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The thought reminds me that it’s Christmas Eve I haven’t heard anyone else, but I feel bad, not only for intruding but for possibly putting so for inforirlfriend or so to pop up

“I’m always alone” That makes me happy until the words really sink it

He takes me upstairs, and we pass one door before we stop outside another He turns the knob and pushes the door open He half-turns to ht is off, and I still can’t reallyjaw and nose, but seeing so little onlyto seedrive” With that, he turns and heads down the stairs, his big body disappearing into the shadows of the cabin

I go into the roonore everything but the bed as I tossonto it and let myself fall into its softness

I’h ain I couldn’t catch the tone he was saying theot here, and he liked to be alone? A his style? Or was he alone and didn’t like it?

I find being alone is bittersweet It’s soet lost inall around me But now the silence is somewhat lonely It’s funny, but that ache didn’t start to build until Alex ca to think he opened a door I’ to be able to close

Chapter 6

Alex

I’ve tossed and turned for the past couple of hours, unable to do much else

She’s here She’s really here

I hate that I’m a coward and completely unable to talk to her I froze up the second I laid eyes on her, feeling things I’d never felt We talked for so long, I felt like I knew her, but I wasn’t prepared for seeing her Nothing could have prepared me for the reality of her beauty

It’s Christ on Santa Claus to show up Only Santa Claus is in o up there If only there was a way to knohat she’s thinking Is she disgusted by my scars? Is she disappointed in what she found when she showed up? God, how I pictureda thousand different scenarios inup here in the , I roll over ontoI don’t knohat to do I need a sign or so I look over at the fireplace inembers and wish for a Christht in the bathrooerator running, no hu on upstairs Shit This is definitely not the Christo to the bathroo

There’s electric heat and air in the cabin, but in the winter, I often lose power There’s a backup generator, but I never bothered to get kerosene for it Shit It’s always just beenroom and bedroom Hell, there’s a cook stove in the kitchen for me to make hot erator this ti out Until now

Looking up at the wooden ceiling incolder by the minute I start to walk out of my bedroom and realize I need to put some clothes on Normally, I sleep naked, but I don’t think she’d appreciateher to coht, and I reach down, pinching the tip a little to try to get it to go down I can’t have a fucking hard-on right now

Taking a few breaths, I look down and see“Fuck” Now is not the ti T-shirt Hopefully, all the layers will cover it up

I uest room door When there’s no answer, I knock a little louder I pause, waiting, but when there’s no sound, I start to panic and wonder if so could have happened to her Maybe she tried to leave, after all

Opening the door, I look in and see her sleeping on the bed, still all bundled in her coat I walk over silently and stand by the bed, looking down at her The soft h theht in all the times I looked at her picture that she could be