Everything was going to be okay.
It had to be.
After all the shit I was dealt with in life, from being abducted at fourteen to witnessing a murder, things had to be calm and nice for me…
Right?
Someone laughed to my left, jolting me out of my thoughts, and I turned to find an attractive, nicely built man standing by the mailbox.
He was probably older than me by a few years, and he was talking to a blonde woman I recognized as my neighbor from three doors down.
They made a cute couple, I thought wistfully.
Both were tall, athletic, and beautiful.
Love should be the farthest thing away from my mind right now, but I found myself wondering if there would be something for me in the future.
I had a few prospects in college, but they all seemed to become uninterested in me by the third date.
I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me, but it was hard not to let that affect my self-esteem when it happened not once, not twice, or hell, even three times, but several times before I finally gave up on dating in college altogether.
The couple quietened when a large shadow drew near. The man’s eyes practically bulged from his head as he took three steps away from the mailbox, and the woman moved away from the man to get closer to the figure that had come up to grab his mail.
I didn’t know what it was about this new man that held my attention, but I found myself stopping to watch as the man inserted his key into the slot and opened his box to grab the mail.
From the location of the mailbox, it looked like he lived on my floor, and I watched as the woman walked up to him and said something.
He didn’t answer her, instead turned away, leaving a red-faced woman to stare off after him in anger.
That was quite rude of the man.
I turned my attention to the man and froze.
Everything inside of me didn’t seem to be working right from the very first glance.
Fuck.
Who was this?
My breath caught, and I found myself unable to look away.
A flush came down my body, and my reaction to him was instantaneous. It was undeniable. It was hard to ignore.
It was arousal… yet, so much more than that.
I tried to take in a huge gulp of air but found it lodged in my throat.
My mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Dark eyes with dark hair shaved off on the sides. It left the hair on top in a messy style, as if he had spent the last ten minutes running his fingers through it.
I had the urge to find out if the strands were as soft as they looked. That yearning was so strong, I had to clench my hands to keep from acting on the impulse. My fingernails dug into my palm to keep myself going to him.
The man was the very definition of tall, dark, and dangerous.
He had a strong nose, a square jawline that was covered by rough-looking stubble, broad shoulders, and a tall frame. Tall enough that I thought he would tower over me easily had I been standing next to him.
Had I been brave enough to get close to such a man, that was.