The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

As Kim’s volleyball game went on, Bryce thought fleetingly of his work. He’d made himself unreachable for the day, asking his secretary Cindy to redirect any calls for him to one of his directors instead. He’d done everything he could to take himself out of the line of contact, so he could make the most of being at this game. And yet, now that he was here, he was sitting and thinking of work in the back of his mind.

As CEO, Bryce was in the habit of thinking about his work at all times. And it was a habit not easily broken. He was thinking of it even now— thinking about the board of directors meeting that was coming up. He’d been thinking about it even on the ride to Kim’s school.

He was the CEO, and the board of directors reported to him, so it wasn’t a hugely stressful event from his perspective. It was much more stressful for his directors— but the run-up to it still made a dent in his workload, because Bryce had to make himself available for lots of discussions with his directors to make sure they had the resources they needed, and to make sure that they knew exactly what they wanted to enter into the company records for that particular meeting.

They had their board meetings largely for record-keeping purposes— so that all the newest developments in each of the departments of the company were recorded in a formalized way; so that his directors could update him on the state of their departments in an official capacity. It was a lot of work for them, but the board only had advisory power. His directors would update him— and they would occasionally make suggestions on how something should be addressed, or how it should be done.

But Bryce was the CEO, and Towner Industries was his company. He had the board, and he had other support staff to help him in his work, but he was the one with the final say in all decisions. Sometimes he accepted the suggestions that came out of these board meetings, if they were good, and if he liked them. But sometimes he refused them, and gave the director in question orders to do the complete opposite of their suggestion— to do whatever it was that he wanted or thought was best. Ultimately, Bryce was the one who had complete control over the destiny of his company. And that was the way things should have been: in all his years of directing it, he’d never steered it wrong.

Besides the board of directors, who served a more advisory function than anything, Towner Industries also had shareholders. These shareholders attended occasional shareholder meetings for updates— the other internal event that recurred, and which required organization from his team.

But Bryce was the one who owned the majority share of the company. He held ninety percent of the company stock. He was the one with the power to direct the company: the other shareholders held shares worth ten percent of the company between themselves.

The percentage of Bryce’s shares of the company stock was so high that practically no one would ever be able to buy him out. If anyone in his company ever tried, ever made an attempt at mutiny or overthrow— they would fail. Even if someone were to borrow company funds against the company, for all that it was worth— they still wouldn’t have enough to match the value of Bryce’s shares.

And if anyone ever tried to move existing company funds around to try buying out his shares— they wouldn’t have enough funds, either. There simply weren’t enough existing funds— it would bankrupt the entire company to even try it. Bryce was worth so much that there were few who could rival him, and there was certainly no one who could take the ownership of his own company away from him.

Still, Bryce did care about giving his ten percent shareholders a good return on their investment— but he cared most about giving himself a good return on investment, since he was the majority shareholder. If the business did well, his own shares appreciated in value, and boosted his net worth. That was his true driving motivation. The board meetings, the shareholder meetings: they were formalities, record-keeping exercises more than anything— sometimes with the added benefit of inspiring new ideas in Bryce’s mind, but all decision-making power was ultimately his, and that was the way it had always been.

Still, Bryce was thinking about the board meeting. It was coming up shortly, and things had been very busy around the office as a result… but there were lots of other business deals and transactions in the works, too. And he was also keeping these in mind. So many things were happening concurrently.

But it was always that way. After all, Towner Industries was a very diversified company. Under its banner, it held multiple financial firms, and businesses of other kinds too, many of them stationed around the globe. Its total worth was in the billions— Bryce’s worth was in the billions. This meant that business was constantly being done— and Bryce always had items on his docket. So even while he was at his daughter’s volleyball game, he couldn’t help but think about it.

And yet, though it was Bryce’s custom to be thinking of work even while he was elsewhere, it was different today. Different, because of Hallie— he was distracted by her in the way he had been all throughout the past few days. She was still sitting only just a few rows down from him, and to the side— perfectly placed within his field of view. Though he was facing towards the volleyball courts, and was doing his best to follow the game despite his distracted thoughts, he found his eyes frequently wandering, and finding their way back to her.

And though he’d brought himself repeatedly back to the topic of his work in his mind, he found that these thoughts trailed off into a silent watching of Hallie— in which he did not pay attention to the game— in which he did not think of work.

He only really had a view of her from the back— he couldn’t even see her face, but just being able to see her at all was a luxury that he appreciated, and it distracted him from everything else.

