Before Eliott could answer her, his doorbell rang somewhere behind him, insistent and badly timed enough that he actually laughed.
"I swear I didn't plan this," he said, already resigned to the interruption. "I promise, next time we meet, you'll finally see my face. Goodnight, beautiful."
"Goodnight," Alex said, a little deflated, watching the dark space where his voice had been for one more second before heading back inside. She'd been so close to finally putting a face to that voice. Still, a promise was something. She let herself wonder, walking back to her room, whether he really did look the way he claimed, and whether the reason his voice kept reminding her of someone else was simply a coincidence, or something she hadn't let herself think through properly yet.
