You were always like a sister to her…to all of us.
And she was to me, but Sam was never like a brother to me. So much for all the inspiration I found sitting out in the woods. If Kellie—my main character—were here, she’d slap me and tell me to get out of my funk. To get over it and not waste time on a guy. Though she’d also fight to the death for Marcus, her one true love.
“Fuck,” I sigh and sink to the shower floor, putting my head in my hands. I stay there for a few minutes, doing the breathing techniques I learned during my yoga lessons, and actually feel a little better when I stand back up, quickly shampooing and conditioning my hair so I can get out of the shower.
I started writing my Nightfall series as an escape. Kellie is everything I wish I could be, and her romance is what I dream of. It’s not perfect, she and Marcus fight and bicker, but their love is truer than anything, and it’s one of the things people love so much about the series. Love can conquer all, even though you might have to kill a few demons here or there to get to that point.
Toweling off my hair, I dress in sleeper shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Balloon is waiting outside the door for me, and I go downstairs to get us both a quick snack. I have two and a half hours until Dad and Wendy will come back for dinner. I can get a lot written in two hours, leaving the extra thirty minutes to get myself looking halfway presentable.
But as soon as I open my laptop, I toss my head back in frustration. Charles matches the description of Marcus perfectly, and fans of the series had already envisioned him playing the sexy vampire before the books even got optioned for screen. Tall, muscular, with dark hair and dark blue eyes, Charles is perfect to play him, but I always envisioned someone else, and that someone just reaffirmed my worst fear from when we were kids.
The man I’ve been in love with sees me as his sister, and that’s not sexy in the least. I need to give it up, to get over it, and accept—finally fucking accept—that Sam will never look at me the way I look at him.
Looking at my notebook, I start to type what I wrote longhand, but find myself secretly wanting Kellie to get possessed by an evil spirit so she can slap Sam—aka Marcus—around a bit. I laugh at my own stupidity and set the notebook down, going onto social media instead. I’m cheered up almost instantly when I see some fan-made teasers for the series and feel inspired all over again.
Turning on my playlist I put together just for this book, I get back into it, pounding out over a thousand words in just half an hour. I’m back in the groove, patching the part where I left off to where I wrote that sword fighting scene Charles will be happy about.
And speaking of him, I never listened to his voice messages from before. It’s the downfall of sending each other voice messages instead of regular texts. Unless I have my headphones on, I can’t listen to them in mixed company.
I press play on his first message, listening to him ramble about some gossip he heard on set. Most of our messages are this way, talking about nothing in particular. The fifth message asks if I’m still alive, since I haven’t replied or even listened to his messages yet.
“Yes, I’m alive,” I say and send the message. “I went into the woods to try to get inspired and you’ll never guess who I ran into.”
Three little dots show up in the conversation, followed by a text.
Charles: At the gym, can’t listen. You’re alive though, right?!
Me: Chloe is alive for now. This is her kidnapper. I expect a million dollars and some nudes sent right away or I’m going to off her.
Charles quickly sends a photo of a very obese naked man holding a bunch of dollar bills.
Me: You sent that WAY too fast, sicko.
Charles: hahahaha you know I have an arsenal of photos like that just for you.
Me: I don’t doubt it.
I put the phone down and go back to my book, writing a few more sentences before Charles texts me again.
Charles: Just listened. Who did you run into?
I hesitate for a moment, feeling almost overly dramatic bringing it up. There’s no point. I might see Sam once or twice before I go back to LA, and then it’ll be business as usual. He’ll forget about me and I’ll get busy and remember I don’t have time for a love life, even if the guy I do love decides to hook up with his sister—gross, Chloe. “Too far,” I huff, though that is how Sam thinks of me. I stare at the screen of my phone for a few seconds before texting Charles, hesitant to say it because I know he’s going to want details.