The Trouble With Snowmen by Dorlana Vann Read Free Book Online Page B

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    As cars whizzed by, the night brighter and louder there than his rural home, he tried to get Haley out of his head and focus on his book. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight. He had no idea how long it would take to forget Haley Monroe—the fantasy—but he knew he had to.

Chapter 11
    Sunday morning, Haley woke to the sound of her phone beeping. She finally found it on the bedside table after feeling around for it for a second. She blinked and squinted until she could read the text. “Ah, man.” It was from her boss at Kickers.
    Last night, she had called a cab and made it home around ten and went straight up to the attic, forgetting work and not bothering to put her phone on the charger.
    Before she moved in, she had asked Regina for a place in the house she could use as a darkroom. Regina had offered the small, windowless attic bathroom with only a sink and a toilet. Perfect!
    Getting her own darkroom and teaching herself how to develop film the old-fashioned way had been an exciting step forward in her hobby. She often thought about the first 35mm camera she received for her tenth birthday that had started it all. Most of the time photography was her escape from reality, her time to clear her head and think about nothing except for the image.
    But last night, as she stood in the red darkness and washed the print in the sink, all she could think about was Larry. He was so funny, and his initial nervousness was adorable. But then he eased into a confidence, which made him so easy to talk to. Not to mention that nice body, which he had hidden underneath his baggy, old clothes. He was fit, proportionate, not super muscular like Travis but toned. And she thought about his passion and how he had made her feel blissful in her mind as well as her body. He made her feel beautiful, like the most important thing in the world was to pleasure her. She had been completely engrossed and enthralled, losing herself in him.
    Larry held her afterward. What a horrible thing to let happen. But at that moment, nothing would have torn her away from him. Their conversation had seemed so interesting, even though all they talked about were random, unimportant things, like the little dog that lived a few blocks away from him that wore a bandana. Then Larry had drifted to sleep and his grip had loosened, and that had been her chance.
    She had even considered going back. She could take coffee and donuts, like he had. “I left to go get donuts.” That’s what she could have told him. “What took me so long? Well, I couldn’t find the place. Shoes? I forgot to wear my shoes. That’s right.”
    However, as she’d hung the picture to dry, she began to cry because she’d already given it a lot of thought and had made her decision that in the long run, Larry was not right for her. This was for the best . . . wasn’t it?
    Now, as she crawled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, she scrolled through her other missed calls. Maximilian had texted a few times wondering where she disappeared to, Regina had left a text message saying she would be at her boyfriend’s for a couple of days, her mom had called . . . and Travis, he had called her twice.
    After responding to most of the messages, Haley stood under a hot shower and washed her swollen eyes. Being a snowman felt awful, horrible! Why had she gone over there in the first place when she knew she had feelings for him? Because she’d wanted him. It was as simple, or as complicated, as that.
    She had to forget about the weekend, forget about snowmen, and right and wrong, and happiness and sadness. Wait, Travis had called. Why? No message, just two missed calls. Did this mean the break up was all some big mistake? Or had he changed his mind? Did Travis feel as bad as she did? Did she care? That’s who she deserved, right? Takes one to know one.
    Or was calling a couple days later something snowmen did? Did they call their victims to hear the angst in their voices? To hear how