Love, After Dark

Chapter 1

SIRI

I was half-buried in my sheets, lips parted when his hands found me, slow and sure, tracing heat along my waist and up my ribs until my breath hitched; his body followed, pinning me there in the most delicious way, and when his mouth brushed my neck I arched into him without thinking, chasing the feeling, needing more. He hovered just above my lips, close enough that I could feel his breath, and when he whispered my name, it slid through me like a spark. Siri. Again- lower, rougher. Siri. The sound grew louder, insistent, echoing until pleasure twisted into confusion and I gasped awake, sheets clinging to my skin, my heart racing as my mother’s voice cut through the last fragments of the dream.

“Siri.” I blinked hard, the image of the faceless man dissolving as reality snapped into place. My mom and dad stood in the doorway, awkward and stiff, while my thirteen-year-old sister, Sienna leaned against the frame with a knowing, infuriating smirk. “Honey,” my mom asked carefully, “are you… okay?” “Yes,” I said too quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Sia snorted. “Then why were you moaning?” “I was not,” I snapped, pushing myself upright. “Was too,” she sang. “Girls. Girls. Enough,” my dad barked, already turning away. Sia laughed. “It’s not my fault she’s having R-rated dreams again.” “Alright,” Dad said firmly, steering them down the hall, “let’s go eat before breakfast gets cold.

”I was reaching for my phone when my mom lingered in the doorway. “Was there something… else?” she asked softly. I sighed. “Mom, no.” She hesitated, twisting her hands together. “You know you can talk to me, right? About anything. School. Friends.” She paused, then added, “Or boys.” “Yes, I know,” I said, rubbing my temples. “I mean it,” she continued, words tumbling over each other now. “Even if it’s about s*x, or making sure you’re safe-” “Oh my gosh, Mom, I’m still a virgin,” I blurted. She held up her hands. “Okay, okay. I just want you to know I’m here.” I forced a smile, cheeks burning. “Thanks. If I have any questions, you’ll be the first to know.” “Promise?” she asked. “Promise.” Barely satisfied, she told me to hurry up and get ready before breakfast was gone.

The shower steam curled around me as I leaned my forehead against the tile and finally exhaled. My name is Sirena-Siri for short- and I’m seventeen years old. My eighteenth birthday is in a week, which apparently means I’m almost old enough to vote, old enough to dream about faceless men, but still not old enough to escape my family hovering outside the bathroom door. I live in Millburn, the kind of small town where everyone knows your business before you do, with my parents, Marcus and Anna, and my thirteen-year-old sister, Sienna-Sia, if you ask her. Do NOT call her cute.

Life here is every cliché it sounds like: football games, gossip, and a countdown to graduation like it’s a lifeline. I’ll be done with high school in a few months, turning the page whether Millburn is ready or not. My parents promised me a car for my birthday once I get my license, and tonight is my final driving lesson before the test on Saturday, assuming I don’t drive straight into a panic attack first. By the time I finished breakfast, kissed my parents’ cheeks, and flipped Sia off on my way out the door, Kayla was already waiting at the curb, grinning like she knew something I didn’t, ready to walk me straight into another perfectly ordinary day that felt like it was standing on the edge of becoming anything but.