Chapter 5
Chapter Five
W ith the gloomy skies and the car’s tinted windows, I couldn’t see inside. The passenger window rolled down as I tucked the borrowed hoodie tighter around my chest. “If you’re about to apologize, save your breath,” I said snippily.
“Get in,” a man with a deep voice ordered.
As I clutched my phone with one hand, recognition flared in my gut. “Cole?” I murmured with uncertainty. It couldn’t be him. Why would he be out in this storm? “What are you doing here?”
“Saving your ass, Quinn. Now you can stand in the rain and argue with me, or you can get in and I’ll drive us both home.”
“How did you…?” I shook my head. “Never mind,” I mumbled, moving toward the car. I lifted the handle and climbed in, thinking about the plush leather seats and then not giving a shit. A little water wouldn’t ruin them…I thought. I clicked my seat belt into place before sliding my gaze to him.
Cole hit the gas, and the SUV pulled away from the curb. A muscle along his jaw ticked. He seemed…agitated. “Were you seriously going to walk home in this?”
Buckets of rain pinged off the windshield, the wipers working overtime to keep the glass clear, but the water and fog only muddied visibi lity a second later. I studied his profile. I hardly knew this guy and wasn’t so sure being alone with him was the best idea. “Are you mad at me?”
His fingers flexed on the wheel. “I’m the opposite of happy.”
Confused, I tried to figure him out. His attitude had changed since I’d last seen him a few hours ago. “Okay, so you’re pissed, but where I go and how I get there is no concern of yours. I don’t need a fucking knight in shining armor to save me from a storm.”
“Noted. Good thing I fucking hate horses.”
I took a deep, controlled breath to keep my heart from spiking. Car rides made me nervous. More so when I wasn’t the driver. Lack of control, my therapist had informed me. “Technically, this SUV could be your metaphorical horse.”
Quinn,” he said lowly.
I shivered, not liking how my body responded to the way he spoke my name. How could it betray me? I wanted to pretend it was a chill that made me react. Regardless of the reason, it infuriated me. “How did you even know to pick me up? Were you waiting for me like some kind of stalker?”
Cole cocked his brow. “And if I was?”
Was it the close quarters that suddenly made me hyperaware of him? “I’d tell you to pull the car over and let me the hell out. I don’t need any more crazy in my life.”
The wind battered against the car, but Cole handled the drive with ease. I hated to admit it was impressive. “Your hair’s curlier than it was this morning.” He gave me another glance before focusing on the road.
“What?” I blinked, my clenched jaw slackening at the sudden change in topic.
The tension crackling between us faded to a simmer. It still lingered but not quite as intense. “Your hair. It has more waves or whatever.”
A scowl carved onto my lips. “Humidity loves to remind me who’s in control.”
We were only a few blocks from the Strand, the long stretch of homes along the beachfront. “The wildness suits you, Quinn.”
He drove faster than I liked, my heart picking up speed in my chest while I watched the view zoom past, and I gripped the door tightly. “Thank you, I think.” I heard the strain in my voice, but I didn’t want him to see how freaked out I was internally.
I stared at my house. We made it in record time, and I managed to not pass out. My gaze veered to Cole. “You did that on purpose? Didn’t you?” He kept me talking the whole way home, preoccupying and annoying me. So, he had noticed how stressed riding in the car made me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Quinn. Get inside before the storm sweeps you away.”
Pulling the hood over my head, I opened the door, dashing toward the front porch. The roof overhang offered some coverage from the storm. I watched his car fly out of my drive and go back down the road we’d just come from. Where the fuck is he going? Why didn’t he go home?
And why do I care?
Relieved to be inside the dry house, sheltered from the brutal winds and rain, I discarded my shoes and hoodie in search of clean clothes to change into. I passed the kitchen.
“Oh, good. You’re home,” Sadie said, the lines on her forehead softening. “Your father was worried.” A pot of coffee percolated behind her. She had a cup between her hands.
I leaned on the door frame. “They closed the diner due to the storm.”
“Ann and Forest are okay?” she inquired, her short but neat nails tapping lightly against the mug.
Nodding, I moved into the kitchen toward the coffee pot, unable to resist the smell any longer. “You should get going before it’s too late. It’s already bad out there.”
