Falling in the Dark | ✓

Bonus Chapter

I roll over in bed so I'm lying on my stomach and press my face into the fluffy white pillow. It's probably past midnight, but the muffled sounds that manage to enter the bedroom through its closed windows are no indication of the time. Honking cars, commotion from the apartment next door, the occasional wail of an ambulance . . . I've lived in this city for six years, and yet, sleep still evades me on nights like tonight when I'm not tired and the neighborhood is noisier than usual.

Suddenly, my stomach lets out a low rumble. An inexplicable craving for chocolate cake nags me. I give a small groan, inhaling the fresh smell of detergent that clings to my polka-dotted pillowcase before flipping onto my back again.

Just then, Liam speaks up, his voice so low that I wouldn't have heard him in my sleep. "Hey. Are you awake?"

My eyelids flutter open as I turn to my left and find Liam next to me, his back propped against the headboard, his face illuminated by the glow of his laptop.

Murmuring my assent, I scoot closer until my bare legs are twined around his underneath the covers. "What time is it?"

I raise my eyes to Liam's face, watching the light from the laptop screen reflect off the lenses of his glasses as he says, "1:27 AM. Can't sleep?"

"No," I say groggily, rubbing my eyes with one hand. "Are you still working?"

"Almost done," he says, typing faster and with more intent now.

I smile at the thought of him furrowing his eyebrows at the screen, pressing the well-worn keys on his backlit keyboard with deliberate gentleness, trying to be as quiet as possible when I'm asleep by his side.

Slowly, my eyes trail the slope of his nose, the curve of his lips, the square of his jaw, the sinews in his bare shoulders. Liam and I have been living together for five years now, but seeing him lying next to me - hair all tousled, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts - leaves me feeling like a giddy, teenaged college student all over again.

"Do you want chocolate cake?" I blurt out, clamping my teeth over my lower lip as Liam lets out a short, surprised laugh.

"What, now?" he asks, shutting off his laptop and setting it aside before turning to me. The only light in the room is a faint reddish glow from the streets below, spilling onto the wooden floor through the hazy white drapes covering the windows.

"Yeah, I was thinking, we never really use that oven . . ."

Liam takes off his glasses and turns to face me fully, smiling in incredulity. "Wait, you want to bake it now? I thought you had some in the fridge or something."

"I bought all the ingredients after work today," I say sheepishly. "But if you're tired-"

"No," Liam shakes his head, still smiling in the semi-darkness. "We can sleep in tomorrow, anyway. Our dinner reservation isn't until 7:00."

"Okay!" I grin back at him as we kick the covers away and climb out of bed.

Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I follow Liam out of the room. Our bare feet are silent against the cool floor as we head into the kitchen through the hallway. I flick the light switch in the kitchen, squinting against the bright white lights before turning to the cluttered kitchen island.

Despite a hectic day at work and a few hours of restless sleep, I feel fresh and wide-awake as I rummage around to clear the island. I gather two large glass bowls from one of the cabinets behind me, carefully balancing them in my arms.

"I'll look up the recipe on my phone," I say to Liam with my back turned to him. "But I think the flour is still in one of the grocery bags I left on the couch . . ."