Page 25 of Stranded

It’s so peaceful that I barely know what to do. I take a deep breath and then another, wriggling against the fluffy white comforter as I look around.

The pale lilac curtains are closed, but I’m pretty sure the window overlooks the backyard. In the corner is a closet with wooden folding doors that look like they’re originals, but gleam like they’re new.

“What time is it, anyway?” I finally dig my phone out of my pocket, and when I press the power button, it won’t turn on. No surprise, after the day I’ve had.

The alarm clock on the bedside table says it’s after one in the morning, and I see another cable on the table, too. Knowing Alph, I’d better get up to try it.

Yep. My phone plugs in perfectly. This guy is an actual saviour.

Since I’m already standing, I flick the lights off and head to the window, tugging open the curtains. I slide the window open, too, and then fold my arms on the windowsill to lean there and look out.

My eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness. The whole walk home feels like a dream that’s coming back to me: trees, the faint sound of the ocean, and the August breeze that’s surprisingly pleasant now that I’m inside.

“Fuck,” I breathe out. “This place is perfect.”

Not just to run away from a shitty situation… but to run towards my future.

Maybe it’s my exhaustion and the late hour, but it feels like my life is suddenly full of possibilities. I can’t imagine what a semester here would do for me—or even a whole year.

But there’s one teeny-tiny complication: I’m coming here to work my ass off to rescue myself.

I can’t afford distractions. But I can’t see hownotto be distracted by Alph. He’s six-foot-something of pure, muscled, earnest, lighthearted, stupidly crushable distraction.

“God,” I breathe out, tugging the curtains closed as I flop onto the bed. “What am I going to do?”

Chapter

Ten

ALPH

My phone is buzzing insistentlyon the nightstand. I grope around until I find it, poking at the screen, but it’s not my alarm or an incoming call.

Must be notifications. Damn it. I hate when that happens.

“Shush, you,” I groan, and my phone actually seems to listen. It buzzes once more and then goes still.

I crack my eyes open to figure out where I am, and then I smile sleepily and roll over in bed to admire the gleaming hardwood floors.

It’s funny how this has never beenmybedroom but I’ve renovated it top to bottom, twice. The first was after my parents moved out, and then after my little brother moved out to live with my best friend—his boyfriend, Carter. All my hard work was worth it, though.

Sanding, cleaning, painting… everything but screwing, so to speak.

Shit.I sit bolt upright.What’s that noise?

The shower’s running. I’m not alone… and it’s all flooding back to me.

“Ronan,” I breathe out.

What a night.

The dramatic Maple Island rescue, drinks at the bar, the walk home…

I can’t help glancing to the other side of the bedroom, just in case my memory is failing me… but there’s not even an imprint on the pillow.

Right. Yes. We didn’t sleep together. Of course.

Telling myself that doesn’t erase the insistent memory of the soft, sweet warmth of Ronan’s lips on mine. My body can’t forget his willowy body shivering as he presses against me, seeking my heat, and my…

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