They Ignored Me on My Birthday, So I Cancelled Them novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Touch Me

Hallie knocked at nine that night, and she didn't come in until I said she could.

She stood in the hall in the gray jacket with an envelope in her hand.

"I'm not asking to stay," she said. "I came to pay you."

"Pay me what?"

"Every dollar." She held it out. "It's a cashier's check for twenty-four thousand, three hundred and six dollars. That's both cards, with the interest. The fraud claims may clear it for you, and they may not. This way you don't have to wait."

I didn't take it.

"It isn't your debt."

"It's my husband's, and he took it out of your name to stay out of mine." Her hand was steady. "I won't ask for anything back. Not a call, not a coffee. Just take it, so there's one thing in your life he didn't get to keep."

I looked at the envelope.

It was the first thing anyone had handed me in two years that wasn't a bill.

I took it.

I put it on the shelf by the door, and I stood with my hand flat on the wood.

"Thank you," I said.

"Okay." She nodded once. "I'll go."

She turned.

"You said you wouldn't touch me," I said.

She stopped with her back to me.

"Not until you tell me to."

"I know what I said."

"Then say it."

I shut the door behind her with my foot, and the hall went dark except for the lamp.

She turned around.

"Touch me," I said.

She crossed the room in two steps and took my face in both hands.

Her mouth was hot and shaking, and it tasted of the cold outside.

I got a fist in her braid and kissed her harder than I had ever kissed anyone.

She made a sound against my teeth that I felt in my knees.

"Miles," she said. "Wait. Is this the decision?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"It's Wednesday." I walked her backward down the hall. "Nothing real until Sunday, remember?"

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend