An Eternity of Eclipse Read Online Free PDF

narrowing.
    I was normally more of a pushover when it came to dealing with people. I rarely used my “stern” voice. I always tried to do my best to avoid confrontation. Because of this, it was a completely new development for me to stand up for myself against this stranger. Whatever it was about him, he made me feel more empowered than I normally felt.
    As our feet continued down the sidewalk, I grew a spine and uttered firm words that I never once had the balls to say in my entire life.
    “I appreciate the initiative you took to walk me home in hopes of sexing me up, but I'm not drunk enough to fall for your perverted charms. I'm also definitely not drunk enough to sleep with you.”
    I could feel my heart beat in disbelief at the words that were coming out of my mouth. I was being rude and my voice wasn’t faltering the teeniest with fear! Fighting hard to keep from smiling in fear of messing up my “stern” face, I plowed on, puffing up my chest and raising my chin high. This guy didn’t know who he was messing with. This was the new and improved Grace Hwang, and he was going to get a taste of my independence and empowerment.
    Looking him up and down with an air of superiority, I feigned a bit of eye rolling and meanly added, “I think it’s best if you scurry off. We're near my apartment and if my boyfriend catches you talking to me, he'll kick your ass. He's pretty overprotective.”
    I assumed he would get the hint and leave me alone. To my disappointment, he did not seem the least bit affected by it.
    With another round of smoke swimming away from his lips, sexy-chain-smoking guy shook his head and laughed as my apartment complex came into view. Funny how I didn't see him take a puff of that cigarette and funny how I couldn't smell the stench of the cigarette. It would have definitely helped if I knew then what was going on. Of course, as his laughter invaded my mind, I became sublimely distracted from the obvious clues in life.
    “What?” I asked, taken aback by his entertained bouts of laughter.
    “Man,” he whispered in hilarity, suddenly flicking the cigarette butt away. He mirrored the position of his left hand by placing his right hand into the pocket of his pants. Inclining his head up to the starry skies, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to savor the sensation of something. When he opened them shortly thereafter, he tilted his head and allowed his enthralling eyes to lock with mine.
    The way he was gazing at me scared me briefly. Why did I have the uneasy feeling he was about to call my bluff? Worse yet, why did it feel like I was about to get caught?
    “I love it when pretty girls like you lie,” he stated, his tone as soothing and innocent as could be. There was adoration in the way he stared at me. “Makes me wonder what other naughty stuff you'd be willing to do.”
    I scoffed at him, feigning a bluff (even though I knew I was caught). I didn't have an overprotective boyfriend to beat him up. In fact, I didn’t even have a boyfriend. It was a typical lie I used to get guys off my back. It was usually an effective tactic. I didn't understand why it didn't work with him. Already panicking in my mind, I tried to keep the lie alive as we neared the steps leading up to the entrance of my apartment complex.
    “Lie?” I scoffed again, taking out my keys from my wristlet and stepping onto the landing. Anxiousness brimmed inside me. I knew at that moment, when he caught my bluff, that I should have been afraid of him. By how he was talking to me, any normal girl would be afraid that the guy would kidnap her and do God knows what to her. Yeah, this psychotically bold stranger would have freaked out any normal girl, but I wasn't afraid. I was just anxious around him. And it wasn't a bad form of anxiousness either.
    “What'd I lie about?” I managed to utter while I unlocked the front door to my apartment complex.
    When I was about to turn around to face him, I felt a pair of arms sneak up