“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
I jammed the phone between my shoulder and ear and pulled open the door to the fridge.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I still can’t believe I messed up the dates.” Mom sighed. “Work has been so crazy, then Glen’s vacation time was rescheduled, and if he didn’t take it, he’d lose it—”
“It’s fine, Mom.” I scanned my shelf and pursed my lips. I needed to go shopping tomorrow. “I’m an adult. I can spend spring break by myself.”
“I know.” She sighed again. “I wish you could have come with us, but…”
“It’s fine,” I repeated, then closed the fridge.
My parents had taken my younger siblings to see their grandparents for the weekend. My stepfather had always treated Gray and me like his own kids, but his parents were less than receptive to our existence, and we’d never been included in their family gatherings.
“I don’t like the idea of you being by yourself.”
No way would I tell my mother I was happy she’d made a mistake and I didn’t have to spend my break watching my younger siblings while my parents worked. I didn’t mind helping out, and I loved my siblings, but I resented how heavily my parents relied on me.
I liked my alone time, and I was looking forward to having the house to myself for the first time since school started.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I know, but it’s my job to worry. Do you have any plans?” The hope in her voice was clear as a bell.
“Study, work. Not much going on with most people leaving town.”
“What about your friends from high school? You should see if anyone wants to hang out now that you have some time off.”
I gritted my teeth so I didn’t snap that I didn’t have any friends from high school, and if I never saw those assholes again, it would be too soon.
“I don’t think so.”
“What about Taryn? You two were so close. I heard she and her boyfriend broke up.”
“I haven’t talked to her in years.”
“Maybe now is the perfect time to get back in touch. You’re both single, and you had such a big crush on her.”
I barely managed to hold back my snort of laughter.
Taryn and I had been friendly, and she’d been my first kiss, but I’d never had strong feelings for her.
I’d never had strong feelings for anyone.
Not unless I counted West and the all-consuming hatred he stirred in me.
“I don’t think things would work out, even if I were in a place where I was looking for a relationship.” I made my way through the empty first floor and toward the stairs.
“I still don’t understand why you’re so against them.”
“I’m not against relationships. I’m just not interested in one.”
“But don’t you want to get married and have a family?”
She asked me this at least once a month since I’d turned eighteen.
Marriage and family were important to her. She loved being a wife and mother. I was happy she’d finally found a good partner and had the life she’d always wanted. The problem was she didn’t seem to understand that wasn’t my dream.
“I’m going to grad school next year. Why would I start something when I’m leaving for California in six months?”
I didn’t bother telling her my reasons had nothing to do with my future home address and everything to do with how I was. Not only was I not interested in anyone, but no one would ever be interested in me.
A vision of West floated in the forefront of my mind as I climbed the stairs. The intense look on his face as he’d told me he wanted me.
But that was different. He wanted the version of me he’d built in his head. He wanted the guy he saw on cam. He didn’t want me. No one did.
“Just think about it.”
“I will,” I lied.
“I have to go. Love you.”
“Love you too. Hug the kids for me.”
“Will do. Bye, hun.”
“Bye.”
I pushed the door to my room open and ended the call. Two weeks had passed since the auction, and West had kept his word. He hadn’t left any off-line tips, hadn’t answered my DM about the stupid terms of his winnings, and he hadn’t tuned into any of my shows.
I was glad.
Sort of.
“Ugh.” I went to the tiny wardrobe that functioned as my closet and yanked open the door to get out my ring lights. I still had an hour before my show was scheduled to start, but I might as well set up now.
West was nothing to me, and I was still upset at myself for losing my cool with him. No one had ever elicited that kind of response from me, and I hated how he wasn’t playing fair.
He’d ruined my brother’s life, and he’d shown me I was nothing more than a means to an end.
I’d like it if we could eventually be friends again.
Why did he have to be so damned nice? Why couldn’t he be an asshole? I wanted to hate him. To shove his very existence into the back of my subconscious and forget every conversation and smile and time he’d stood up for me.
