Page 6 of Midnight Whispers

Asher laughs before responding. “I don’t know,” he shrugs. “I’ve just always enjoyed the adrenaline rush.”

I narrow my eyes in his direction. “You’re a freak, Ash.”

“Don’t I know it,” he smirks.

Reluctantly, I stayed with him and finished the movie. As soon as it ends, Asher turns and asks, “Want to watch the next one?”

My eyes widened. “There’s more? How many are there?”

“I don’t know, like five or something.”

“That’s four too many,” I shake my head and stand. “We need to find you a mate who likes this scary shit.” A pained expression appears on his face, and I realize I struck a nerve. He’s been without a mate for so long and here I am just rubbing it in his face. “I didn't mean…”

Asher musters a small smile. “I know you didn’t. One day she will come, and it will be wonderful. All the scary movies and sex I could ever want.”

“Nobody deserves that more.”

He smiles. “But really,” he continues, “are you going to watch it with me?”

“Absolutely not,” I responded, turning and exiting the room.

“Love you,” he yells after me.

“Love you too, Ash.”

And I do. He’s not only my maker, but my family and best friend. In the lifetimes we’ve been together, he’s always been constant.

I walk up to my room, closing the door behind me and picking my book back up. All the talk about mates has my California king sized bed feeling extra empty tonight.

3

Emolyn Cove has been stuckin the 70’s since… well, since the 70’s. Nothing new or exciting ever happens here and, if it does, it is immediately talked about within all the gossip circles. Everyone knows everyone and everything, including when I broke off my four-year engagement with my high school sweetheart, Parker Ashvin.

After he wasn’t offered any scholarships to literally anywhere, he spent the next few years getting drunk any way he could. Once he turned twenty-one, most of his time was spent at The Tipsy Sailor, our small-town bar. He’d come stumbling home after last call. Parker didn’t have a job, of course, and every time he got in trouble with the town sheriff, it was only a slap on the wrist. I got sick of looking around and wondering ifthiswas what all that my life was going to be.

Parker said I’d be back and that he didn’t expect me to be away for long. We had been together since we were juniors in high school and got engaged at the ripe age of twenty-two. I wrestled with saying yes and the guilt that sat in the pit of my stomach as he slid the ring on my finger. The moment he put iton my finger, I could feel the heaviness of it weighing me down. I pushed the talk of the actual wedding out for most of the engagement. His mom wasn’t exactly jumping for joy at the thought of him marrying me anyways, so she didn’t do much to make solid plans either.

It just didn’t feel like a good sign.

Plus, I hated that ring.

When my dad passed away six months ago, my entire world turned on its axis. In a matter of seconds, someone else's idiotic decision to drive while under the influence forever changed my life. Parker would tell you that he was the picture-perfect fiancé after Dad died, but he would be lying. He may have wanted to try, but he just wasn’t capable.

Dad and I had fought enough times about Parker, but it wasn’t until I lost him that I saw how right he was about Parker for the last nine years. So, I broke it off with the guy Dad never thought was good enough and used the excuse that my entire life had changed so suddenly. I told Parker that I was suffocating under the weight of everything and something needed to change… I needed to change.

But it wasn’t all a lie.

Iwassuffocating.

Shortly after I broke off my engagement, I moved out of our loft apartment. As much as I loved that space, it was rightfully Parker’s. His family is one of the founding families of Emolyn Cove anddisgustinglyrich and gifted it to us as an engagement present. I ended up selling my dad’s house and used the equity to buy a cottage in the woods.

I tried to live in my dad’s house, okay? I moved into my old room and tried for a couple of months. But Dad waseverywhere,and I just couldn’t mourn him properly when I was constantly waiting for him to come in the front door and say, “Hey kiddo!”

The cottage was perfect though. The forest surrounded it just enough to make it feel secluded. There was enough land that had been developed that I could plant a nice fruit and vegetable garden. The best part is that, because it has four bedrooms, my best friend Flora could move in and I still have my reading room.

Flora and I became best friends in the third grade. Dad and I moved here from Los Angeles shortly after my mom left. We tried to wait around for a couple of years, but when Dad realized she was gone for good, we both needed some new scenery.

I’ve always been the odd one out.