The elevator dings, and he pulls me out, taking me to his room. He opens the door and I step inside. He shuts it behind us and engages the lock. I bite my lip then laugh when I see Batman staring at me once again.
“What is so funny?” he asks, and I laugh harder, taking off my hood.
“Batman is staring at me again,” I say in a more serious tone.
“He’s probably wondering why you are here again,” he answers.
“Oh, Batty, I wonder the same thing,” I say, and Elliot giggles. “I never would’ve imagined you being a nerd for Batman,” I accuse as he invades my space, lifting my hoodie over my head.
“His name is Bruce or Batman. Not Batty, Petal,” he grits, and I laugh again.
“Nope, it’s Batty. I don’t care what you say. If I have to suffer with his staring, then I’m naming him what I want,” I state, and now it’s his turn to laugh.
“Such a nerd,” he says, and I roll my eyes.
“Turtles suit you better,” I whisper, and he gasps, causing me to giggle.
“A Turtle? Do I look like a turtle to you?” he asks, and I bite my lip, trying not to laugh as I shake my head. His hands grip my hips then slide up my ribs and over my breasts, giving them a squeeze.
“Yep. You do! There’s only one Bruce Wayne, and sorry, but it ain’t you.” I laugh, and he raises a brow.
“Touche, Petal. Now, let’s get you cleaned up,” he states, pulling away from me to walk towards his bathroom. He disappears inside, and I hear himturn on the water. How is it that I’m here again and fucking showering? “Come on, Rowyn. The water is hot,” he yells, and my feet carry me towards him. No hesitation. Just summoned by my dark knight that I never saw coming.
twenty-five
Grayson Mercer
Clean up
It was pretty easy having Spencer keep Misti in his room for the night. I lied and told him I had something planned with Rowyn and needed their room. I even sweetened the deal with a favor if he ever needed one. This shit—this cleaning up is like deja vu. It feels like yesterday that we were doing something similar, except we don’t have untrustworthy eyes watching and listening while we do it.
“Do you think she killed Lucy?” Kade whispers from across the room as he continues to scrub the floors.
“From the looks of it, yes—but do I think she’s capable of it? No,” I say, and he doesn’t respond. After they left, we turned off the lights and used a black light to see where and how far the blood reallystained this room. Thankfully, it’s not much, but still enough that it's a two-man job.
“There’s a lot going on lately. We still don’t know who or what actually happened on that cliff. Then we have Rodney with this shit. Now we don’t know if this girl killed Lucy. Like what the fuck?” Kade spits, and I laugh.
“Since when can’t you handle everything hitting us at once? This is kind of normal for us. It’s just been a bit,” I answer, and he huffs. I finish up cleaning around her bed and change the sheets. Then I take off my gloves and throw them in the bag, along with everything else we need to burn. I wipe my nose and instantly smell her. I’m not sure why I climbed into that bed with her and Elliot, but something told me to join. That’s not something I do. Yes, we shared Zoe, but that was different. This thing, whatever it is—is not that. We will never do that shit again.
We made a pact after she died. Zoe would be the only girl we will ever love—ever share—but here we are. I don’t even like her, meanwhile, the scent she left on my fingers has my resolve damn near snapping. I wanted to hear her moan, feel her quake against us. I wanted to taste her cries, but I needed it to stop before we went any further. The fact that she liked it is what made me realize this isn't the past. She is not Zoe, and I refuse to share a girl again withthem. So I backed off. They don’t know I chose her this year. Something is telling me they did too, or I’ve got it wrong and they actually like her. I, on the other hand, cannot be bothered with that shit. I don’t want a girlfriend or any attachment. Just thinking about a nagging woman makes me want to throw up.
“Where do you want to burn all of this?” Kade asks, and I shrug.
“I haven’t thought that far yet. We just needed to get this shit cleaned before anyone steps foot in here,” I answer.
“We can take it to Elliot’s and come up with a plan. His room is the closest to the stairwell. Maybe we just take it to the basement and put it in the incinerator. You know they have that shit cranked because of how cold it is outside,” he says, and I nod.
“True. Plus, we need answers. Why doesn’t she know what happened? I wonder if Elliot got anything out of her,” I say, and he snickers.
“Doubtful. He’s probably getting his dick wet,” he growls, and I look at him with a raised brow.
“And you suddenly give a shit–why?”
“I don’t.”
“The growl that just left your mouth tells me otherwise. The two of you are keeping secrets, yet again. I guess we didn’t learn from the last time how that fucking ends,” I spit, and he rolls his eyes.
“No one is keeping secrets. I said I don’t care and I mean it,” he shouts, and I laugh.
