Restart Again: Volume 1 by Adam Scott (pocket ebook reader TXT) 📕

was one I knew by memory, and the voice stirred my heart at its first word. I doubled my pace, a large smile rising to my face. The wheelbarrow bounced loudly off the uneven roots of the forest path, and the voice ahead stopped.

Rounding the last corner, I burst from the tree line at a near sprint. The wood jostled violently as I came to a sudden stop and sent the top layer spilling to the ground. I hardly noticed; my attention was fully drawn to the clothesline directly ahead of me. Standing before it was Amaya, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her face was beaming with a wide smile and softly closed eyes. A deep purple sundress complemented her free flowing, shoulder-length golden hair. From the top of her head, two rabbit-like ears folded down lazily, further amplifying her adorable aura.

“Done already, love?” She asked sweetly, skipping over to meet me.

I took her hands in mine and pulled her close, leaning down to plant a quick peck on her forehead. “More or less. The hard part’s done, anyhow.” Looking over her shoulder I noticed the basket of linens was only half emptied onto the drying lines. I cocked my eyebrow and gave her a smirk. “Those clothes giving you a hard time today?”

Amaya rolled her eyes and pushed me away playfully. “I thought you would be gone for another half hour or so, and I figured…” She looked up to the sky and smiled. “Well, it’s such a nice day outside, and I got distracted.” Suddenly, she flopped down into the grass, giving a soft squeak as she stretched out in the sun.

I laughed, marveling for the thousandth time at her perfection. Following suit, I landed lying down next to her, our faces just mere inches apart. “You know…” I put on my best over-the-top sultry voice, “If you wanted some help being distracted, I’ve got some ideas of what we could do.” I ran my hand softly down the side of her face, twirling her hair in my fingers.

Her eyebrows shot up as her eyes widened in exaggerated shock. “Sir, how unchivalrous of you!” Amaya turned her head away, her nose up in pretend indignation. “A lady would never even consider such a thought.”

“Oh, of course, of course, how rude of me!” I sprang up to a kneeling position. “I beg your pardon, m’lady. I’ll leave you to your purity and your laundry. I have some wood to stack, after all.”

I turned to go, but Amaya caught my hand and yanked me back to the ground. “Not so fast.” She pulled me into an embrace, then brought her lips to mine for a kiss. I closed my eyes, doing my very best to memorize everything about this one perfect moment in time. The ground beneath us was comfortable, but slightly uneven. The sun was relentlessly beaming down on us, but a breeze blew by and tempered it nicely. Amaya’s lips were soft and warm with a faint taste of raspberry. I could smell her perfume, a mix of lavender and berries, layered atop her natural earthy musk.

As she pulled away, I opened my eyes and drank in Amaya’s beauty. Her eyes, a light purple, were wide and loving. Her skin was lightly tanned from days spent in the summer sun, flawless in its complexion. A button nose sat cutely in the center of her face, just barely crooked to the right. Although I had seen her nearly every day of my new life, I always managed to find a new aspect of her to love whenever we were together.

At that moment, I realized that Amaya was the one thing I had been looking for my whole life, the solution to my emptiness. I grinned, dumb in love, and brushed the hair from her face. “I love you, Amaya.”

She smiled, the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. “I love you, Elden. Forever.”

---

A clatter across the room woke me in a panic. My head spun wildly looking for the source of the noise. In the center of the room where the moonlight pooled in from the window, a small silver globe was rolling in a lazy circle. I scanned through the darkness towards the chest of drawers where I had left my bandolier. A familiar figure materialized in the light of the moon. I stared on, incredulous. “Melrose?”

Her features unmistakable now in the light, Melrose smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Nice to see you again, Lux.” She approached the bed slowly. “I came to see how you settled in. I’m glad to see you found the place! Sherman told me which room you were in, and the door was unlocked, so I just...let myself in.” Her hand moved up to one of the straps of her dress, which she slowly pushed from her shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Alarm klaxons were firing in my head. You know this isn't right. Put the pieces together. I scooted to the opposite side of the bed from her, still fighting off the last remnants of sleep as I tried to make sense of my situation. “What are...what are you doing?”

Melrose grinned. “Well, after we first met, I was worried you might not get here in one piece.”

I never told her my name was Lux.

“After all, you couldn’t read any of the street signs.” She laughed, beginning to kneel onto the bed next to me.

I definitely locked the door behind me when I came in. 

“From first glance, you didn’t look very imposing, and there are some...unsavory characters in this part of the city.” The red strap of her dress fell down her shoulder.

My bandolier was in the drawer, and the drawer was closed. I tried to scoot further away, but I had reached the edge of the mattress.

Melrose ran her hand across my bare chest. “But now, I guess I feel sort of silly having thought that. You can definitely take care of yourself.”

All at once, the