Author’s note: If you would like to read the ebook, search for it on Amazon.
Content Warning: All characters depicted in sexual situations are consenting adults, aged 18+. By continuing, you confirm you are of legal age to view adult content in your jurisdiction.
Mark ended up spending the entire day with Elijah. Hours passed without a single text. I sat on the couch scrolling through my phone, waiting. By evening, I was pacing.
Finally, around six, my phone buzzed.
Mark: Sorry, lost track of time. Had a few too many beers. Gonna crash at Elijah’s tonight.
Fury surged through me so fast I threw a pillow across the room. Jenna was out of town, and I’d been looking forward to having Mark all to myself all week.
And he was ditching me for his fucking friend.
I fired back a text, fingers stabbing at the screen.
Me: Are you serious? Our one weekend together and you’re blowing me off?
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Mark: You could come over if you want. But I don’t recommend it.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Me: What’s the address?
A minute later, he sent it along with instructions to call him when I reached the gate.
I grabbed my purse and keys. Maybe this was stupid. Maybe I should stay home and punish him with silence. But damn if I was going to sit alone all night while he got drunk with his buddy.
I wanted an adventure. I wanted to meet the mysterious Elijah.
The drive started fine, twenty minutes outside Athens on a state highway I’d never taken before. But the turnoff was unmarked, just a narrow road cutting into the woods. My headlights barely penetrated the darkness as I followed the winding path through towering pines. The trees pressed in on both sides, their branches forming a canopy that blocked out the stars.
My GPS had lost its signal under the trees.
I gripped the steering wheel, leaning forward to peer through the windshield. Something moved in the trees to my right. I slowed, squinting.
A deer burst onto the road.
“Shit!” I slammed the brakes. My Honda skidded, tires screeching. The deer froze in my headlights, eyes glowing green. Then it bolted across the road and disappeared into the brush.
My heart hammered. I sat there for a moment, hands shaking.
“Stupid fucking deer,” I muttered. People thought they were cute. They were suicidal maniacs who threw themselves in front of cars, is what they were.
I eased back onto the road, or was it a driveway, going slower now. The pines seemed to close in tighter. Branches scraped the side of my car. I wondered if I’d made a wrong turn.
Finally, the trees opened up and I reached the gate—iron bars stretching across the driveway with a keypad mounted on a post. Beyond it, the driveway continued into complete darkness. Out here in the country, there was no ambient glow from streetlights or buildings. Just the black void of rural night.
I called Mark.
He answered on the second ring. “You made it.”
“I’m at the gate.”
“Alright. Hold on.”
A moment later, the gate groaned and slowly swung inward. I drove through, following the dirt driveway deeper into the property. It twisted and turned for what felt like another mile before finally opening into a small clearing.
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