Stop thinking about him, Eli. He’s nothing to you. I swiped my towel off my bed and stomped into the tiny bathroom to take a quick shower. Hopefully, the warm water would calm my brain down.
“Thank you, Suzanna.” I groaned and switched hands, using my left to slowly stroke my shaft.
Carsforever6969 sent a tip!
jayjay sent a tip!
dangerboi5 sent a tip!
“Thank you, Carsforever, Jayjay, and Danger.” I smiled at the camera, hiding my frustration with a bashful look. “Almost there. Fifty more tokens and you’ll get the good stuff.”
I’d been edging myself for over an hour and was about ready to scream.
I hadn’t gotten a tip higher than five tokens in the last twenty minutes. It was like my viewers had all gotten together and decided to draw things out as long as possible.
My dick ached, and my skin was raw and a bit chafed, even though I was using lube. My balls were high and tight and rock hard, and my body hurt from tensing and keeping control for so long. It felt like I’d been kicked in the junk, and it was a struggle to keep pretending I was enjoying it.
The thing about edging was it only felt good for so long. I liked it up to a certain point, but once I crossed that threshold, it went from being a physical act to a mental battle. My ability to think about multiple things at once was a huge help, but even I had my limits.
I needed to come, but my viewers were making me work for it.
“Just a few more tips.” I let go of my dick to give it a break and turned my ass to the camera, looking over my shoulder so I could keep track of the tips and chat. “How many of you have already come while thinking about this?”
The chat lit up, but no one tipped.
I shifted again. The lights flickered, then went out.
My laptop had a full battery, and the screen glowed in the dark room as the picture froze.
Carefully I climbed off my bed and walked to the window. Was it only the house or the street? A few weak lights dotted the inky darkness, most likely flashlights or device screens.
Crack!
The entire house shook with the force of the thunder, and a few seconds later, the sky flashed with lightning.
It had been raining for the last half hour, but the winds had picked up, and by the sound of things, the worst of the storm was hitting.
Of course we’d lose power. Years ago, this neighborhood had been considered middle class and had been full of well-cared-for homes and properties. Then greedy investors had bought up properties and forced most of the locals out so they could convert the area into student housing.
The rents were ridiculously inflated, but since the town was so small, students who couldn’t get into the dorms had no other option but to use student housing.
Losing power during storms wasn’t anything new, but the power companies had a hierarchy when it came to restoring the grid when it did go out. The wealthy area around the campus was always first, then the school, downtown, student housing, and finally, the east side.
Thank god my parents were long gone. It could be days before they got their power back.
Crack.
I jumped away from the window, hurried over to my bed, and picked up my phone. I needed to tweet that I’d lost power. It took forever to get a signal, but I managed to get the tweet out before I lost it again. I didn’t want my viewers to think I’d rage-quit because I hadn’t hit my goal or anything.
A chill seeped into my skin. I pulled on a pair of sweats, an oversized hoodie, and a pair of fuzzy socks. I wanted to take a hot shower to soothe my body and warm up, but that wasn’t an option.
My dick was still rock hard, but jerking off was the last thing on my mind. Sighing, I unplugged my lights and moved them out of the way, then shut down my computer to save the battery, grabbed my phone, and turned on the flashlight.
The attic was going to get colder the longer the power was out. I went to my dresser, pulled open the top drawer, and dug around for the small flashlight I kept in there.
My hand closed over the cold plastic, and I clicked it on.
The beam flickered and glowed warm yellow rather than the bright white it should be giving off. “Of course,” I muttered. The light slowly dimmed, then went out completely. “Just perfect.”
I shook the stupid flashlight and clicked it on and off a few times, but it was dead. Grumbling, I tossed the flashlight back into the drawer, pulled out a packet of glow sticks, and cracked one, then shook the stick to fully activate it. Soft green light filled the room.
