“Harlow.”
I didn’t move, I just lay there, wrecked, my heart hammering against my ribs, my hand still wrapped around my slowly softening cock. The phantom sensation of her mouth faded,leaving only the sticky, cooling reality on my skin and a profound, hollow emptiness within me.
My phone rang.
The sound shattered the silence like a gunshot, jolting me upright so fast I nearly fell off the couch. My heart slammed against my ribs, adrenaline flooding my system.
I grabbed the phone, squinting at the too-bright screen.
Harlow…
CHAPTER 22
HARLOW
The steamfrom my shower clung to the bathroom mirror, fogging my reflection. I stood there for a moment, wrapped in a towel, thinking about Owen.
His texts were still glowing in my mind.Anytime, Har.The way he’d followed me home, pretending he hadn’t, pretending he wasn’t worried.
I was so pathetically, hopelessly…
A sound.
I froze, my hand halfway to the doorknob.
It was so quiet I wasn’t sure I actually heard anything. Maybe the house was settling. Maybe it was the wind, or my exhausted brain was playing tricks on me after eight hours of studying.
I pulled open the bathroom door, steam rolling out around me, and stepped into my bedroom. The hallway beyond was dark, and the house was silent.
I held my breath, straining to hear.
Nothing.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I muttered. “This is what happens when you don’t sleep for a week. You start hearing…”
A soft rustle.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
That wasn’t the house settling, and it definitely wasn’t the wind. That was somethingmoving.
I stepped toward my bedroom door, my legs suddenly forgetting how to function properly.
“Hello?”
No answer.
I moved toward the staircase, my pulse thundering in my ears so loud I could barely hear anything else. The darkness at the bottom of the stairs seemed denser than it should be, full of shadows I didn’t want to think about.
“Hello?” I tried again, louder this time. “Is someone there?”
Silence.
And then…
CRASH.
The sound of something falling, or breaking, something veryreal,echoing up from the first floor.
