All the blood drains from my head, but his guest saunters out of the other bedroom with Peter’s bedsheet wrapped around his waist.
“Sorry about the interruption.My boss demanded a background check on some poor, innocent girl he knew forever ago.He wants tohire—” his emphasis on the word suggests his boss has other things in mind.“—her.I swear, that man is hot as hell but a complete workaholic.Not at all my type.Now, where were we?”
I push Peter into the hall and swing the door closed.With a decisive twist of my wrist, I engage the lock before unrolling the white towel I keep on the shelf nearby and tucking it into the gap underneath.
The towel represents my lack of interest.It’s my real-timedo not disturbsignal to my roommate.He knows he’ll have to either break down the door or call emergency services from his cell to get a response from me.
I slip my headphones over my ears and turn on my music before tucking my shoes into their cubby and hanging my purse and coat on their hooks.
Locked in my room where every little thing has its place and I don’t have to worry about human interaction, I wrap myself in my favorite blanket and curl up on my oversized beanbag, but no amount of deep breathing will settle my mind.
This afternoon sucked hardcore.
I ruined over a decade’s worth of dreams by getting trapped under a table and needing rescue from Sebastian Sterling.
Of all the people on the planet, why did it have to be him?
I hate the world sometimes.Most times actually.
I close my hands into fists and lament my missing ring.By taking the one thing I can’t leave behind, he ensured I’ll seek him out tomorrow.
Dread settles in my gut even as my heart pounds with excitement.
I can’t avoid him forever.
But I wish I could.
Kind of.
The little girl trapped inside me yearns to relive my freshman year of high school.Having Sebastian as my friend and protector was the best time of my life.
The moment he left, my entire world came crashing down.
We can never go back.People don’t respawn after they die.Burned and torn flesh scars forever.Trust never returns.Broken hearts never mend.
Knights in shining armor ride off into the sunset without a backward glance.
Lost little girls never find a place to belong.
I fall asleep with familiar misery weighing down my shoulders, but when my memories resurface as nightmares, rich brown eyes and gargantuan fists ward off the leering faces and abusive hands.
Sebastian Sterling invades my dreams.
I hate it.I hate him.
I’m such a horrible liar.
Chapter 2
Sebastian Sterling
Guilt sits heavy on my chest.Penelope’s ring barely dents my breast pocket, but the memory of her expressive hazel eyes shining with betrayal and hurt sits like a pile of bricks on my sternum.
“Who are you and what did you take from my friend to make her so upset?”
I peel my attention away from the entrance where my best friend’s little sister just ran out onto the sidewalk and slip my hands into my pockets before relaxing my shoulders and meeting the woman’s eyes.
“I saw you put something in your pocket, so don’t try to say you didn’t,” she demands.