It wasn’t as bright or convenient as a flashlight, but glow sticks were safer than candles, so I always kept a supply of them handy in case of power failures. Having grown up in town, I was intimately acquainted with how shitty our power grid was and how often we lost power for seemingly no reason.
The dark didn’t bother me, but the silence was eerie. The rain pinged off the roof and windows, and the wind was strong enough that it gently shook the walls every time a gust hit the house. The absence of any other sounds was disconcerting.
The battery on my phone indicated I had a little over 50 percent left, and I turned off the flashlight. I should have charged it when they announced we were having a storm. But the weather advisory hadn’t said anything about wind, so I hadn’t bothered to prep for a power failure.
Was only student housing affected, or was the whole town out?
The room was already uncomfortably cold and would only get worse the longer the heat was off. Looked like I was in for a night of sleeping on the couch.
I stripped the comforter off my bed and grabbed my book. Walking down three flights of stairs in the dark with my hands full wasn’t easy, even with the soft light from the glow stick, and I took my time. The last thing I needed was to fall and break my ankle.
I’d just dropped my stuff onto one of the couches when a soft sound caught my attention.
I blocked out the noise of the storm and concentrated. Was that running water coming from the back of the house?
Fear lanced through me, and I rushed past the kitchen but stopped when the area in front of the laundry room door shimmered in the soft light of my glow stick.
“Oh shit.”
Fumbling, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight.
“Shit!”
I shoved the laundry room door open and shined my light inside. The floor was covered with water. Panic clawed at my chest as I pulled up West’s phone number and pressed Call.
“Hello?”
“West?”
“Eli? What’s wrong?” His voice was filled with alarm. “Are you okay?”
“The laundry room is flooded.”
“Shit. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Rustling material and soft bumps came over the line.
Ignoring the cold water soaking into my socks, I hurried over to the washer and opened the electrical panel over it.
“Did you lose power too?” I flipped the switches to the washer, dryer, and water heater off.
“Yeah. The whole town is out.” A thud, followed by a loud bang. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. I grew up here, remember? Power failures aren’t exactly new for me.”
“Do you have any idea where the water is coming from?”
I splashed over to the water heater closet. The sound from before was loud now.
“The water heater room.”
“Fuck. Okay. Stay back until I get there—motherfucker!”
“What happened?”
“One of my asshole neighbors didn’t secure their trampoline, and it’s in the middle of the fucking road and blocking my driveway. Hang on while I get it out of the way.”
Muffled sounds filled my ear as he presumably put his phone in his pocket.
Crash!
Another clap of thunder rocked the entire house. I jumped in surprise.
Something on the phone slammed. Then a voice cried out.
“West?”
The connection crackled, coming in and out.
“West? Are you okay? What happened?”
“E…i? … you… ere?” A choppy, barely audible voice came over the phone speaker.
“West?”
“I… you… care… shit!”
“West?”
The line went dead. I checked my phone screen. No signal.
Panic filled my chest. Was West okay? What had he been trying to tell me before the call was dropped? Was he hurt? Had something happened to him?
“Shit!”
Pushing down the terror bubbling up in my chest, I rushed out of the laundry room and stared at the puddle in front of the door, trying to gauge how fast it was growing.
What had happened? How long had this been going on?
Calm down. It’s just some flooding and a power failure. I drew in a deep breath. “You’ve dealt with worse than this. You’re fine. It’s not a big deal.”
Why was my heart racing? I’d barely felt anything when my little brother had lit a garbage can on fire when he was four.
Fire was far more deadly than a simple flood and a power failure. And I’d been alone with three kids, including a newborn.
This wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t.
So why did I want to bury my face in a big, warm chest and feel strong arms around me? Why was my first instinct to run into someone’s arms rather than be an adult and deal with the situation?
Why did I want West to fix it and tell me it would all be okay? Why him? Why West?
My chest squeezed. Was he hurt? Had something happened right before the call was dropped? Or was he on his way over?
Thud!
