Chapter Twenty-One
The first three days pass in a strange blur, where I’m more afraid of hearing the voice again than of Gabriel being gone. Maybe it’s best that he give me some time to figure this out. On the fourth day I’m anxious for him to return, wondering if he’s run into trouble.
On the fifth day I have a terrible realization: I miss him.
Not his safety or even his s*x. I miss the presence of him, the man himself. With all his secrets and flaws, every dark desire, every dangerous dream. He’s a wild animal, and I know I’ll never tame him.
More and more, I never want to.
I’m so distracted by his absence, so accustomed to Penny’s silent presence, that it’s shocking to hear her voice in the middle of breakfast.
“He’s not coming back,” she says over a bowl of steel-cut oats and bro
