Page 19 of Taking

But I hadn’t felt true satisfaction since.

I let out a heavy, steady exhale and pulled myself back to the present. To the sweet smell of the peach shampoo he’d loved.

Gideon hated me, but did he miss my scent and our banter as much as I did? Did he wonder how things worked out between me and Devon or did he not give a shit after I’d betrayed him?

Devon and Jenny ended up dating a year after Gideon’s sentencing while I’d wallowed in misery, shut up in Mother and Lloyd’s home. They’d broken up after graduation, and last I’d heard, Devon studied law and planned to run for local office with his father’s help. He also had a fiancée from the lower forty-eight.

Jenny had tumbled off the deep end after Devon broke her heart, but the bitch made her bed. She could rot in hell for all I cared.

Her fall to the gutter had come six months earlier—and I’d deleted the two social media accounts I’d kept but rarely visited.

I didn’t need to see or hear how everyone else had moved on since my life sucked.

It was why I’d decided to finally claim a major my sophomore year in college—marine biology. Something obscure, something the old me never would’ve considered. It was the major my best friend studied, so why not?

My grades had suffered those final two years of high school, but Mother’s money allowed me entry at the university. Her donations got me into the required classes needed for any degree.

And now with her gifts, loving or otherwise, dried up…

The lawyer returned my call in the afternoon. Lloyd had no ground to stand on in any attempt to claim my inheritance. Yes, he could keep me from drawing on it until my twenty-first birthday in less than two months, but I didn’t yet have need of the cash. Both credit cards she’d given me had been deactivated—I’d learned that while attempting to get groceries two days after her death—but I had a small savings of my own.

Enough for two months of bills. Enough to see me through to my birthday.

Lloyd wasn’t a patient man when it came to getting what he wanted. Had he planned to make me sorry for denying him like he’d claimed, he would have made an attempt already. My mind eased up enough that I managed to eat an entire bowl of soup for dinner.

Leo had texted, inviting me out with him and his friends, but I declined.

Ciarra and her boyfriend left for their usual Friday date night for dinner and dancing at a club in downtown Anchorage.

I sat home, alone. The windows and doors were locked up tight. The TV formed a buzzing backdrop while I put the kettle on for my tea. After a quick trip to my bedroom for my sleep shirt and robe, I returned to find the water steaming.

Tea mug in hand, I settled onto the couch with a throw blanket, letting out a heavy exhale.

Nothing better than a quiet night in with my e-reader.

Within minutes, I lost myself in the virtual pages, and all thoughts of reality and life fled from my mind.

Barely eight-thirty and my eyelids drooped, the words in front of my eyes wavering. Exhaustion sank into my bones, and I groaned at the thought that I had to get up and go to bed.

I shivered, coolness sliding over my neck as I forced myself to sit. Dizziness swarmed over me, and I blinked the TV into focus.

A news anchor waved at the green screen behind him depicting the map with an incoming storm heading our way. We would probably wake to a few feet of snow.

Yawning, I clicked off the TV and stood.

My equilibrium hiccupped, and I grabbed hold of the couch’s arm.

“Shit.”

Had I spiked my own damn tea without remembering?

Just tired. Exhausted emotionally and mentally.

I needed my bed.

Not wanting to leave a mess for Ciarra, I managed to refold my blanket and put my mug in the dishwasher.

Jaw cracking with a yawn, I shuffled back the hallway, intent on my pillow.

---