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My heart won’t stop pounding. My hands won’t stop shaking. My palms won’t stop sweating. For the first time in my life, I’m truly, genuinely at a complete loss for words. I’m confused as hell. I’m beyond stunned. I’m…pretty sure I’m going out of my fucking mind. Oh, my God…Wh…Wh…What the hell just happened? My eyes are glued to the back of the man responsible for my current state, closely watching his every move with a heightened sense of fear and amazement. Frost steps out of the elevator, his demeanor… Читать далее

У меня тут же глаза выпучены, и все мышцы в глазницах напрягаются так далеко, как только могут. Я стараюсь сохранять спокойствие, но не могу скрыть огромное количество шока, отражающегося на моем лице, и я ненавижу то, что знаю, что он может ясно видеть мою реакцию лося в свете фар, несмотря на барьер моих очков. Делать это тогда? На долю секунды я уверен, что ослышался… а потом вспоминаю, с кем имею дело. Тем не менее, я совершенно застигнут врасплох заявлением. я за пределами… Читать далее

We get to the end of a hallway and he turns the one knob of a large pair of double doors and pushes it open. I follow him inside, my steps tentative, but as soon as I’m in, my eyes bulge wide behind my glasses and my chest swells in awe. The room is absolutely stunning, almost magical even. I’m frozen in place for several seconds, my brain racing, trying to process everything in my line of vision. And, boy, is it a lot. “This is going to be your… Читать далее

He turns away from me, casually picks my duffel bag up again, and walks ahead without another word. His scrutinizing gaze is no longer on me—for now, anyway—but I can still feel the lingering heat from his eyes on my skin. And he still hasn’t told me where the damn bathroom is. I steel myself and square my shoulders, urging my heart to slow down as I hesitantly follow him. I try to distract myself from my angstiness by looking around, keeping my eyes peeled for a bathroom. The interior… Читать далее

I step over the threshold hesitantly, my shoulders and back stiff with discomfort. I’m really trying not to focus on how distressed and insane I feel about being here, but it’s not working. He opens the door wider and moves away slightly from the doorway, giving me some room to pass, but not enough to squeeze by without my body touching his. The act is intentional, and I only know that because he doesn’t take his eyes off me, not even for a second. It’s like he wants to see… Читать далее

I step out of my car with all the eagerness of a cow going to a slaughter house. I look around, but the harsh gusts of wind sting my eyes and make it hard to focus. My vision goes blurry almost immediately. The cold, frigid air continues to claw at my face, quickly turning my eyeballs into an irritated, watery mess despite the barrier of my thick glasses. Tonight’s pitch black sky doesn’t really help matters, either. It’s hard to see much of anything in all this darkness. There don’t… Читать далее

“You have reached your destination,” the automated female voice announces, breaking the continuous, monotone sound of the running engine. I’m finally here…after missing two exits, taking more than a few wrong turns, circling the same goddamn roundabout at least three times, and then later getting lost on a road undergoing major reconstruction—which I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would greenlight any kind of extensive road construction during the bloody winter, especially in a state like Wisconsin. I admit, much like my parallel parking skills, my sense… Читать далее

I hear Trixie sigh long and deep on the other end. And then she does it again. Oh, boy. This can’t be good. A considerably long pause ensues, and it’s obvious she’s reluctant to tell me. I might have to take the lead here. “Is it one of the athletes?” I gently prod, being careful not to push too hard and risk having her shut down on me completely. “Someone on the basketball team?” She scoffs. “No! God, no!” “Okay. The football team, then?” I say, continuing this slightly awkward… Читать далее

Проходит мгновение. А потом еще один. Я открываю рот, но слова отказываются покидать его. Шок и недоверие запирают мой голос в моей гортани, и на другом конце провода также наступает тишина. Когда я снова смогу говорить: «Ч-что?» — это все, что я могу сказать, мой голос чуть громче шепота, такой низкий, что я почти не слышу, как произношу слово. Уголки моих губ хмурятся, а мой лоб сморщивается в миллион крошечных складок, демонстрируя… Читать далее

My heart stutters. My lungs seize. My mouth goes impossibly dry, and I’m finding it particularly hard to swallow right now. My stupid fingers forget how to work and I accidentally drop the box of condoms in panic. Time seems to stop, and my scrambled brain can’t seem to function properly, much less decide what to do. The phone continues to vibrate, and each vibration sends another wave of panic straight into my already wrecked system. I fish through by bag frantically for the phone, almost dropping the damn thing… Читать далее