I had such a great response to “Aftertaste” last week on Six Sentence Sunday, that I’ve posted another six from it today. It’s a free short story that will be released (probably in May?) before Want, which comes out June 7. It’s written from a different character’s POV and dovetails with a scene from the book.

It doesn’t really need any set-up, except to say that the narrator is 28 and the girl is 17.

I take a deep breath, turn the corner, and there she is: Julianne.

Long legs, long hair, long, graceful fingers twined in the sheet I draped over her after she crashed on my sad futon. I’m still not clear on why she showed up at my place in the middle of the night, barely dressed and rambling an apology, but I couldn’t turn her away. I don’t have much to offer, but whatever she was looking for, she must have found it because, next thing I know, she’s curled up and purring in her sleep. I did take the liberty of tucking a strand of that flaming hair behind her ear. Maybe that’s where the red (so much red) in the dream comes from.

I’d love to hear what you think. And when you’re done, please visit fellow #sixsunday participants here or search the hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter. There are some amazing writers who take part and they represent just about every genre.