Page 14 of Untraced Magic
Two long years, and I still couldn’t bring myself to indulge in the thing I loved most. The one thing my father and I shared a love of.
I needed this door to disappear. Out of sight, out of mind.
My gaze landed on the bookcase down the hall, and I strode towards its towering height that stretched almost to the ceiling.
It would fit perfectly.
Precious tales filled my palms as I emptied the bookcase of epic love stories that allowed me to escape from my world and into their pages.
When it stood empty, I gripped its sides, heaving it down the hall until it filled the door frame. Full of books once more, I could no longer see the door. Memories smothered by books, better than a daily slap in the face.
I sank against the wall until I rested on the floor, long breaths leaving me as I collected myself, my chest rapidly rising and falling.
I badly needed to get out. To go somewhere, do something.
It had been four days since the party, and I had surprisingly enjoyed it. For a bunch of strangers, they’d made me feel very welcome. Well, most of them.
I recalled how freaking hot it was watching Tyler spar with Reid, wearing only a pair of jeans. The way his muscles had moved, carving shapes over his back as they wrestled, was a piece of art alone. I’d thought he was a total jerk, another guy with a big head. But another part of me felt like I'd been too quick to judge. The part that was still thinking about the ‘you have me all figured out’ remark.
Call it a hunch, but I had a feeling I had him all wrong and couldn’t place my reason for it. Even when he haddismissed me so suddenly after asking if it was him at the gas station, like he wanted to avoid the topic completely. I was certain it was him.
He spent the rest of the night putting as much space between us as possible, but his eyes however, had found mine, again and again.
More times than I could count.
Like an itch I needed to scratch, something about Tyler intrigued me. But despite the unusual way I found myself attracted to him, I was almost happy for his rudeness.
Because I had one rule.
Don’t get close to anyone.
And for a good reason.
Getting close to someone meant they got to know youwell. And that I couldn’t afford.
I sighed. Skye had invited me to the opening night of a new bar in town tonight, and I’d told her I would go. Something in the back of my mind willed me to say yes.
One night out with her didn’t mean we had to be besties, and it had been so long since I’d let my hair down.
I pulled myself up from the floor, then quickly showered and dressed.
“Where the hell are my shoes?” I muttered, scanning the bedroom floor. How I lost stuff in this house was beyond me.
I finally spotted them poking out from beneath my bed before shoving them on my feet. Skye wanted me to get ready at her place, so I skimmed the clothes in my wardrobe and picked out two outfits, packing them into my bag. Shrugging on my jacket, I slung my bag over my shoulder, bounding out the front door and down the steps.
Thick clouds coated the sky in its usual spread of gray. It didn’t surprise me. I swore this town was cursed, never to see the sun.
Tyler’s van turned into his driveway as I walked past, and he swiftly cut the motor, jumping out. I instantly recognized the oil-smudged coveralls, confirming it was definitely him I saw at the gas station.
I didn’t understand his need to avoid the conversation the way he had. Why didn’t he just say it was him?
There was no avoiding him.
Our eyes locked with an intensity that stole the breath from my lungs, and I willed myself to speak, but nothing came out.
“Hey,” he finally said as he locked his van, veins from underneath his pushed-up sleeves straining with the movement.
“Hey,” I managed.
