Got you, I thought and pushed open a small wooden gate that led to an alley between the houses. With a final glance at the man I somehow knew was looking at me, I disappeared to the other side.
As I made my way down the familiar path, I raised my arm and placed my watch to my ear—tick, tick, tock—yes, there it was. It would remind me when I needed to be home.
This wasn’t something new for me. Sneaking out of the house, making my way down the quiet, shadowed alley. When bright lights lit me up from behind though, I thought, that is new.
He was following me.
Adding an extra sway to my hips, I made my way to the end of the alley, and when I got there, I spun on my toes and watched the truck pull to a stop. He wasn’t too close, so I crooked my finger, inviting him closer.
That was when the truck started its slow crawl forward.
Tipping my head back, I laughed into the night sky and practically skipped out to the street. I turned to the left and started to walk faster as the truck pulled out behind me.
After passing the large oak tree on Blackwood Drive, I trailed my fingers along three wooden fence rails until I reached the final mailbox and made a right. Again, I tried to see him through the blinding headlights, focusing on the place I knew he’d be sitting.
With an extra bounce to my step, I crossed the street and walked on the footpath that lined the main road leading out of my subdivision.
I knew exactly where I was going. I’d done it every Saturday night for the last two years. I just hadn’t done it quite like this.
Stopping on the side of the main road, I looked across the four lanes of traffic. From where I was standing, I could barely make out the sign that was illuminated by two floodlights, but I knew exactly what it read.
I checked to the right and then to the left where his truck had pulled up beside me. Grayson rolled down a window, and as he peered out at me, I resisted the urge to raise my arm and press my watch to my ear.
He frowned, confused, while I grinned. For the first time, I saw everything clearly.
With him, the ticking had stopped.
Chapter Ten
Present…
Tick, tick, tock.
“Do you know what day it is today, Addison?”
Here we go again, but today I can’t bring myself to step inside his office. I see Doc sitting in his usual chair and I anxiously smooth my hands down my thighs.
Of course I know what day it is. It’s the day Daniel…I can’t even think it.
“Why don’t you take a seat?”
He seems as uneasy as I am.
“Addison?”
I don’t answer, but that’s nothing new. I don’t want to be here today. I don’t want to be anywhere.
“Please, Addison, come inside. Sit with me.”
I press my fingers to the outside of my legs but otherwise remain unmoving.
“We don’t have to talk, okay? We can just sit.”
I wonder if he really means that and if the concern in his eyes is real. It’s probably paid for concern.
“It’s okay to be sad, Addison,” he tries to reassure me.
He raises a hand and beckons me to step inside. Every day, he tries to get me to give something that I no longer have inside me. Trust.
“Is that how you feel, Addison? Sad?”
Tick, tick, tock.
With the black shadow looming, always threatening to swallow what little emotion I have left, I finally put an end to today’s session.
“I feel nothing.”
Past…
I peered out at Addison as she watched me from the side of the road and then inclined her head.
Squinting, I tried to make out the words on the sign. I couldn’t read it from where I was, and before I could ask, Addison was crossing the street.
Stay or go? Well, fuck. I’d come this far, what was a little farther going to do? Lead me down a path straight toward temptation? I think I’d already made that decision when I’d driven over to temptation’s house.
With the roads deserted, I drove out to the middle lane and then continued into the drive of—Oakland Cemetery.
What the fuck was going on? And where the hell was Addison?
Deciding enough was enough, I turned the truck off and pushed the door open.
A cemetery. I had to admit, this was not what I’d been expecting when I came to her tonight, and yes, that’s what I had done—come to her.
I could feel my confusion changing to concern when I realized I hadn’t seen Addison since she’d run out into the street.
What if something had happened to her?
Stepping outside, I slammed the door and made my way around the front to the passenger side. There were no floodlights on this side, just a perimeter fence and darkness.
Straining to see, I finally gave in to my apprehension and hissed, “Addison.”
My heart thumped so hard, I counted each pulse it made while I waited for something—anything. When I got no response, I tried again, feeling the panic start to take ahold of me. “Addison.”
Sometimes, as I was about to discover, panic of the unknown can be more comforting than panic of the known.
“Yes, Grayson?”
Just like that, with those two words, Addison sealed our fate and I did nothing to change its course.
I’d waited until he got out of the truck before approaching. I didn’t want his escape to be as easy as driving away. Standing in the small stone alcove of the gate, I knew it would be best to wait until he stepped away from the lit area. That way, any cars driving by wouldn’t be able to see us.
I wanted no excuses, no reason for him to worry, but I could see my silence had caused just as much concern as my presence would have. He turned to me, and I finally took a moment to really look at him the way I wanted to.
His hair was still pulled back but several pieces had now escaped and been pushed behind his ears. The darker stubble lining his square jaw made my fingers tingle with the need to touch.
“Oh, thank God,” he whispered, sounding relieved.
I thought he would move away from me once he knew I was safe. Instead, he reached out and squeezed my shoulder.
“I thought something had happened to you.”
I don’t think he realized that he was slowly massaging me.
“Jesus, don’t do that again. Okay?”
Taking another step closer, I agreed quietly. “Okay.”
He licked his lips and removed his hands, and I saw in his eyes the minute he decided it was time for some distance.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked. His casual black sports jacket shifted with the breeze, and all of a sudden I couldn’t remember why I was there. All I knew was that I wanted to touch him.
“Addison?”
His voice had the ability to make all of the noise inside my head cease.
Blinking up at him, I finally answered, “Yes?”
“What are you doing out here?”
Moving in so my jacket brushed the front of his, I finally reached to touch him, but he grabbed my wrist, holding it away.
“No,” he told me, and his voice was so stern I probably should have heeded the warning…but I didn’t.
“No?”
His head bent down, and when his face was a hairsbreadth from my own, he repeated, “No. Tell me why you’re here.”
His breath was warm as it ghosted over my lips, and I couldn’t help but part my own, hoping by some miracle I could taste him on my tongue.