Excerpt of Inked Armor by Helena Hunting

Helena Hunting INKED ARMOR

A few days, a week, just a little longer. Everyone told me
she needed time. Her silence told me she needed time.

F*ck time.

Time went on and on. An endless cycle of sleep, wake, bear
the agony, and repeat. I f*cking hated time.

Tenley had been gone for three weeks. Every day without her
was sensory deprivation, drawn out and torturous from
beginning to end. The first week, I called her every day.
Her phone always went to voice mail. She never called back.
I stopped calling because it sucked to know I’d been
discarded so easily.

Memories of her were everywhere: home, work, Serendipity. I
couldn’t escape. So at least I understood why she came to
Chicago in the first place: to get away from the ceaseless
reminders. I couldn’t figure out what had compelled her to
go back, though. She could run from me all she wanted, but
returning to the place she’d fled from didn’t make much
sense. Unless she was looking to shackle herself to the
guilt again. It was easy to deny the possibility of a future
when she let the past drag her down. I knew. I’d done that
for years until Tenley came along.