All Chapters of WHEN ASHES FALL: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I’d kept my hands off of her while she was eating the gyro and fries.But I didn’t want to wait any longer.Once she swallowed the mouthful, I said, “Alix …”I needed her eyes on me to see the way she would look at me, how she would respond to the sound of my voice.That would determine if I could reach for her right now or if I’d have to wait.Her stare slowly lifted and landed on mine.Shyness was peeking through her expression.Still, every sign was there—the desire in her glare, the increased breathing, the way her tongue was swiping across her lips. It wasn’t frosting she was licking off because there wasn’t any there.I dropped the small box of cake on the ground.She didn’t watch it fall, but when she heard the sound, I saw the hunger in her grow.I took a step.She did, too, in the opposite direction at the same time she dropped her cake.She said nothing as I continued to move toward her, backing her up to the side of the building until her body was pressed against it.As I s

My eyes squinted.My chest pounded.“Please,” I begged. “Just say the words, and I’ll stay home tonight.”I clung my hand around the blanket, the other twisting the edge of the fluffy pillow. “Dylan …” I said so softly.There was movement on the bed.The air behind me suddenly turned to ice.“Dylan, no.”He couldn’t leave.At least not without saying something.But I heard his feet on the floor, and I knew that was exactly what he was doing.“Please, Dylan. Don’t go yet.”My body began to tense into a ball.“Come back,” I called.The bedroom door opened.Why did I tell him?Why was I so honest?Why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?There was no reason I’d needed to tell him what I was doing with Smith.I could have kept it in.Lied.I wasn’t sure it would have even mattered.“Dylan—” I cried out, cutting myself off when the bedroom door closed behind him.He was gone.He hadn’t told me not to go.He wouldn’t.I hated that more than anything.I hated this feeling.I hated what we had b

The look on his face told me it had truly been a guess.I was relieved to hear that he hadn’t looked me up.“Yes,” I said. “You’re right.”As he laughed, he gripped the edge of the table with both hands, and his head tilted back.It was the most laid-back sound.I wondered if I’d ever laugh that way again.“My sister, Star, goes there,” he told me. “I know the campus well.”“She’s getting her master’s?”He shook his head. “Bachelor’s.”She was much younger than him.From my estimate, at least by ten years, which put Smith somewhere in his early thirties.The same age as Dylan.“So, you went to school in the Back Bay, and you work in the city. What do you do for fun, Alix?”I met my best friend for happy hour several times a week.I spent time with Dylan whenever he came home.I dreamed about waking up to a sunny day.“You’re going to laugh,” I said.This was a question I was comfortable with.He put his elbows on the table. “I won’t.”“I’m from Maine. This small, quiet, quaint town in

I stared at the arrangement, trying to think of who would have sent them.I didn’t like any of the conclusions I had come up with.“Are you sure they’re mine?”I could tell the question surprised her.With a smile, she said, “Your name is on the card, so I think they’re for you.”I thanked her and took the vase, placing it next to my computer. My purse went in the bottom drawer, and I put on the headset.I didn’t open the envelope.I wasn’t ready.Instead, I sucked in a deep breath and rested my fingers on the keyboard, my thumb gently tapping the space bar but not hard enough to actually press it down. My body tensed. The tips of my toes ground into the bottom of my shoes.It was time.I hit the key that would connect the incoming call and said, “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”“I’ve been in a car accident. I’m on the corner of Huntington Avenue and Cumberland Street. No one is hurt, but both cars are pretty banged up.”My chest loosened.Air slowly made its way through my lips

She grinned when we pulled into the wooded driveway and turned her body toward me. “What is this place?”“It’s a house.”She bent her head to be able to see the top of it out of the window. “Why would you rent something so big for just the two of us?”It was just under ten thousand square feet and built into the base of the mountain with a full view of the south side of the lake. It was too big for a family of ten.“Because I wanted you to see how beautiful it looks from each window.”Her stare slowly shifted back to me. “But it’s the size of my old high school.”“It’s my place, Alix.”“What?” Her eyes widened. “You really own that?”I nodded. “I also have a condo in LA where my West Coast office is located.”She glanced from me to the house, repeating that pattern every few seconds. “Does someone usually live here?”She was processing this in stages.“No, the homes are available to us whenever we want to stay in them.” I reached across the seat and put my hand on her cheek. “We’re go