to talk to me about her problems and not listen to mine.
I open my mouth, and the words flow out. They spill, and I don’t stop until the whole story is complete. Allison’s eyes are wide, her lips are parted, and she stares at me in what I can only describe as shock and awe.
She had not been expecting any of what I had to say. I know she is stunned that I’m not scared to death, that I haven’t called the police or fled the condo altogether, especially after the childhood I had.
“Well,” she begins when I’ve finished. “It’s the hot guy from the club. So, there’s that.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
She shrugs a shoulder. “He was superhot. That’s all I got. I don’t know how to respond to this, and the fact that you’re into it is honestly kind of freaking me out.”
“It’s freaking me out, too,” I whisper. “I really don’t know what to do, but I want him.”
Allison leans forward, placing her forearms on the table, and sinks her teeth into her bottom lip before she speaks.
“Parker,” she whispers, “you want him because he’s the first man who’s ever shown interest in you like that. But that doesn’t mean it’s good for you in any way.”
