(Please, save me some space, I forgot to tell about progress here. I will try to post more snippets here.)
“My interest isn’t personal,” you lied, and through your dry throat it sounded worse than weak.
“Of course not,” he smirked, leaning slightly toward you once more. “I’ll tell you, but...”
You held your breath. His chest pressed against yours. His face was next to your head, on the same side where he’d brushed your hair back earlier. The bastard had planned it all — he’d even anticipated your curiosity. He was teasing you, and you were too weak to resist when his cheek was almost touching yours.
“But?” you asked, your voice wavering.
Silco laughed softly and low, his breath tickling your earlobe.
“You owe me,” he whispered suggestively, in a tone that made your knees go weak.
The sound, like an echo coming from the far end of the hallway and slowly growing louder, began to ring in your ears. And you started to be painfully aware of every single detail.
His breath was warm on your skin. Beneath the layer of cologne, you could smell a faint scent of smoke. No, not from cigars or cigarettes — the smell from outside, because the air was never clean. A hint of laundry detergent mingled with the freshness of his skin. A scent of tobacco, whiskey, and cologne always hung around him. Sometimes coffee. That’s why, catching those clean notes, you felt like a starving dog that had picked up a trail.
“I owe you… what?” you asked quietly.
Silco chuckled low and throaty. If you’d turned your face even slightly toward him, your lips would have brushed his cheek. That’s why you kept your gaze fixed on the darkening sky outside the window, not daring to move an inch.
No one asked, but I’m gonna show ya anyway. This is how I planned chapter 83 of The Skeptic, which is essentially a 7.5k words-long fight scene.
Contains spoilers for that chapter under the cut, but as you can see, it’s less step-by-step and more just some reminders to what needs to happen to move the plot forward in a somewhat chrononolgical order.
I'm halfway through drafting my chapters. There are 17 so far. I think I'll be slowly getting to the finish line. Maybe 25 chapters max. I started working on chapter planning in November, but then work and holidays got me very busy and on the road. My goal was to finish chapter planning before New Year, but I moved the deadline to the 6th of January (it's a holiday where I live). I think I will make it 💪🏻 Since I had more time, I am making an effort to sit down to work on my chapters every day.
For a small update on my original WIP, I'm finally ready to work out the rejigged chapter plan. This doesn't sound like much, but this is after going through a lot of feedback and identifying pain points and things to research. Once I've done this bit, I'll be ready to draft it!
