Page 57 of Before Now

But I still toss a blanket at her and then shut the door behind me. Honestly, she saved me from stumbling onto her stash and going from knowing to seeing.

Ready to block out the world, I secure the pillows at the bottom of my bedroom door and lock it. A text came through while I was with Roman. I didn’t need to check to know the sender. I toss my pink skeleton on the dresser, smiling at the notification with Foster’s name.

Here. It’s the sky. Not that you deserve it.

I laugh and play the video of him panning across the Prague skyline from high up. He doesn’t say anything, but a soft bass beat plays in the background while he shows me a new perspective of the city, twinkling below and beyond. He must spin in a circle because the view’s interrupted by a dark rooftop. A few pieces of wicker furniture sit empty, and what looks like a bar that’s not being used.

The video ends before his rotation finishes. I wonder if it’s payback for cutting the end of mine.

When he asked to see me the other night, I couldn’t with my eye swelling. But I think I would have told him the same thing regardless. I need him to be my escape for a while longer, the place I can run.

Then he can be real.

I set the LED lights so my room glows red and then reply to him.

What do I deserve then?

I’m ready to shed my wings. The whole costume, really. But then my mouth kicks up, and I open my messages again.

Since I plan to leave Ashfield and never look back, I haven’t exactly prioritized meaningful relationships with anyone here. Which means I don’t have to scroll too far to find the ones withReven though our last texts were over two weeks ago. I send Roman a fairy emoji, and then I add a black heart. He answers with one and a jack-o’-lantern as I’m slipping off the wings.

Another text pops up as I take off my boots.

Foster

Where are you?

I toss my wings on the bed and snap a picture of them on my comforter with a corner of pillow. He calls a few seconds later, and I grab my earbuds off the nightstand. I answer with the camera low before I flip it around, showing him the flimsy wings again.

His camera stays unmoved, the view spiking my pulse. The top of his black shirt hangs open, the video focused on a defined tan chest underneath. Laces are undone below that, and part of a tattoo peeks through on one side.

“The world,” Foster tells me, his low voice coating my skin. “You deserve the fucking world, Remi.”

I smile and touch the edge of a wing. “Straight to the flirting, I see. Or was that meant to seduce me?”

The bass beat from his video is absent now, and he has far better lighting. “Nah, baby. It’s a truth. Flirting is saying I want to give you the world.”

“And if you were seducing me?” I shouldn’t ask, but I do, all fluttery even before he answers.

“I tell you that every goddamn second since I heard your voice, you’ve been becoming mine.”

Yeah, it’s starting to feel like Foster West is going to beveryreal when I let him be.

The guy isn’t even fighting fairly at this point. He’s using hard pecs, tattoos, a sexy voice, and even better words as weapons. All I have for defense is pretending that not seeing his face would make me miss it all less if he disappeared.

“I’d also have the camera aimed at my chest when you answer,” he adds. “Now what was your Halloween costume, so I know what winged creature I can expect to be hot for in the future.”

“A slutty fairy.”

He groans, and I laugh, sitting beside the rest of my costume.

“I’m even more devastated you didn’t let me see it all.” His camera shifts to expose the base of his throat, then it looks like he stands up. The view flips as he moves down a hallway.

“Where are you taking me?”

“My bed.” He walks into a dark room and switches on a lamp, bathing a white comforter in the soft light.

“Here I’ve been settling for your balcony view,” I say.

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