Autumn and that FaceTime the other night had me fucked up in the head. My dick jumped at the memory. I headed backinside, hit the shower, then dried off and sprayed on some Creed.
I packed all the new clothes I bought, which was sweats, thermals, button-ups, and boots. Quickly, I threw on a sweatsuit, Timbs, a chain, and a designer watch. I was right on time for the car service that texted me saying they was downstairs.
The ride to the airstrip was smooth. I sat in the backseat rolling another blunt, watching the city lights blur by. My private jet gleamed under the runway lights when we pulled up. I walked aboard, and the pilot greeted me with a nod.
“Jet’s ready, Mr. Thevlin. We’ll be in Arbor Hills in just under ninety.”
“‘Ppreciate it,” I replied, settling into the leather seat and placing my gifts nearby.
The second I landed and settled into my rental truck, I called Autumn. The convo was going good until I mentioned I’d just touched down in her city. Next thing, I heard her phone hit something hard, leaving me looking at a black screen
“Damn,” I muttered, entering the highway. “You still there, gorgeous?”
Silence.
Then she picked it back up, staring into the screen with her eyes wide. “Seriously? You’re… you’re in Arbor Hills?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. What you thought? I wasn’t gon’ see you for Christmas? Don’t play with me. Send the addy. We got plans.”
T h es e c o n dt h ecall ended, I just sat in the driver’s seat, numb. I clutched my phone like it might explode with my heart doing the absolute most in my damn chest. I blinked, once, twice, three times, trying to process everything.
Woods was here. Not on the way. Not thinking about it, but actually fucking here. And he told me to send him my address like it was nothing. Like he hadn’t just flipped my entire reality upside down and then had the nerve to end the call before I could even catch my damn breath.
I stared at my reflection in the rear-view mirror. My edges were slightly frizzed from the cold, and I was visibly trembling. I looked exactly how I felt—caught off guard, flustered, and on the verge of making dumb decisions.
My phone buzzed again.
I let out a shaky breath. “Oh my God.”
It was like the universe hit me with a live wire. I could still hear his voice in my head, that deep, controlled tone laced with heat and possession. It felt like he had crawled through the speaker and wrapped himself around my body. I hated how fast my body responded to him—hated how even with all this uncertainty and a secret growing inside me, I still wanted him close.
I closed out the message app without replying. I wasn’t sending no damn address. I couldn’t. I needed time to think. To breathe. And Woods wasn’t letting me. Then, my phone buzzed again.
My chest squeezed. He wasn’t bluffing. I knew he wasn’t bluffing.
I chewed my lip. And then my fingers moved before my brain caught up with them. I typed in my address, stared at it for three long seconds, as if I were really considering deleting it, then hit send. His reply came almost instantly.
“Forty-five?!” I hissed, snatching my keys from my pocket. I started up my car and peeled out of the parking lot likesomeone was chasing me. The first light had the nerve to turn red right as I reached it. “No. Nope. Absolutely not,” I muttered as I smacked the steering wheel, bouncing in my seat like I could will the light to change.
By the time the light switched, I was halfway convinced the universe was doing this on purpose. I hit three more red lights on the way home. Three. And every car in front of me drove ten miles under the speed limit like it was a casual Monday instead of a “my situationship is on his way to my house” emergency.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered, whipping into my building’s under garage lot way harder than necessary. I grabbed my bags from the trunk and sprinted through the lobby. Mr. Granger, the doorman, gave me a big smile from behind the desk.
“Evening, Miss Autumn! Got all your Christmas shopping done?”
“Working on it!” I called over my shoulder, breathless.
He chuckled. “You young folks sure love waiting ‘til the last minute.”
“Story of my life,” I yelled back, already halfway across the lobby.
The elevator felt slow enough to ruin my life. I bounced on my toes, staring at the lit numbers above the door like staring would make it work faster. When it finally opened, I nearly dove inside.
Upstairs, I threw my door open and tossed all the gift bags onto the couch. “What are you doing, Autumn?” I muttered tomyself, pacing in circles. “What in the actualfuckare you doing right now?”
I marched straight to the bathroom, stripped out of my clothes, and jumped into the shower. The water was hot, the steam fogging up the glass instantly. I washed quickly, moisturized, and gave myself a light beat—just a little concealer, mascara, and lip gloss.
Then, I fixed my ninja bun and put on something simple but cute. It was a soft, fuzzy two-piece lounge set with a cropped hoodie and shorts. When I was done, I poured myself a glass of wine and stared at it for a second, remembering.