After a certain point in the game, Bryce found he was watching her more often than not. He was probably watching her more than he was watching the game itself. And while he watched her, he found himself thinking about her again; his thoughts were only of her— not of his work, not of the game, not of his family. Only of her— how beautiful she was, how perfect. How much he wanted her, in every way that it might be possible to have her.

When the game was half over, and long past the point at which Bryce gave up on watching it to watch Hallie exclusively instead— she surprised him by standing up, and making her way along the row of seats to the aisle at the end of it, to walk out of the gym.

Bryce straightened in place where he sat. This was the third chance he had hoped for, when he’d been standing in the lobby watching her across the way. Everyone was in here, watching the game— his wife, their family friends, his acquaintances. If Bryce left to follow Hallie, and if he actually caught up to her, he would be able to speak to her away from prying eyes. He would be able to speak to her without anyone even that he had.

But he had to move quickly— Hallie had made it to the aisle, and was moving quickly towards the exit doors. And he had to think quickly of a reason for leaving that would be believable. Even now, it was important that no suspicions be raised.

Bryce leaned over toward Selene. She was watching the game closely, with a look of excited engagement on her face— she had not noticed him watching Hallie.

“Selene,” Bryce interrupted, and she shifted in place, moving a little closer to him to indicate that she was listening. “I have to make a call. I’m just going to step out into the lobby.”

“I’ll catch you up on what you’ve missed when you come back,” she replied. She’d kept her eyes on the game the whole time as she spoke.

“Thanks,” Bryce said, and stood. He made quick strides down the row, towards the aisle, and then quick strides down the aisle once he got to it— Hallie had already left the gym, closing its doors behind her, and he wanted to catch her before she left the school grounds entirely.

Once he’d made it to the other side of the gym doors, he saw her up ahead again. She was walking toward the lobby’s entrance— clearly, intending to leave. Bryce moved himself more quickly, rushing to get to her. He didn’t want to miss his chance— he had to talk to her. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

He’d moved quickly enough, or she had slowed her pace. Either way, in a few more steps he had almost caught up to her. But he wasn’t quite there, and so he called out, “Hallie.”

Hallie heard her name, and she turned around to find the source of it— looked back, and saw Bryce there. When she saw him, she smiled; and stilled her walking into a stance.

“Bryce Towner,” she addressed— and there was the sound of her voice he had longed for earlier. It sounded even better than he remembered. It had such a musical quality, Bryce just wanted to listen to it forever. “It’s nice to see you again,” Hallie continued, “and so soon after we met.”

Bryce closed the remaining distance between them, coming to stand in front of her. He felt full of so many words that he wanted to speak, and things that he wanted to share that he didn’t know what to say first. Seeing her, and being this close to her was overwhelming him, and he didn’t know where to start.

“When we met,” Bryce tried for a start. “Do you remember what you asked me?”

He was noticing every detail of Hallie’s smile as she gave it. The way it just turned up the corners of her mouth— but with just a subtle pulling back…

“I asked you if you saw something you liked,” she said, and her voice was slightly playful.

“I didn’t really have an answer for you then,” Bryce went on. He felt more certain of himself as he went on speaking— the more he progressed in what he was saying, the more it bolstered him to continue. “But I know what I’d like now. I’d like know to everything about you, everything there is to know. I want to know every part of you— every piece of you— I want to know all of it.”

It was true— he wanted to know her mind, he wanted to know her feelings, her thoughts— her heart, her body. He wanted to know her completely, in every possible way, and he was glad to have finally told her. The words had been waiting in his mouth all the time that he’d been thinking about her these past few days, and it was a relief to finally say them out loud, and to say them to her.

Her smile was still there. “It seems like you’ve given this some thought since I saw you last.”

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about,” Bryce admitted freely. He’d wanted to tell her this— it had been burning inside him, and he hadn’t been sure if he’d get the chance. Now that he’d been given that chance, he had no reservations. There was no reason to hesitate now, or to hold back.

And seeing her was so different than just thinking of her. Thinking of her had been a progression forward… thoughts of her had led to more thoughts of her, and those thoughts on to others. And following these trains of thought along their tracks had driven Bryce to feel more deeply for her. It had led him deeper into himself, and down in that deeper place, those thoughts of her had rooted in, and grown stronger, pulling him towards even stronger feelings for her.

