What she doesn’t realize is that he holds the key to her past, present, and future. Once he reveals the reasons behind their irrevocable connection, she will unlock the answers to all of her questions, and her life as she knows it will never be the same again.
EXCERPT
He puts the picture down and turns to look at me, face
stern and serious, eyes full of hunger. I swallow, chest heaving, unable to
break his gaze. “Why do you look at me like this?” I whisper, eyes still locked
on his.
“I just feel this amazing, erotic
connection to you. I’ve never felt it before. I’ve met a million women
throughout my years, and none of them have come close to touching me the way
you do.”
“Brent…” My voice drifts off as he
slowly comes closer. His face is only inches from mine and our breathing is now
in sync. Just as our lips are about to touch, my bedroom door slams open.
“Hey, Rain—” Bailey turns towards the
hall and then comes back in the room, obviously flabbergasted with what she
almost just witnessed. “Whoa!”
“Shit!” I say, jumping up from my bed
and rushing over to close my door.
“So you two, what is going on?” Bailey’s
eyes glare between Brent and I, mouth grinning from ear to ear. This is the
moment she was hoping for—to catch us in the act. She couldn’t stand the fact
that I was keeping Brent from her, and now she’s standing here gleaming with
satisfaction.
“Bailey, this is Brent. Brent, this is
my friend Bailey,” I introduce them, taking a seat back on my bed, leaning my
head against my headboard.
Brent already moved to the chair at my
desk. “Hey, nice to meet you.”
“And very nice to meet you, Brent,” Bailey
responds, still glowing.
Brent stands up, seeming
uncomfortable, and says goodbye to both of us. As soon as we hear the front
door close, Bailey immediately turns and faces me with accusing eyes.
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘What?’ Raina,
you’re my best friend, and you couldn’t even tell me?” Bailey asks angrily as
she gets off my bed and paces across my floor.
“Bailey, there’s nothing to tell!” I
screech quietly.
I grab my nightclothes out of my
dresser drawers and rip off my pants and shirt, strewing them on my floor.
“Bullshit, Raina! Were you not just
here a minute ago when I walked in on you two?” Bailey shrieks in a whisper,
throwing her hands in the air.
“Fine. Yes, you walked in on us almost kissing. But that’s it! We are just
friends. You probably just saved me from making a huge mistake,” I admit. “By tomorrow, he’ll
probably realize it too.”
Bailey takes a seat next to me on my
bed. “Raina, why can’t you see how beautiful you are? And I don’t just mean
physically. You’re a beautiful person inside and out. I wish you could just see
what the rest of us see. It’s obvious Brent sees it too.”
Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).