throbbing, and curses drop from both my lips and Rian’s. If my ears weren’t ringing, I’d probably register the echoing
plump, plump
of the basketball bouncing by our feet.
“What the hell?” Rian screams out to the shadows. She picks up the basketball and marches toward the shadowy corner where the ball came from. I quickly grab her back belt loop and yank her back.
“Get your ass out here!” she calls out, struggling against my grip. An amused grin plays on my lips, and I hold her tight against me.
“You’re not marching over there first,” I tell her. “Stay here or stand behind me. Could be some psycho.”
“Probably some punk-ass kid!” she yells at the shadows. I laugh and squeeze her elbow. She doesn’t relax in my arms exactly, but she doesn’t fight me anymore.
I take my phone back out and shine the light over, but I’ve got to walk a little bit to get the light to reach. The fire escape clangs, making my heart jump a little, but I’m proud to announce I keep my cool on the outside. Rian’s right—probably just some kid having a laugh at our expense. Landon and I would’ve done the same thing fifteen years ago. He would’ve dared me to, I would have, then we’d have taken off running.
The fire escape clangs again.
Laughing at myself for being so stupid, I run to the edge to look over. I can’t see anything or anyone on the death stairs, but they are wobbling, creaking, clanging.
“Hey!” I call down to no answer, not that I expected one. “All right, if you’re gonna run, I’ll let you. But don’t rush on those stairs. Be careful. And call your mom!”
I stand back to let them get on with it without me watching. Rian’s standing behind me, holding out the basketball, ready to drop it on top of whatever head pops from the shadows. I quickly grab it from her.
“Hey!”
“Don’t let some punk-ass kid ruin our night, yeah?”
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “You are too good, Alex with a
c
.” She blinks up to me, and her arms drop. “Um…you’re bleeding.”
“What?” I reach up under my nose, and wetness stings my finger. “Oh. Guess that basketball was just one hit to the face too many.”
She giggles, and then the sound of fabric ripping echoes across the court. I look down to see Rian tearing at the hem of her shirt.
“Aw, I kinda liked that shirt,” I say through a grin. She shrugs, balls up the piece of material, and pushes it against my nose.
“Guess I won’t be going down while we…go down, like I’d originally planned.” She lets out a faux-disappointed sigh, tugging me toward the elevator. And no offense to her, but I’ve decided that I’d like to kiss her for longer than three seconds before she gives me a blow job. Call me old-fashioned.
Chapter 8
P RESENT DAY
“We’re not doing so hot tonight,” I say when we get back to the limo…which has a flat tire.
After crawling back through the broken fence, we spotted Jackson crouched down, sleeves rolled to the elbows and a spare tire leaned up against the curb. He told us to hang out for a bit while he fixed it, and I offered to help, but the look he gave me basically said to back the hell off. So I took the time to stop the nosebleed.
Rian rises on her toes and kisses my cheek. When I look down at her with wide eyes, she says, “Do you believe in fate?”
I take the bloodstained material away from my nose. “Not really. You?”
She leans in and waggles her eyebrows. “I’m a
big
believer in fate.”
I thought she’d say something more, so I stand there like an idiot for a few seconds, waiting for her to continue, but she never does. So I start humming the tune to “She Was There” under my breath just to fill the silent air. I haven’t sung it since I was in the play in school. It was my senior year in college and I was nervous as hell, and I was in the apartment I shared with Landon practicing when he walked in with Lizzie and Theresa.
“Wow, keep singing,”
plump, plump
of the basketball bouncing by our feet.
“What the hell?” Rian screams out to the shadows. She picks up the basketball and marches toward the shadowy corner where the ball came from. I quickly grab her back belt loop and yank her back.
“Get your ass out here!” she calls out, struggling against my grip. An amused grin plays on my lips, and I hold her tight against me.
“You’re not marching over there first,” I tell her. “Stay here or stand behind me. Could be some psycho.”
“Probably some punk-ass kid!” she yells at the shadows. I laugh and squeeze her elbow. She doesn’t relax in my arms exactly, but she doesn’t fight me anymore.
I take my phone back out and shine the light over, but I’ve got to walk a little bit to get the light to reach. The fire escape clangs, making my heart jump a little, but I’m proud to announce I keep my cool on the outside. Rian’s right—probably just some kid having a laugh at our expense. Landon and I would’ve done the same thing fifteen years ago. He would’ve dared me to, I would have, then we’d have taken off running.
The fire escape clangs again.
Laughing at myself for being so stupid, I run to the edge to look over. I can’t see anything or anyone on the death stairs, but they are wobbling, creaking, clanging.
“Hey!” I call down to no answer, not that I expected one. “All right, if you’re gonna run, I’ll let you. But don’t rush on those stairs. Be careful. And call your mom!”
I stand back to let them get on with it without me watching. Rian’s standing behind me, holding out the basketball, ready to drop it on top of whatever head pops from the shadows. I quickly grab it from her.
“Hey!”
“Don’t let some punk-ass kid ruin our night, yeah?”
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “You are too good, Alex with a
c
.” She blinks up to me, and her arms drop. “Um…you’re bleeding.”
“What?” I reach up under my nose, and wetness stings my finger. “Oh. Guess that basketball was just one hit to the face too many.”
She giggles, and then the sound of fabric ripping echoes across the court. I look down to see Rian tearing at the hem of her shirt.
“Aw, I kinda liked that shirt,” I say through a grin. She shrugs, balls up the piece of material, and pushes it against my nose.
“Guess I won’t be going down while we…go down, like I’d originally planned.” She lets out a faux-disappointed sigh, tugging me toward the elevator. And no offense to her, but I’ve decided that I’d like to kiss her for longer than three seconds before she gives me a blow job. Call me old-fashioned.
Chapter 8
P RESENT DAY
“We’re not doing so hot tonight,” I say when we get back to the limo…which has a flat tire.
After crawling back through the broken fence, we spotted Jackson crouched down, sleeves rolled to the elbows and a spare tire leaned up against the curb. He told us to hang out for a bit while he fixed it, and I offered to help, but the look he gave me basically said to back the hell off. So I took the time to stop the nosebleed.
Rian rises on her toes and kisses my cheek. When I look down at her with wide eyes, she says, “Do you believe in fate?”
I take the bloodstained material away from my nose. “Not really. You?”
She leans in and waggles her eyebrows. “I’m a
big
believer in fate.”
I thought she’d say something more, so I stand there like an idiot for a few seconds, waiting for her to continue, but she never does. So I start humming the tune to “She Was There” under my breath just to fill the silent air. I haven’t sung it since I was in the play in school. It was my senior year in college and I was nervous as hell, and I was in the apartment I shared with Landon practicing when he walked in with Lizzie and Theresa.
“Wow, keep singing,”
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