Thinking of her had been a progression forward. But seeing her was an arrival. Now that he was physically next to her, her effect on him was even more powerful. Thoughts that he had only found the beginnings of reached their conclusions. He didn’t only want to know about her, didn’t only want to please her with the things he did and make her happy.

She’d taken up place inside him. She was a part of him now, he felt for her so deeply. Every decision he made from now on would have to take her into consideration, because she was just that important— from now on, his every thought would circle the topic of how he could make her happy, because it was the most important work that he had to do.

She was a part of him… but maybe he was also an extension of her. He was already so attuned to her every emotion, her every whim— she’d barely spoken at all yet, but Bryce knew. If she wanted something, if she had an opinion on something, it would strike so deeply in him that it would feel like his own. And he already knew: if she wanted something, he’d sincerely want to get it for her— he wanted her to have everything that she’d ever wanted, no matter what that was.

It was a strange feeling— everything about the way that he felt was strange. There was an edge of desperation to it all. He’d been feeling lovestruck lately, feeling as immature as he had as an adolescent, but he felt even more like he was a lovesick kid now. He understood as he looked at Hallie that he didn’t care what he’d have to risk, or what he might lose; didn’t care what she would ask of him. He felt the wanting for her so fiercely that it was making him desperate, and it seemed to be the only thing he was feeling. It was the only thought in his head.

He knew if she gave him the chance to do something for her, he would jump at that chance. She wouldn’t even have to ask him directly… he understood that now. She would only have to hint at what she was looking for… and if he understood what she was driving at, then he would secure it for her. And he would pursue whatever it was with determination— no matter the cost— until he had it for her. He wanted her, but he also wanted things for her— whatever those things were that she wanted. He just didn’t know what they were yet; or he might have been off in search of them already.

“You’d really like to know everything about me?” Hallie repeated. She seemed to want to hear it from him again.

Bryce felt that spiking of eagerness that had, until just that second, only been imagined, only been something he’d guessed at. She wanted to hear it— he wanted to say it.

It had felt good to say the first time, but it felt even better the second time, knowing she was appreciating it as he said it, knowing she wanted to hear it this time.

“I’d like to know everything about you. I want to know every part of you, and every piece of you.” Bryce repeated for her… it felt like taking a hit of something when he said it.

As he said it the second time, Hallie leaned in closer to him. Her long, delicate fingers were out, and touching down on his shirt buttons. She rolled them by their edges between soft fingertips— Bryce could feel the movements she was making with her hands through his shirt.

But he wasn’t looking down at her hand. Wasn’t watching her make those movements. She was closer to him— but he was only looking into her eyes.

“What a nice thing to say,” she murmured, in a soft-spoken voice. The character of her voice was still striking him; each time he heard it, it had no less of an effect on him than the time before. But there was so much coming at him at once. Her eyes— that chocolate brown, but in such a captivating shade that Bryce felt he could lose himself in them. There were depths enough there to wander through; like a labyrinth of caverns underground.

Her face— so lovely, and he’d remembered it as lovely, but it was striking him as freshly beautiful, as if he were only now seeing it for the first time… Her body, if he looked down— those full, heavy breasts— he hadn’t remembered her being so well-endowed, but it was one more quality of hers that captured him. Every quality of hers enchanted him, and each one seemed to have equal for him, while adding to the overall experience of being here with her.

Her voice as she spoke, her eyes as she looked back at him, her face as she faced him, her body as she stood there… all of it was her. All of it was Hallie. And he wanted her— wanted her so much, and wanted her entirely.

He could barely contain the feeling.

He felt her shift her hand again— she had undone one of the middle buttons of his dress shirt. He could feel that she was still playing with it, working it beneath one of her fingernails, flicking her nail over it, twisting it between that first nail and a second, then getting it in pressed into the gap between her finger and her fingernail.

Bryce felt his attention drifting down to sit with that point of contact— felt himself focusing in on the movements of Hallie’s fingers. Part of him still couldn’t quite believe that she was actually touching him, when the thought of her touch had come to make up the content of all his most recent fantasies. This had to be just one more fantasy— it was too perfect to be real.

But even as he felt Hallie go on playing his shirt button— he was still looking into her eyes, and feeling small in them.

Then, Hallie shifted her hand again— this time it was a sudden movement, and she’d shifted it more roughly. Bryce realized she had ripped the button from his shirt.

