Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

feel like I’m wearing a mask.
I wear enough masks as it is.
I’m just capping my vanilla lip balm when I hear Ren’s front door open and
shut. Pazza’s in my room and starts barking like crazy. Unease prickles my skin.
“Ren?” I call.
No answer. Pulling open the bathroom door, I call Ren’s name again.
Nothing.
Except for a faint rustling noise in the kitchen. Now I’m more curious than
anything. Is Ren out of the shower already? Maybe he grabbed the newspaper.
That would be why I heard the front door. It’s not like people break into
multimillion-dollar beachfront homes, slam the door behind them, and raid the
kitchen.
Burglars raided your pantry.
Shit. They did, didn’t they?
I have an overactive imagination. It’s fed my anxiety many years now, but
with counseling, I’ve learned to coach it, to help myself focus on rational
explanations and calm the nervous, irrational beast inside. And, ya know, weed
helps. But there’s no weed in my system currently, only logical thought telling
me everything is most likely fine.
Slowly, I walk toward the kitchen. When I clear the hallway and have a good
view, no one’s there. But then I realize the refrigerator’s open.
Suddenly, a man pops up. I let out a bloodcurdling scream and stumble back
into the hallway wall.
“Frankie!” Ren yells from deep in the house. I hear a door banging open, the
pound of his footsteps.
The man grins at me as he shuts the fridge with his butt and shines an apple
on his shirt. Which makes him seem much less threatening. Unless he’s one of
those smiling serial killers. Who eats a healthy snack first.
My terror starts to fade when I realize I recognize his eyes. They’re Ren’s
eyes. Ren’s cheekbones, his long nose, without the bump from being broken.
This must be—
“Frankie.” Ren collides with me, pulls me against his body, and spins so I’m
shielded from the man. Glancing up, he locks eyes with the guy and mutters
something that sounds remarkably close to fustilarian.
Exhaling heavily, Ren peers down at me. “Okay. You’re okay.” A gentle hug
and I’m pulled closer. “It’s just my brother. Are you all right?”
I nod. “I’m sorry I freaked. I heard someone come in, and I called you, and
you didn’t answer, so I went to see who it was, and he just popped up like a jackin-the-box
from the refrigerator, and I lost it.”