Free Finding Orion by Erin Lark Page A

had a dream about Orion or not. The more time
I spent with him, the more my dreams and waking life seemed to blur together. I
was starting to lose track of what was real and what was a dream.
    The
anticipation I felt when Orion had me on my knees was the same kind of anxiety
I had at work when I read Jace's note. The only
difference was the loss of control or just not knowing what to expect. With
Orion, I wanted to lose that control, but with Jace ,
I wasn't sure.
    Could they
have been the same person? It was possible I guess, but then I kept coming back
to the fact that I'd never met Jace until I dreamed
about Orion. You could've seen him in
passing. But then why couldn't I remember? I didn't get that tugging in the
back of my mind with Orion. I got it with Jace , but
that's only because he looked like the man from when I was asleep.
    I pressed my
hands against the bathroom sink and bowed my head. I was running in circles,
and just when I thought I was starting to get a hold on things, reality would
slip through my fingers.
    I guess I
should've been happy I had no trouble sleeping, but if the combination of Jace and Orion were causing me to lose my mind, I couldn't
keep doing this for long. Something had to give. You're going to have to give one of them up. I couldn't. Not yet.
    I knew Orion,
almost as if we'd been friends since elementary school. That's because you created him. You need to give Jace a chance if you're going to make the right choice. Was there a right and
wrong choice to make? Couldn't I just have both? Not unless you want to be admitted into an insane asylum. And that
was becoming a very real possibility.
    One
phone call. One
date. In a few hours, I'd
call Jace and get it out of the way. Maybe then I
could see who he really was and if he could ever compare to Orion—to my
internal desires.
    My reflection
stared back at me as I studied the dark circles under my brown eyes. No amount
of makeup would be able to cover up my exhaustion. It was weighing down my
entire body. I dragged my feet and grabbed my clothes off the floor, pulling
them on one garment at a time.
    I didn't have
to look in the mirror again to know I looked like shit. It doesn't matter. Work clothes never looked good. Not on me that
is. Karie could make them work, but she also had a
shirt that fit. Farrin decided that to save a few
bucks, he'd get me one size too small, and it showed. And unless he was okay
with me wearing my own, comfortable shirts, he'd have to deal with how the
tight fabric hugged my skin.
    As soon as I
opened my door to leave for the morning, I was met by a very enthusiastic
Simon.
    "What
are you smiling about?" I glanced down the hall toward his apartment and
smiled at David when I saw him walk by the door. "Isn't it too early to be
this happy?"
    "Never." Simon handed
me a second note, only this time it was written on some kind of cardstock. "Looks like he's a romantic."
    "Oh?
Why's that? Does it have perfume on it or something?" I lifted the
unopened letter to my nose, but I couldn't smell anything.
    "No, but
he did leave you a note. Two of them now." Simon
crossed his arms over his chest. "Please tell me you're actually going to
call him this time."
    I narrowed my
gaze at him. "Simon Taferdy , you didn't read my
letters, did you?"
    His jaw went
slack, and when he finally picked it up off the ground, he said, "I would
never open mail that wasn't mine." Then, lowering his voice he added, "No
matter how cute he is." He elbowed me in the side. "Just don't tell
David."
    I raised an
eyebrow at him. "You two would end up fighting over him."
    "Better
believe it."
    "Who are
we fighting over?" David's voice joined in as he sauntered down the hall
to my room. He stretched in his unbuttoned shirt before making his reddening
hair somewhat presentable. "Morning, Bree ."
His eyes lit up when he noticed the slip of paper in my hand. "Another one, huh?"
    "Man,
you two are the worst at gossip, you know that?" I tried to look hurt