“Alright,” he says, holding my gaze.
I shrug it off. “I’m tired.”
“Then let’s go inside.”
The car door opens on his side and he steps out, then pauses.
No rushing me. Just… there. That annoys me more than if he’d said something slick. I step out too, the evening air cool against my face. The building feels even taller from down here.
“So,” I say, folding my arms. “What, you bring me here to show off your big-boy flat?”
He snorts. “Nah.”
“Then what?”
He turns to face me fully now. “I brought you here ’cause I didn’t wanna end today the way we almost did.”
“How did you want it to end?”
“Ideal?” he thinks it over. “You face down in my new bed, clawing at the new sheets.”
I scoff. “Funny way of going about that.”
“I know,” he admits. “But you weren’t exactly answering texts.”
“Because I didn’t wanna talk,” I snap. Then sigh. “I still don’t.”
“Then don’t,” he says. “Just hang around a bit.”
I look at him. Really look this time.
He got a haircut.
“And then what?” I ask.
“Then you leave,” he says easily. “Or you don’t. Up to you.”
I hate how reasonable that sounds. I hate even more that part of me wants to see what’s behind those glass doors.
“If it’s so damn simple, why’d you kidnap me!” I glance down at my phone once more. Another missed call.
I swallow.
“…Five minutes,” I say.
His mouth tilts.
“Cool,” he says. “I’ll take five.”
We walktoward the entrance side by side, not touching. Inside, it’s quiet. Soft lighting, polished floors, art on the walls that looks expensive and meaningless.
The doorman nods at Jabari like he knows him, “Titan.”
I roll my eyes and gag. “Can you at least put that stupid face of yours away? You’re attracting everything and everyone.”
He huffs a laugh and presses the lift button. “My fame really does bother you, doesn’t it?”
“Duh, didn’t you see how they were gawking at us on the tube? I felt like I was in a fish bowl.”