He thought of how expensive the shirt had been— it was expensive like all the clothes he wore, but this particular shirt had cost him five thousand dollars to acquire. Five thousand dollars, and she had just ripped one of its buttons off of it. That button itself easily had a value of at least a few hundred dollars all on its own— and here she was, flicking it away. He knew she had flicked it away not because he saw her do it— he was still caught in her eyes— but because he heard the button land on the stone floor of the lobby.

But he was still looking into her eyes— so beautiful… so brown… but such a deep brown, a shade that seemed to draw him in further and further. That mystery he had seen before as just a flicker… its answer was held somewhere in them, he was sure of it. He only had to follow it… look deeper into her eyes… and it would be somewhere in there waiting for him…

Even the violence with which she had torn the button away had not drawn Bryce’s focus back from her eyes for even so much as a flicker downwards. And even as he was distantly aware of the fact that she had damaged his shirt, he found that he didn’t care all.

He felt the same way about it as he felt about her: he wanted her to have anything that she wanted, and if it was in his power to give, he wanted to give it. She had wanted to rip a button off of his shirt, and throw it away— so Bryce wanted that too.

But now that she’d gotten what she’d wanted, and since she hadn’t given any clue as to what her next desire was, what Bryce wanted in that moment was to keep looking into her deep brown eyes. He wanted to look deeper… find the mystery…

She spoke again, and Bryce focused in on her words. She was trailing her fingers in a repeating line along the line of Bryce’s buttons. On each pass she seemed to linger for a moment over the stray threads that marked the place where she’d torn his button off.

Her touch was still splitting his focus— splitting it between itself, the sound of her voice, and the content of her words… but her eyes were still the place that the majority of his attention was directed towards.

“Would you like to meet for lunch tomorrow?” She asked— in her perfect voice… saying the words perfectly… they sounded so good when she said them… But they were even more perfect, as far as Bryce was concerned, because he once again had an idea of exactly what it was that she wanted, and it was more than possible for him to give it to her.

“Yes,” he spoke eagerly, inclining his body forward an inch in his eagerness. “I’d love to. Pick a time— I’ll be there.”

“Two pm,” Hallie responded quickly, as if she had thought of her answer ahead of time. “I’d hate it if you had something else planned.”

As soon as Bryce heard the word, “hate,” come out of Hallie’s mouth, his mind latched onto it. He was a man who almost never got angry. He rarely even got upset, and if someone had asked him to name the things he hated, he would have drawn a blank. He’d become wealthy at a very young age— there was not much that the world had denied him, and there had been few obstacles in his way which might have stoked resentment. Hate was not an emotion that he had a lot of experience with. And yet, now Bryce truly felt the meaning of the word hate, though he’d had little exposure to it ahead of time.

Hallie’s words were still echoing in his mind. She’d hate it if he had something else planned… Hate. The word itself struck him deeply. This was a new dimension to his feelings for her. He’d felt before that he wanted her to have everything that she wanted; but he now understood that this also meant shielding her from things she didn’t want— or worse, things she hated. He wanted to remove any such offending things from her way. He didn’t want her to have to tolerate them for a second longer than necessary.

Bryce drew his phone from his pocket to look at his calendar, and his schedule for the next day. He knew that he would have something. There were always meetings— phone calls, one-on-one discussions with his reports, his staff or with clients. His days were filled with them. There would be something at that time— but what?

There it was— he had scrolled down far enough. At two pm, he had a meeting scheduled with Chet Rodriguez about the school district that he ran. One of Bryce’s financial firms managed the school district’s financial portfolio for them.

When he saw that meeting there in his schedule, Bryce felt more of that hatred surge forward in him. It had a target now that it could be directed towards. Chet Rodriguez— and the meeting that was trying to prevent Bryce from being with Hallie at the time that she wanted to meet.

When he looked at his schedule, knowing that Hallie hated it in its current form, Bryce knew that was the way that he felt too. He hated his schedule, hated Chet, hated Chet’s school district’s portfolio. It was a deep hatred, and it was a feeling that he was feeling for the first time.

It had never been like this before— but Bryce had only interacted with Hallie one other time before, and now he understand that his feelings for her were so strong that all she had to do was speak. All she had to do was express her thoughts, and his mind and heart would be transformed just by her words.

Bryce accepted this. There was nothing about it that disturbed him: it was fitting. Hallie was so amazing, and so incredible that it was right that she should have an effect like this on him. She deserved to have that kind of power over him. Being transformed by the things she said was the only suitable response to her beauty… to her perfection.

