Page 104 of Doesn't Count

“That’s too many words, I just want three.” He murmurs.

“I. Think. I.”

He smiles against my lips, his teeth grazing my bottom, “I love you.”

And then, just like that, my heart lays in his hands, but in return he’s given me his. The words sound foreign to my ears, but somehow, I understand them. In this moment, I feel the most naked I have ever felt in front of him despite nearly every inch of skin being covered in clothes. Khaos has a way of forcing me to strip out of this shell I’ve built around myself, around the organ that keeps me alive, and though it kills my pride to admit it, I’ve never been so eager to concede.

Of their own accord, our mouths are diving for each other’s with a hunger meant for starving animals. The aggression in which he devours my lips is so violent it hurts, but I relish the sting when his teeth scrape into my flesh. The skin on my hips burn with his touch as he drags me to the edge of the counter, his pelvis grinding against my center. My legs wrap around his waist, caging him to me.

“Stay with me after the tour.” His words feel like a demand as they float from his mouth in a breath between voracious kisses.

“Where?”

His hands grab onto the hem of my sweater, yanking it up over my head. “We can find our own place.”

As his fingers frantically rip at the button on my jeans, metal scraping at the lock in the door steals our attention. My eyes widen in shock when Sam barrels through with Hypnos right behind her.

“Sam?” I look at her confused.

She groans, “We eat there!”

Quickly, I’m jumping off the counter and pulling my shirt on.

“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“I was going to ask you the same question.” She snaps her eyes over to Khaos.

“Why? What’s going on?” I join her in the living room.

Hypnos stays standing awkwardly in the entryway, just staring at him with the same confusion I have.

“What?” Khaos clips at him.

His mouth pops open, but closes, his words trapped. He shakes his head, dragging his palm down the center of his face.

“Sam?” I urge.

“You don’t know?” She asks, but it comes out as more of a statement as she takes inventory of my face.

“Know what?”

There’s an uncomfortable silence that slowly makes my intestines twist into painful knots. Sweat starts to bead at my hairline, the anticipation of doom causing my stomach to roil.

Sam’s gaze flicks behind me to Khaos, who’s leaning against the wall in the hallway, keeping his distance. I want to scream at my friend to just spit it out already, that suspension is meant for thriller movies and not my freaking life, but before I can utter a word out of my mouth, she’s reaching into her pocket for her phone with a hesitant look.

She opens it, her eyes locked on the screen in front of her. With trembling hands, she passes it over to me.

“You need to read this.” She mumbles with tension.

I take her phone, finding an ABC News article already pulled up.

Missing Boy Found

ABC News

January 3, 2024

On August 15, 2013, a little over ten years ago, Oliver Matthews of Barrington Heights, Illinois went missing after hanging out in the local forest preserve, last to be seen by his best friend, Ashton Crawford. The search parties went on for over a week, but the boy was undiscovered, and pronounced dead two years later.

---