Turning his back to me, he jogs up the stairs.Moments later, he returns with a steel baseball bat.I stare at it for a long moment in part alarm, part amusement.
‘What are you doing with that?’I ask, raising a brow.
A wicked grin lights up his face.‘We’re paying a visit to those roommates of yours.’
Zayden roughly pulls to a stop, not even parking in a normal park, but instead, up on the grass, right in front of a sign that says ‘NO PARKING’ in thick, bold lettering.Getting out of the car, he grabs the bat and reaches for my hand.He pulls me after him and we walk in silence up the stairs.My heart is racing.
Storming up to the door, he bangs his fist so hard on it, it rattles on its hinges.
The chatter quiets down and after a second, the door swings open.Emily stands there, a smirk on her face, which quickly vanishes when she notices Zayden.She backs up immediately.
Stalking inside, his shoulders are stiff.I follow him in and scan the surroundings.There’s a group of people huddled around the living room, plastic red cups in hands.My speaker is being used to play the music and my blood boils.
‘Which one locked you out?’he asks, voice calm as he surveys the area.
‘Her,’ I say, immediately pointing to Emily.
Zayden takes a step towards her and she stumbles back, almost tripping in her gigantic heels.
‘It was a joke!’she shrieks, holding her hands up.‘I swear, we were going to let her back in after a few hours!’
‘Not a very funny joke,’ he snarls, walking towards her like a predator approaching its prey.She gulps, her calves hitting the back of the lounge.She stumbles back onto the arm rest.‘Your face is about as ugly as your personality.’
She gapes at him and I stifle a snort of laughter at that insult.He knew where to strike her.Two guys off in the corner get to their feet and Zayden swings the bat to rest across his shoulders, his eyes resting heavily on them.
‘Take one more step,’ he says, a smirk inching across his lips.‘Please give me a reason to lay you out across the floor.I’ve had a pretty shit few days and would love to release some tension.’
Exchanging glances, they stay where they are.The coldness in his voice is unnerving.I’ve never seen this side of him before.It should not be sexy … but it is.
‘Get your things Nora,’ he says, voice firm, leaving no room to argue.
Pulling out my key, I quickly head to my room and throw as much as I can into my duffel bag.Returning to the living room, everyone is huddled against the lounge, silent and watching.I’m too anxious to fully enjoy this.
The door opens and we all look at it, watching as Riley walks inside.She has a bag slung over her shoulder and a laptop in hand.She’s a writer too – one of the things we have in common.She writes for the campus newsletter so is as attached to her laptop as I am.I’ve enjoyed reading her pieces.
‘Who are you?’Zayden asks, completely unfriendly.
‘That’s Riley,’ I say when she says nothing, staring around the room.‘She’s fine.’
Looking understandably confused, she returns everyone’s stares.In a careless movement, she raises her hand to brush hair off her face and my eyes zero in on the familiar-looking bracelet that circles her wrist.I don’t get the chance to study it further as she disappears up the stairs quickly, and the sound of her door slamming shut rings through the small apartment.I’m sure it’s just a trick of the light.Emily and Steph are usually the only ones stealing my stuff.
‘That’s my speaker, too,’ I pipe up, pointing to the speaker, refocusing on the scene before me.
Zayden advances towards the lounge and Emily cowers away from him as he swipes the speaker from between her and Steph.
‘Where’s your key?’He pointedly looks at Emily.
She hesitates.
‘Do you really want to fuck around and find out?’he hisses.
Lower lip trembling, she shifts to the side and pulls out the card from her back pocket.He snatches it out of her hand.Turning, he gestures to the door and I hightail it out of there.Zayden trails behind me, slamming the door so hard, I wouldn’t be surprised if he cracked the wall.He’s shaking by the time we get back to the car, with his jaw clenched so tight, it looks like his muscle might pop out of his cheek.
‘That makes melivid,’ he growls, tossing the bat into his back seat before slamming his hands against the side of his car.
‘Hey,’ I say softly, approaching him with caution.Taking his hands into my own, I softly run the pad of my thumb across his bruised knuckles.‘Thank you for coming back with me and getting my stuff.I couldn’t have done it without you.We got everything we needed, and I’m hoping they learnt their lesson.’
‘Girls can be so nasty,’ he bites out.‘And for what?’