I spun around. A strange sound penetrated my growing panic. What was that?
Fighting down the fear, I hurried to the front of the house. The living room was dark, but all around the window was glowing red.
What the fuck? I ran to the window and yanked the curtain back.
Brake lights were pointed straight at the window. Was that a truck? Had it crashed into the tree across the street?
Panic filled my chest. “West?”
I raced out the front door. My socked feet slid on the wet wood of the porch. Icy rain pelted my skin, soaking into my sweater, and the wind slammed into my side.
My heart pounding in my throat, I rushed toward the car as fast as I could, but between the darkness and the wet ground, I had to slow my pace to a quick walk.
As I reached the driver’s side, the door opened, and a big figure stepped out.
“Thank fuck,” I muttered.
It wasn’t West. They were about the same size and age as him, but it wasn’t him. The guy rubbed one hand against his forehead and swayed on his feet.
“Are you okay?” I shouted over the rain.
“Dude!”
I whirled around. Three huge guys walked toward us, and a strange sound filtered through the storm.
Laughter.
The guy who’d stumbled out of the car was sitting on the ground, laughing his ass off.
“The hell?”
The guys stopped in front of him.
“What the fuck did you do?” One of them reached down and hauled the guy up.
“Hey, look, it’s Christy’s little sister! Hi, Becky!” Another of the guys waved at me.
“Huh?”
“Come on. Christy’s gonna kill me for letting you get all wet.” He strode forward and grabbed my arm.
“Hey!” I tried to pull free. “Let go!”
I tripped over my feet as he yanked me toward him. He bent down, his face only inches from mine. “Becky?”
The unmistakable scent of hard liquor wafted over my face.
He was drunk. Was his friend drunk too? Had he driven drunk in the middle of a storm?
“You’re not Becky.” He grinned as his companions guffawed.
“Let. Go!” I tried to wrench my arm free, but he was too strong.
Headlights illuminated us, and a car came to a stop in front of my driveway. The door opened, and a large figure jumped out.
“Hey!”
I blinked against the stars dancing in my vision from the sudden light.
The figure raced toward us.
“Let him go!”
Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, the grip surprisingly gentle.
The guy let go of my arm and raised both of his hands in surrender.
The hands whirled me around, and my knees buckled. West. Thank god.
He wrapped me in a hug. I closed my eyes and pressed my cheek into the slick material of his jacket.
“Get the fuck out of here,” West snarled, presumably at the drunk morons.
“Eli?” He smoothed my wet hair back from my face and put his lips next to my ear. “Did they hurt you?”
I shook my head.
He let out a breath and squeezed me tight. “Are you okay? Can you walk?”
I nodded against him.
“Get into the house while I park the car, okay? Can you do that?” he asked, his lips next to my ear.
I nodded again, my face still buried in his jacket.
He let go of me, but the shock of cold that hit me was disorienting. I blinked a few times to get my bearings.
A shout from across the street startled me back to reality. I turned and ran up the walkway and right into the house. I needed to get as far away from those guys and whatever the fuck had just happened.
Once I was inside, my head cleared enough that I could think straight. West was here. He was fine.
Those guys were drunk. I was fine. Nothing had happened. I needed to stop being so dramatic and focus on why I’d called West in the first place.
The front door closed. Then West was in front of me. The beam of his flashlight illuminated the area around us, concern was etched on his face.
“Eli?” He reached for me, but I stepped back, feeling raw and vulnerable and so confused.
Why was I this shaken? That guy had only grabbed my arm, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t a big deal.
“I’m fine.” I pushed my hair back from my face, and a shiver ran through me.
I was completely soaked, and the cold was starting to set in now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
He put the flashlight on the floor, stripped off his jacket, and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“I’m fine.”
“Your lips are blue.”
Another shiver ran through me. I shoved my arms into the sleeves, and West zipped it.
The jacket was huge on me, but the lingering heat from his body wrapped around me like a hug.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
