Chapter 10
TEN
Colton called for one of the school’s drivers to come pick me up, and drop me off at the campsite. It’s made all out of wood, with a gorgeous view of the lake. It’s late, and even despite the darkness, I can see this place is so well-maintained and deeply cared for.
It’s just past ten in the evening, and the ride here lasted approximately an hour.
The driver was very chatty, so I barely noticed how much time passed since we left the campus.
Getting out of that place feels great, even though I’ll be spending the next couple of days just cleaning and barely resting.
At least, I’ll get some exercise done I suppose.
I glance down at the key I got from Colton, and it has a keychain with the cabin number on it.
It’s the cabin twelve — which is a great coincidence.
I always spent summers in that cabin. Sometimes, Grace would join me, then we’d be roommates, but more often than not, I was all alone.
She doesn’t like this place, and she always dreaded the summers when her parents would send her here.
With a deep breath, I fix the duffel bag so it sits nicely on my shoulder, feeling the weight of it pulling me to the side. It’s heavy, and given that I have no idea what tasks I’ll be doing exactly, I had to bring a lot of different things.
I push the key into the hole, then a frown etches on my face. No matter how much I turn the key, it won’t unlock. It means another key is inside the keyhole from the inside. I didn’t expect to be greeted so late.
My hand pushes down on the doorknob, and I’m surprised to find it unlocked. The door opens, and I take a single step inside when my entire life flashes before my eyes.
“Hey there, roommate.”
Soren is standing, leaning against the wall right across from me, next to the window. The cabin’s poorly lit, with only a couple of lights on the walls providing light. He’s holding a glass of whiskey, sipping on it, and looking at me like he’s just witnessed something hilarious.
The duffel bag falls off my shoulder, landing on the floor of the threshold with a loud thud. Slowly, I take a small step back, my eyes never leaving Soren’s.
“Oh, hell no!” I shout.
I pull the door, closing it behind me, and stay outside. Immediately, I take out my phone, looking for Colton’s phone number. I saved it last year when I was having yet another issue with Soren, and have kept it ever since. The call doesn’t go through, and I’m sent straight to voicemail.
Fucking hell, this is just perfect.
I take a deep breath, and walk away from the cabin.
Where to? I’m not sure. There are a lot more cabins right next to this one, but considering there’s no light on, it’s safe to assume they’re locked and vacant.
There’s no reason for anyone to be here except me and the person in charge of the upkeep.
Even so, I wouldn’t even know which cabin to try out, given that there are at least thirty of them.
My finger moves, scrolling through the contact list. I won’t bother my mom and dad with this, because they’ll send someone to get me, and that would just make this whole thing so much more miserable.
Sinners and Saints are already writing about me being a daddy’s girl and using all of his money and connections.
They’re not wrong, but it’s been a hassle to be labeled as a spoiled little princess.
“You’re calling me way too soon,” Grace’s voice on the other line is a chuckle. “What is it?”
“Oh, I’m ready to kill someone,” I hiss into the phone, pacing around. “I have a roommate.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Grace mocks. “However will you survive such horror?”
“Knock it off,” I seethe. “Ask me who the fuck my roommate is.”
A beat of silence.
“No,” Grace gasps. “You’re messing with me, right?”
“I fucking wish!” I whine, stomping. “Why the hell is he here?!”
“Uh, that just means he got the same community service as you.” Even though I’m not seeing her face, I can just imagine the look of pure amusement on her face. “Which also means Colton did this on purpose! Oh my God! What are you going to do?”
“Commit a murder,” I groan, slumping down and sitting on the nearby bench, staring at the lake. My hands are freezing, as I didn’t bring any of my gloves. “I’m outside right now. Even this bench is better than being his roommate.”
“Wait, what? No, don’t be stupid. It’s cold, Sophia.”
“If I’m going to die, I’d rather die of hypothermia than be slaughtered in my sleep by that psycho.”
“You’re overexaggerating,” she snorts. “Seriously, you need to get back inside.”
“Nuhuh,” I whine, and even I can tell how much I sound like a petulant child but I don't care. “In case you’ve forgotten, these cabins were designed to house a single person.”
“And?”
“And,” I start explaining. “When you and I were roommates, what was the first thing we did?”
“We brought an extra bed,” she concludes, a laugh of disbelief slipping her. It irks me, and I pull the phone away from my ear for a moment, because when she starts laughing, it takes a lot of inner strength not to jump into the lake.
“Laugh it up, why don’t you?!”
