“Hasn’t worked as long as I’ve lived here,” she says.
This isn’t safe, anyone could walk into the building. I know she’ll have the door to her apartment, but that isn’t going to slow anyone down. I hate the fact that she lives here and she’s so vulnerable.
We climb three flights of stairs in silence, and I don’t let myself get distracted by how good her ass looks in her skirt. Nope… not at all…
She turns onto a corridor when we reach her floor; the layout is pretty standard, we’re looking out over the parking lot, and the other side of the u-shaped building across from us. There are still lights on in some of the apartments but it’s mostly dark.
We stop in front of apartment 3F and she unlocks the door; just one lock, no deadbolt. For fuck’s sake, doesn’t she know anything? The thought of her sleeping here alone is making me clench my fists. Why isn’t she living on campus with Donovan?
She holds open the door and waves me in, locking it behind her but leaving the chain loose.
“Why not the chain? It’s safer with it on,” I say.
“Yeah, but I figure you’re not staying long so, what’s the point?”
She takes off her jacket and hangs it over the back of a dining chair before putting down her backpack. It’s just thisone room; there’s one other door but through it there’s a shower unit, so I’m assuming it’s the bathroom.
The main space is filled with a small double bed, a couple of comfy pillows and a blanket sitting on top of the duvet. There’s a large suitcase on the floor instead of a wardrobe or chest of drawers, and I can’t see a TV or radio anywhere, just a few piles of books dotted around the foot of her bed. Where we’re standing is the kitchen, I say kitchen—it’s a single cabinet, an oven, fridge, and a sink, then a small table with two chairs, one now holding her jacket and bag.
I’m about to ask her about it but she speaks before I have a chance.
“So, what do you want?”
Elizabeth
I can’t believe I let him into my apartment, and all his weird questions about the locks, is he scoping the place out, or figuring out how long it will take someone to find my body after he’s killed me. I know, I’m catastrophizing, but I can’t help it.
I’m mostly embarrassed. Donovan is the only other person who knows I live here. He hates it, but knows I have no other choice, and if I’m ever scared or worried, I can call him anytime and he’ll be there for me, or if there’s shit going down here, he lets me stay in his dorm room.
The place isn’t safe; it’s why I carry everything I have of value with me all the time. My backpack holds my phone, purse, laptop, and photo album, and they never leave my side. The stuff I have in the apartment—clothes, books, and food—is all replaceable. Diablo is looking around at my stuff, or lack thereof, and I need to distract him.
“So, what do you want?”
He faces me. “What do I want?”
“Yeah, you were the one so desperate to come here and talk, so talk.”
He chuckles. “Not sure why you’re getting so angry with me, princess. I should be the one demanding an explanation from you, if memory serves, it was you who kissed me.”
There’s a sensation low in my body as he mentions the kiss and I have a pretty graphic flashback of his lips on mine as I pressed my body into him. I clear my throat to distract myself.
“Yeah, and as soon as I did, I knew it was a mistake. I was pulling away to apologize when you grabbed me and kissed me back.”
“Nah, don’t put this back on me.” He’s shaking his head. “This was all you.”
“Oh my god, that’s what this is about. What, you’re angry that you kissed me back and broke one of your golden rules.”
“What are you talking about, golden rules?” he asks.
“Oh please, you think girls don’t talk, I know all about you.” I mimic the girls who hang out at the clubhouse. “Diablo doesn’t kiss, Diablo doesn’t go down, Diablo only fucks from behind. Well get over yourself, it was a stupid kiss because of a stupid dare, you don’t have to worry about it ever happening again. Are we done now?”
He looks furious, livid. Angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. Shit… what have I done? I take a step back, further into my kitchen, but he follows, closing the gap between us.
“Nah princess, we’re not done yet.”
“Well, what else do you want?” The tremble in my voice is obvious even to me.
A couple more steps and he’s in front of me, as close as he can be without us touching. I have to tilt my head back tomeet his gaze, just as I did in the closet, only this time it’s not dark. His deep brown, almost black eyes, bore into me and I have to look away, instead letting my eyes fall to the stubble around his jaw, his mouth, his lips… and he smells so fucking good too, like whiskey and leather.
