Page 9 of Saving You Losing Me

An owl hoots outside and I press my weight against the door, pushing it with a force driven by my deepening desire to win.

It gives a little and as it shifts, a loud creak shatters the silent air and his footsteps change direction in a heartbeat.

“I can hear you, baby girl.”

He sounds almost disappointed and with one huge effort I shove hard against the door and it moves enough to leave a small opening I can squeeze through.

He quickens his pace and I shove the door hard so it swings open and as soon as the light hits the corners of the room, I’m sprinting through the door.

Now I’m in the evening air, I lift my face to the sky and the stars act as my guide.

Rather than run to the woods, I remain close to the house and intend on heading back to his bike. He won’t expect that surely. Then again, it may be precisely what he thinks I would do.

I’m undecided until I spy a broken window and without giving it much thought, I pull myself through it, back into the house.

I detect Atom outside and crouch down low, hoping he passes without checking the open window.

He stops just outside and says huskily, “I have waited two years for you, Clara. I knew you were mine back there in high school and I have played the long game. You are worth the wait and after tonight, that wait will be over.”

My heart is thumping so hard I’m convinced he will hear it as I crouch low on the ground, knowing he is on the other side of the decaying wall.

“I saw you checking me out.”

I’m glad he can’t see the stain to my cheeks at the realization I wasn’t so subtle after all.

“You thought I wasn’t looking. I wasalwayslooking, Clara. You make it impossible not to.”

He is in no hurry to move away and for some reason, that gives me comfort.He knows I’m here. It’s obvious because there is no sense of urgency in his movements.

My breath comes fast as he says softly, “But you were still a kid in the eyes of the law. I couldn’t act on my infatuation because I’m an honorable man. But now you’re officially a woman and fair game.”

I hold my breath as his voice appears closer, and he chuckles softly. “If you hadn’t figured it out yet, I love the game, Clara,and it’s your decision if you want to play it with me. I can wait, or I can move this on. It’s your call to make.”

A small smile plays on my lips as I realize I have all the power here. Atom is saying everything I want to hear, and the fear is gone.He feels the same.

But he’s right about one thing. I’m enjoying the game.

My mind switches back to it and I crawl softly across the floor, keeping close to the edge, knowing he has a huge obstacle in the way of reaching me. The window will take some maneuvering, giving me enough time to head for the one place I swore I wouldn’t go.

Upstairs.

CHAPTER 6

ATOM

Idon’t need to see Clara to know where she is. I canfeelher. She’s the blood running through my veins, the beat of my aching heart and the vision in my dreams. She has been since I first caught sight of her among her gaggle of friends. Not far away physically, but we are oceans apart in other ways.

Even then, I knew we were one another’s destiny. I’m not sure why, but fate decided to cross our paths and now we are on the verge of something that will be amazing.

She has moved from crouching low under the window and I smile, loving how she has embraced the game with no fear.

She has a courage I recognized when I watched her from afar. Our lives are different, but none of that matters when you share a connection that I understood from the beginning. She, on the other hand, is just figuring it out.

I check my wristwatch.

Twenty minutes left.

A bolt of electricity shoots through my veins as I haul my ass through the open window. I’m guessing she took the stairs.

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