“This is fucking brilliant,” she laughs again, and I put her on speaker. “You’ll share a bed with the man you hate the most. Oh, I wish I were a fly on the wall to see that.”
“Shut up! Please, try to be helpful.”
“Well, there are a few things you can do,” she clears her throat, trying to suppress another round of laughter. “Either go inside and sleep next to him—”
“Not happening,” I interrupt.
“Or,” Grace drawls out, “call for an Uber and go to a hotel. There should be one that’s about forty-five minutes away, right?”
“Oh, right,” I sigh, relief flooding me. “Thank God. Anyway, I’ll—”
The line ends suddenly, and I look at the screen. Dread fills me, my face paling even more. My battery’s dead. Immediately, I try to turn the phone on, but it’s not turning on. There’s nowhere I can charge it without going back into the cabin.
“Well, are you ready to come inside now, Princess?”
Soren’s voice makes me jump a little. I turn to look at him with more hatred than I ever thought possible, and his face is expressionless. It’s pissing me off how nonchalant he’s being about this whole situation. It’s even worse, the way he’s calling me a princess, filled with mockery and sarcasm.
“Fuck off.”
He stalks toward me until he’s standing right in front of me. I tilt my chin upward, meeting his eyes, and he pulls his hands out of his pocket. He’s staring down at me with an inexplicable emotion, and I have to force myself to stop shivering. Whether it’s from cold or fear, I can’t tell.
Without a word, Soren’s hands come to grip my waist, and he yanks me upward. Before I can protest, he picks me up and puts me over his shoulder, as if I weigh nothing, as if this is normal.
“What the hell are you doing? Put me down, right this instant!”
Soren’s not bothered by my protests. I lift my head, only to see him carrying me toward the cabin. It’s still a bit of walking distance from us, and he’s not wearing a jacket. How is this bastard not cold at all?
I fist my hands, then start hitting his stomach. The only thing I manage to hurt is my hands, because his stomach is rock hard. He doesn’t move a single muscle, and then he does something that makes me believe all of this is some sort of a nightmare.
His hand connects with my ass.
“What the actual hell?”
“Would you shut up? You talk too much.” he scolds.
“You just fucking spanked me!”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Sloane,” he rolls his eyes, and I hit his abdomen again. “You’re too damn loud.”
He kicks the door open with his foot, like the caveman he is and steps inside. The door closes behind us, and he plops me to sit on the kitchen counter.
The cabins are small. The main area is a kitchenette, a table for two, a couch, and a TV. There is a small bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink, and a bedroom that only has a single bed, a dresser, and one night side table.
My eyes flick up to meet Soren’s, and I hate that I can’t read his face. He stares at me, his eyes slowly dipping down, inspecting every inch of me. He’s too close for my liking, his hands on each side of me.
Flashbacks of the night in Colton’s office run through my mind, and I don’t know what to expect now. We’re in almost the exact same position we were then, and I can’t help but gulp.
“You don’t have any knives on you, do you?”
Soren smirks. “Why? Are you scared, Sloane?”
“I’m not scared, Ford.”
“Liar,” he whispers, leaning in. “Fear looks good on you, Princess.”
“You know what would also look good? My fist in your mouth.”
“Kinky.” A smirk forms on his stupidly handsome face.
“Bastard.”
“Now, isn’t it strange that we’re going to be spending all this time together? Oh, I’m looking forward to this.”
My hands ball into fists again, and I try to shove him away. The bastard doesn’t move an inch, nor does he flinch. He looks utterly unperturbed by the fact that I’m all but gouging his eyes out.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Ford,” I hiss. “Move.”
“Or what?”
“Or my knee will be touching your little dick, and you’ll be in a lot of pain.”
Soren winks. “I’m into pain, though, if I’m the one inflicting it.”
“I know. I quite literally witnessed you spank Ellie.”
“Jealous?”
My eyes nearly jump out of my sockets. “Pardon? Jealous of what?”
“Of the fact that it wasn’t you who was getting spanked?”
“You’re fucking insane, Soren.”
He freezes. Then, he slowly pulls away, taking a small step back. He’s looking at me with narrowed brows, giving me a good look-over, from head to toe, a couple of times.
“That is the first time you’ve called me by my name in years.”
I blink. “And?”
“And… don’t do it again.”
“Oh, I’ll continue calling you by your name just to piss you off. Do you hate your name? Does it fall under the same category as when I call you a bastard?”
His jaw clenches. “I’ll break your nose again, Sloane.”
“Try me, Soren.”