bel

ed co

ast five days and one of them was a raccoon. Or maybe, just maybe, I wanted an excuse to walk past a ce

ut also, if I'm being honest, my signature move. Not that

It still had a tag from some "Autumn Harvest" theme party. I took that off and tried not to think about how much

t to overthink the crunch of gravel under my boots or how I jumped every time a branch creaked

ucked between tall trees like it had grown there, not been built. It had a wide porch with cracked steps, tall windows that probably hadn't

creepy. It was definitely creeping me out. I mean, who does this? Who bakes for strangers

ently

Good sign. I placed the basket gently by the door, then stared at it like it might jump up

or the help

o formal too. It was just enough to say "I'm not s

stood there and

idn

on the back of my neck the whole way. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe it was a squi

ing the trees sway. It was one of those quiet afternoons that stretched long and slow. The ki

not my carefully plotted erotica with pacing guides and scene templates and slow-burn payoff. This was different and mo

hing he'd been searching for and dreading all at once. All she knew was the way her breath caught when he step

he tropes or the tropes about the rules. Somewhere between the second p

m standing there in her doorway. She was supposed to t

and voice was

nswer. He just looked at her like he want

s, unrealistic, and co

a had gone cold. The mug sat forgotten beside me, and my fingers hovered o

iting ab

live in a decaying Gothic house or have a name like "Noah." He was talle

his eyes darkened w

as definite

self further. Then I reopened it just to reread

e bleeds into the page, whether I want it to or not. I could try to tell myself it's just

ely said ten words, even if he looked like

possibly serial-killer tendencies an

ybe because

need

essing bottle of white wine I bought on discount. I poured a glass and took it to the por

lear. Pinks and oranges

I could barely make out the roof through the trees. But it was t

py. Probably was. Instead

failed, how I was a fraud, how I'd fumbled the one thing I'd built my life around. And then

ire, said my name o

l, he's in my head li

osing it. Wouldn't be the first time. Moving to a haunted town alone after

g to me. Maybe healing, maybe unravel

m me this time, and I froze. I t

ot enough to be obvious, just enough to make me feel w

scared, n

...

t of the chair, heart racing, cursing my stupid ne

t from an un

kn

okies weren

ped and somersaulted in that annoying way i

e

die, so I'd say

dots b

kn

my house smells like

hem, read the no

h me

down at

e

t my n

kn

orry, I'm not a stalker. Just not g

despite

e

g pie. Maybe that'll crack

se and it was l

kn

n'

y t

ed a bit, but I

e

Just silence and awkward

e phone and tossed it on the couch. Whatever. He didn't owe m

ed my teeth, climbed into bed,

f how, maybe, I was writin