I can practically feel Freya and Archer looking my way, but I don’t turn back. There’s a deep brewing irritation under my skin, and I just need to be by myself and clear my aching head. Slamming open the stairwell door, I start the climb up to the top floor.
My mind is still in a daze, like I’ve just woken up from a dream I can’t seem to shake. For some reason, I think about Archer’s face when he spoke about the fighter he wants to find. So much conflict behind those eyes. And the filthy, delicious way his voice made me feel when he spoke about his desire to mark someone.
And Freya’s dreamy expression when she talked about her restaurant. The cute, embarrassed way she looked when she admitted she’s a virgin.
Twelve hours in an elevator with complete strangers will fuck with your head, apparently. I desperately need to shake these two. A hard drink and a long nap should do it.
I make it up one flight of stairs before I start to wonder…what are they doing now? How long will she stay at his apartment? Does she feel safe with him? Should I have stayed?
Freya is my sister’s best friend. I am, in a sense, responsible for her safety now, aren’t I?
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath as I spin around and scurry down the stairs toward Archer’s floor. Tearing open the stairwell door, I march right down to the apartment I watched them disappear into.
Just before I knock, I hear laughter on the other side. My teeth clench, something about that annoying the fuck out of me as I bang my fist on the door.
“It’s probably the staff checking on us again,” Archer says on the other side just before he opens it.
I notice the way a smile plays on his lips as soon as he sees me standing here instead of the staff.
“I was wondering when you’d come back,” he says with so much smug arrogance I fight the urge to spew names at him.
Instead, I shove past him into his own apartment.
“Please, come in, Julian,” he mumbles behind me.
“I realized it wouldn’t be wise of me to just leave her alone with you. We don’t even know you. You’re a complete stranger.”
Freya is sitting on the kitchen counter, an empty glass clutched in her hands. Seeing her look so…content fills me with feelings I can’t describe. She was comfortable with him, happy even. I should be glad. I am glad.
The shiny black waves of her hair are now piled on the top of her head in a bun, and it bothers me how pretty she is. Men like Archer will no doubt swoop in and claim her, and I should let him. It’s not like I’m interested in her. With her stubborn pride and rebellious nature.
“Are we?” Archer asks, passing by me to go into his own kitchen.
“Are we what?” I ask with annoyance.
“Complete strangers?” He moves through his own kitchen with nonchalance, filling a glass with water from a pitcher. I give him a perplexed expression as he hands it to me.
As soon as I feel the cool glass in my hand, I realize just how parched I am, so without responding, I suck down the entire thing in one go.
“Of course we are,” I reply on my next breath. “I just met you yesterday.”
It’s Freya who speaks up next. With her hands clutching the counter under her, she gives me a gentle smirk. “Well, yeah, but…after last night, it doesn’t really feel like we’re strangers anymore.”
“It was twelve hours in an elevator. Stop acting like we bonded or something.”
I don’t miss the hint of disappointment on her face as she glances down at the floor. When the room grows quiet, I glance around Archer’s apartment. It’s smaller than mine but bears the same aesthetic. Old-world embellishments and modern-day design. What’s odd about Archer’s place is that it looks almost unlived in. It could pass for a brand-new rental with how few personal belongings fill the space.
“The bathroom is the first door on the right,” Archer says, nodding toward the hall.
My eyes narrow at him, perturbed with the way he seems to read my mind or always knows what to say. He thinks he’s so goddamn smart.
Without a response, I tear off my coat and drape it over a nearby chair before heading down the hall he gestured to. When I return from the bathroom, feeling far more refreshed and relieved, I walk into the room and get this strange sense of comfort when I’m with them again.
What is happening to me? Why do I feel so stuck to these two all of a sudden?
The sooner I get Freya out of his apartment so I can return to mine without worry, the better. And yet…I lean against the opposite kitchen counter, arms crossed over my chest as I stare at them.
“Apparently, the power came back on late last night,” Archer says, amusement written in his features.