Bryce was still looking at Chet Rodriguez’s name there in his schedule. He felt a growing sense of repulsion the longer he looked at it. He hated the look of that name there— hated the man it belonged to, the reason for his scheduled meeting— everything about him and his presence there.

It was a fierce hate; this man was taking up space that should rightly have belonged to Hallie; preventing her from having something she wanted, and causing her displeasure as a result. He’d never hated anyone so much, and he couldn’t keep the feeling in.

“I hate Chet Rodriguez,” Bryce growled. “And that school district that he runs. I hate them both.”

He’d just revealed confidential information— even through the haze of being in Hallie’s company, he knew that. But he felt no concern about this, either. Hallie was… Hallie. She was perfect in every way— including perfectly trustworthy, as far as Bryce was concerned. And she deserved everything he had, everything he knew; everything that was his was his to offer her, and hers to have if she wanted it. The impulse to share had come naturally to him, and having shared it, he felt no regret at all.

Expressing his hate had helped him to vent some of the emotion, but it was a powerful emotion, and he was still feeling it strongly. He knew it was twisting his features— knew it must have been shining out of his eyes.

Hallie’s hand was up to brush once along his face. “I can see how much you hate him,” she said, and her voice was sympathetic.

He did hate it, and he was glad that Hallie knew it. It felt good to have his hate recognized by her. Chet had deliberately tried to interrupt his time with Hallie; had tried to artificially insert himself between them and keep them apart. It was inexcusable— it was unforgivable.

Bryce looked back up to Hallie from his schedule. “My whole afternoon just freed up. Chet and his school district are no longer our clients. He should have known that I hate interruptions, especially when they’re interruptions that keep me away from a beautiful woman like you. I can’t believe that he tried to keep us from spending time together— but he’ll never have the chance to interrupt us again.”

Hallie smiled again— it took up Bryce’s focus entirely. “That’s wonderful,” she said, and Bryce felt a rush of happiness. He’d pleased her— made her happy— made her smile.

It was all he ever wanted to do.

“Since you’re free tomorrow, let’s meet for lunch like we were talking about. Tomorrow afternoon, at two, at The Blue Room Bar & Grill.”

Bryce didn’t even so much as blink. He didn’t have any thoughts of protest, or ideas of alternate suggestions for restaurants. They were going to meet for lunch tomorrow at two, and they were going to meet at the Blue Room Bar & Grill. Bryce would be there at that time, and that was all there was to it.

“Of course,” Bryce responded. “I’ll be there.”

One more smile from Hallie— then she leaned in closer to him, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll look forward to it,” she told him, and she pushed against his chest with her hands to propel herself into stepping away from him.

Bryce felt a sense of panic. She was leaving? He wasn’t ready for her to leave— wasn’t ready to be apart from her again, even for so short as a day. Not when it felt so good to be with her.

“Where are you going?” Bryce asked— his distress clear in his voice.

“It’s time for me to leave,” Hallie said, still smiling about it. “I’m going to walk back to my car now, and drive home.”

“Don’t take your car,” Bryce interjected. “Take my car— my driver will take you anywhere that you want to go.”

Hallie gave a shake of her head. “I want to drive myself, Bryce,” she insisted.

Bryce relented— clearly this was what she wanted now, and so all Bryce could do was simply accept that fact.

Still. He wasn’t quite ready for her to leave, so instead, he pulled her into an embrace.

To his delight, she hugged him when he pulled her closer. “I’m really looking forward to our lunch,” she said. “I’ll see you then.”

She pulled away again, and reluctantly Bryce let her go.

He watched her a moment as she continued out across the school lobby to exit through its front doors. Then when she left, he looked away again.

Bryce could feel the hatred rising up in him again. The look of hatred was still disfiguring his features; he could feel it twisting his face. While Hallie had still been in front of him, she had acted as a distraction— it was hard to be hateful or angry while she was there to look at; while she was looking back at him. It was hard to keep any kind of focus while she was there, especially when she was praising him.

But now that she was gone, Bryce found his feelings of hate had been underneath his want for her, and without Hallie there, they took full control of him. He wore the look of hatred proudly— the thought of Chet Rodriguez was still in his head, and the idea of him disgusted Bryce. How awful that there was someone like that— someone who would intentionally try to keep him apart from Hallie, and prevent them from spending time with each other. This travesty needed to be addressed immediately.

