Boundless

At First Sight

Lys dropped me off at my house around three. I was walking up the brick path to the entrance door when I noticed a car in the driveway. A Cadillac, to be specific. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. My sister, Abby, could have had a friend over, but her friends were generally not the types to drive a Cadillac.

Shrugging it off, I walked into my house. Uncomfortably cold air hit me as I entered, making me shiver. Something felt incredibly off and nervous energy flooded through my body. I burst through the kitchen door to find Abby going through the fridge.

She gave me a suspicious look. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" I asked sharply, stepping closer to her to check to make sure she wasn't hurt.

She laughed. "Yeah, of course. What's wrong with you?"

Sudden relief made me release some of the tension I was feeling. However, there was still a lingering discomfort that was difficult to ignore. "Whose car is out in the driveway?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"My friend, Devon's," she said casually, going back to scouring through the fridge.

That answer only made me more confused. Abby was a huge environmentalist. Her passion for the environment actually frightened me sometimes. Whenever I tried to take a shower that was longer than ten minutes, she would pound on the door and tell me I'm killing a bunch of fish and that one day they were going to develop lungs and come after me. All of her friends drove the same car—a Prius. It was difficult to believe she would get along well with a Cadillac-driver.

"Who's Devon? You've never mentioned him."

She paused for a minute, her brow crinkled in thought. "I don't know why I've never mentioned him. I've known him for years. He's a good friend."

I was going to continue with my interrogation, but before I could, she pulled a soda out of the fridge and shoved it in my direction. "Give this to him for me, will you? He's out on the porch."

Suddenly overwhelmed by curiosity to see who this "Devon" person was, I complied and grabbed the soda. I walked slowly to the porch, noting that it got colder with each step. I would have thought I was just chilly because of my nerves, but I knew there was something weird going on.

As soon as I opened the glass door and stepped outside, I collided into a huge male body. I yelped and tried to back up, but the man in front of me slammed the glass door shut, cutting off my ability to step back inside.

I couldn't see his face, but I felt him everywhere. I was no longer nervous, no longer scared. A sudden heat flowed through me, strange and primal. His chest brushed mine and my breathing came out short.

Suddenly, I knew who he was. I had only ever felt this way around one person before.

He backed away from me a few inches, and stared down at me with a predator's curiosity. His black orbs came into view and I felt fear course through me again. But it wasn't the normal kind of fear. I liked the feeling it gave me. It was cold and hot, dangerous and compelling.

The soda I held slipped from my hand and fell on the floor, waking me from my hypnotic-like state.

I tried to move past him, but I couldn't budge. "Who the hell are you?" I whispered furiously.

He continued just to look at me, like he hadn't heard me speak at all.

The heat rose in me again and I grimaced. I didn't want to get lost in him again. "Stop doing that," I hissed.

Slowly, he backed away from me and I could breathe again. But he kept his bottomless eyes glued to me. He was so much to behold. Attractive, but terrifying. He towered over me and his ripped muscles were difficult to not notice. His hair was dark, but seemed lighter in contrast to his eyes. His face was broad, open. It was easy to read what he was thinking, but difficult to translate those thoughts into emotions I could understand.

We stood facing each other for a long time, both of us studying the other. I could still hear Abby going through the fridge in the kitchen.

"What do you want?" I asked, barely able to hear my own voice.

He heard me somehow. I could see the answer to my question in his eyes.

You.

"Stop looking at me like that-."

"You talk a lot," he interrupted. He wasn't saying it as a joke or an insulting comment. He was just stating it like it was a simple fact.

"Why did you sneak into my room last night?" I continued.

"And ask a lot of questions."

I tried to get mad, like I was able to around Chase, but I just couldn't. Instead, I stopped talking all together, waiting for him to respond to anything I had said. Something flashed in his eyes, and for a second I was terrified, then abruptly, the feeling went away and was replaced my complete numbness.

He approached me again, and I stood completely still.

"I am your sister's friend, Devon. You've known me for years. You trust me with your life. You've cared for me since you were a little girl."

Memories rushed through my mind. Memories that I knew were false, but felt were true.

Me as a little girl watching him as he talked to my sister, getting a rush of excitement when he glanced over at me. One of me on a swing, and him pushing me gently. One where I fell down and he was there to bandage my scrapes.

Devon. My sister's friend. The man I loved.

He nodded as my eyes changed from hostile to numb to accepting.

"Forget about last night," he said.

Then, everything turned black.