Page 16 of Drift
“You should get that.”
She reached for her purse with a trembling hand. I turned away before I could watch her answer it, my jaw tight enough to crack.
My voice came out low and rough as I ripped open her door. “Set the damn alarm.”
Then I left—because if I stayed one more second, I’d never walk out.
6
ALANNA
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that the taste of Chance was still on my lips. My pulse raced at the memory of his hands on my hips and his mouth against mine, his tongue sweeping inside. How the world had narrowed until there was nothing but the scrape of stubble and the low sound he’d made in my throat. And the way he’d used his fingers to make me come. My first orgasm—explosive, mind-blowing, and over far too soon.
Reality slammed back in when he tore himself away from me. Jaxton’s call had Chance out the door before my heartbeat even slowed.Chance, not Drift. That brought a tiny smile to my lips since I finally had permission to use his real name out loud like I’d been doing in my head all this time.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. It was far too early to start dissecting my life, but I couldn’t get him out of my head. Not now that I knew he felt the chemistry between us, too.
I’d slept better than I had in years, but my dreams had been filled with him. Fantasies of what might have happened if he hadn’t stormed out of my apartment. If he’d stayed and takenme to the same bed I slept in. Except in my dreams, there had been no rest—only pleasure. And lots of orgasms. Mine and his.
Only he hadn’t stayed, and I was still a virgin this morning.
Twisting around with a frustrated sigh, I reached for my phone, hoping he’d at least texted. But there was nothing from him.
My pushy research partner, however, had no trouble using my number.
Ethan
Hope you got home safe.
Ethan
We still need to talk through a new schedule. Call me when you wake up.
I dropped the phone on the mattress next to me and buried my head in my pillow.
The worst part wasn’t that Chance hadn’t reached out; it was that I foolishly expected him to. I scrubbed my hands over my face with a groan.
My whole body still hummed, caught between disbelief and desire. No man had ever looked at me the way he had right before he kissed me. Like he’d been starving for years, and I was the first taste of something real.
But then he’d shut it down. Completely.
I should’ve been angry. Mostly, I just felt raw. As though one more touch might’ve unraveled me completely, and he’d known it.
“Get it together,” I muttered to the ceiling.
I had a project to finish, a scary classmate to handle, and a future to build that didn’t involve being anyone’s mistake—least of all my brother’s best friend.
Still, when I finally rolled out of bed and my feet hit the floor, my knees were weak for all the wrong reasons. But caffeine and sugar could fix almost anything.
“I deserve a treat. Something with frosting.”
A cinnamon roll from the bakery in town sounded like the kind of therapy I could get behind. I threw on jeans and a soft T-shirt, ran a brush through my hair, and grabbed my keys from the hook by the door.
The morning sun was bright when I stepped outside. Exactly what I needed.
Until I reached the parking lot and froze.
My car wasn’t in my spot.