Bryce took his phone out again, as he turned and began walking in the direction of the gym again.

He dialed the number of his secretary Cindy, calling her at home, since it was a Saturday and she wasn’t in the office. But even on weekends, Cindy was always available to take care of things for him. She was a good secretary, that way.

“Bryce?” Cindy addressed, when she picked up the phone.

“Clear my entire day tomorrow,” Bryce replied immediately, as he walked. “From one pm onwards, through the entire rest of the day.”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. Then Cindy spoke again— she sounded uncertain. “Are you sure?”

Bryce felt a twinge of annoyance at Cindy. She was delaying him from fixing this intolerable situation— delaying him from lining everything up to be exactly the way Hallie wanted it.

But then he thought about Hallie again— he was doing this for her… she wanted this… and the thought of that lead Bryce back to the general idea of Hallie. And just the concept of her was enough to fill him with happiness. Maybe he would give himself over to thoughts of her again— the way he’d been doing so often lately— and it was easy to let the annoyance go.

But as soon as it faded, he felt the hate surge up in him again; could feel it surging up in his heart. Thinking of Hallie meant thinking of what Hallie wanted, and what she hated— and she hated Chet Rodriguez; so Bryce hated Chet Rodriguez.

“Bryce?” Cindy prompted him again: Bryce realized he had stopped walking, and that he had left dead air hanging there on the line instead of speaking.

“Clear my schedule,” Bryce repeated. “And one more thing. Chet Rodriguez and his school district are no longer our clients. I don’t like him — he interrupted my time with someone very special.”

“Are you talking about your wife?” Cindy asked, confused. She sounded like she was genuinely trying to understand. “If he interrupted something, I’m sure it was unintentional. He didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Yes, he did,” Bryce pushed back. He could feel the anger coming back to him. “He interrupted us on purpose. If I ever see his name, or the name of his school district on my schedule— if they ever try to contact me and actually reach me, it’ll be your last day at Towner Industries.”

He hung up before Cindy could respond. He didn’t feel so much as a twinge of regret. That had definitively sorted things out: there could be no doubt about what Bryce would and wouldn’t tolerate, now. And he would not tolerate Chet Rodriguez or his interruptions, ever again.

Bryce still had one more call to make, to make sure that everything was wrapped up properly. He dialed the financial manager of his company, David, next.

When David answered, Bryce didn’t bother acknowledging him first. “Any accounts that are related to Chet Rodriguez: terminate them. Any pending trades— cancel them. And if there are any dividends pending for those accounts, transfer them to us.”

“It will be done,” David said.

Bryce barely stayed on the line long enough to hear the complete sentence. He hung up quickly, partly cutting off David’s last word.

Bryce realized that he had came to a stop unintentionally as he’d spoken to both Cindy and David. But now that he had fixed everything, he was free to place his phone back into his pocket, and continue his journey forward to the gym doors.

He started walking again— he thought again of how much he hated Chet, and of how glad he was that he would never have to speak to, see, or do business with that man again.

Beyond that relief, Bryce felt a sense of contentment as he walked away from his phone calls, leaving them completed behind him. He felt fulfilled: he’d fixed everything. He was done with Chet now— done with the man he now hated so much.

But just as thoughts of Hallie had led to thoughts of Chet, thoughts of Chet led back to Hallie. How special she was… she was truly an exceptional person, and he got to have lunch with her in just one short day!

Once again, Bryce couldn’t believe his luck. She was perfect— and she wanted to see him.

He just couldn’t wait to see her. He couldn’t wait for their lunch. He was looking forward to it so much that he didn’t know how he would be able to wait for the next day. He was just so happy that he would be able to see her— so happy that the two of them were going to get to be all alone together.

They wouldn’t have to try to fit a quick interaction into a stolen moment in the middle of his daughter’s volleyball game. They could take their entire lunch to just be together— and Bryce’s entire afternoon would be free, so there would be no interruptions of any kind. He would be completely free to stay with Hallie— think of Hallie— spend time with Hallie— Hallie, Hallie, Hallie. Her name was the only thought in his head as he approached the door, and took hold of its handle. He wanted her, and he would be seeing her just tomorrow.

He wanted her… He wanted her with the kind of wanting that hated delay. Even one day was too long to wait. He longed for the day that he would be able to see her whenever he wanted, as much as he wanted… He wanted that more than anything.