AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He raised his beer bottle to his lips. “Your form has been amazing this season. Twenty shots on goals. No misses.”
“Thank you.”
Where was this going? Why was he reciting my stats to me as if I didn’t know them? My heart hammered. Anxiety flared in my chest. Everything was muted and sharp at the same time. I had to get out of all this noise and activity.
“Excuse me, I was just on my way to the bathroom.”
Not true, but I couldn’t deal with a conversation right now. I wanted to be alone.
He nodded. “I hope we can catch up later.”
I pasted a smile onto my face. “Sure. Great.”
I weaved my way through the sitting room to the entrance hall. There were still too many people. My teammates crammed every corner of the hall and the stairs, but I headed up through the crowd of limbs and chatter. Too much. Too many happy, smiling faces.
I tried the door to a room and slipped inside. The moonlight illuminated a huge library. Bookcases lined the walls. There was even a ladder to reach the highest shelves.
“Skylar?”
A startled yelp erupted from me. Silvery moonlight illuminated the tall figure of a man sitting on the shadowy window seat with a book in his hand.
“Reece?” I scanned the empty library. “What are you doing up here?”
He raised a dark brow. “Hiding.”
I couldn’t help my chuckle. “What do you mean?”
A hint of a rueful smile played on his full lips. “This isn’t really my scene.”
Music drifted in to fill the silence between us.
I bowed my head. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m sorry I disturbed you.”
“You didn’t disturb me. What are you doing up here?”
I had no idea. Usually I loved parties. Tonight, it was just… too much.
Before I could figure out an answer, Reece inclined his head to the opposite end of the window seat. “We could hide together, if you like.”
Did he really want company or was he just being polite? Music and chatter pulsed from the party, making my teeth grit. Nope. Still too loud. I pulled the door closed behind me. An intense relief swept through me and my body relaxed into the silence and stillness of the library. I joined him on the window seat, pulling my knees up to my chin. Outside, a vast expanse of dark grounds spread under a blazing white moon. A fire roared and crackled in the hearth.
I snuck a glance at his reflection in the tall window next to us. The moonlight played over his proud, handsome features, and I drank in the comfort of having somebody near. I’d been on my own at the house since Sean left. I’d always been an extrovert. Usually I would have been at the center of this party, dancing the night away, enjoying every moment. People gave me life. I didn’t want to be alone, but I couldn’t be around anyone tonight, either. Anyone but this man. His solid, quiet presence and measured, rational manner soothed me somehow.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” I lied. “What were you reading?”
He lifted his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Oh. Nothing. It’s a book of poems. You’d probably think it’s boring.”
“Maybe I like poetry.”
His intense eyes locked with mine. “Do you?”
The back of my neck heated. No. Except, for some reason, I didn’t want someone as smart as Reece to know that. Anyone else and I would have admitted it.
“Sure. Which one are you reading?”
He turned the book over in his hands. “Yeats.”