She pressed back against the counter, following me with her cornflower-blue eyes. “I could stay if you liked,” she offered. “Luca is with his dad this weekend.”
My hand paused on the coffee pot, and I glanced up. “You’re alone?”
Sadie gave me a sad smile, brushing aside wisps of blonde bangs that had fallen into her eyes. It was always hard when she didn’t have her son at home. “Just for the weekend.”
Having Sadie here would be a comfort to me and Dad too. I also sensed she didn’t want to go home to an empty house. “It would be great if you stayed. ”
“I’ll make a pot of chili. It seems like that kind of night,” she said, her gaze shifting to the kitchen window that rattled under the force of the howling winds.
I couldn’t agree more.
Taking my coffee, I headed to my room at the opposite end of the house from Dad’s. Our house had a bedroom on each end with the hub of the living space in the middle. We’d been able to modify a few elements like his bedroom and the ramp off the porch, but there were still many things we could upgrade to make it easier for him to get around.
I closed the door behind me, setting my mug on my nightstand. A neat, folded pile of laundry sat on the bed with a familiar white tee on top. How Sadie found time to do household chores was beyond me. It wasn’t part of her job but just the kind of person she was. Sadie didn’t like to be idle.
Unable to stop myself from strolling to the bed, I stared at Cole’s shirt. It should have looked out of place sitting with my clothes, and yet, it didn’t. Alarming.
How was it I’d never seen or spoken to my neighbors ever, and now, their son was everywhere I turned? And why did he occupy so much of my thoughts?—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I whirled toward the sudden and unexpected disruption, my heart in my throat, and I swore I lost a second of my life. My fingers dropped away from the tee as I gaped at the window. A storm shutter thumped against the side of the house. The wind must have knocked it loose.
I let out a curse before quickly changing out of my uniform into a hoodie and jeans. Tugging on a pair of socks, rain boots, and a waterproof jacket, I snatched Cole’s shirt from the pile and left. Sadie’s chatty voice carried lightly down the hall from Dad’s bedroom. Not wanting to disturb them, I slipped through the kitchen and out the back door.
In angry waves, the ocean churned with turmoil, a blanket of eerie darkness settling in the sky above. The winds were wicked, pushing me around as I moved to the side of the house where my bedroom was. I kept the shirt tucked under my hoodie while I secured the hurricane shutter back in place. This was a stupid idea, but I knew if I wanted to forget about Cole, I had to remove all traces of him. He wasn’t someone I wanted to get mixed up with.
Darkness shrouded the house next door, making it look abandoned as it had been for months. The SUV was nowhere in sight. Perhaps Cole had evacuated after dropping me off. It would be a smart move, and I wondered if we should have done the same, but a glance at the ocean made it clear the window to leave was closed.
The choppy waters were terrifying as my boots sank into the drenched grass. I ran across the yard, going straight for the iron gate next door. I’d been through dozens of hurricanes in my life, and the size of the waves looked as if Poseidon himself raged beneath the waters.
Unlatching the gate, I went to the double glass doors and punched in the security code. This wasn’t my first time sneaking inside the Rileys’ house, but the other day in the pool had been the first time I’d been caught. I didn’t plan on having a repeat today.
I couldn’t say exactly why I started breaking into my neighbor’s house. It gave me an escape I needed and still needed if I was honest. Cole staying here for the summer put a huge wrench into my ritual staycations. I wasn’t some master criminal or hacker. The Rileys just made it too damn easy using their zip code as a key. Rich people were far too fucking trusting.
The amount of shit I could have stolen during my visits would probably get me out of debt, and yet, that wasn’t why I retreated to a house only yards from mine. Inside, the gorgeous mansion made me feel like I lived in another world, one where I didn’t have to count every cent in my pocket.
A dream.
Escaping here for a few hours allowed me to wish and strive for something better. It made me want to bust my ass, finish school, and land a job that would allow me to be comfortable.
I didn’t have designs to be filthy rich.
Just a life with financial ease.
Yes, I broke the law. Yes, I invaded someone else’s space, but I never hurt anyone and never took what wasn’t mine. I didn’t think it made me a bad person.
Perhaps a sad one, even pathetic .
Leaving my boots under the covered porch, I stepped cautiously inside the lightless kitchen. The floors were smooth and glossy, my socks sliding over the surface as I took a few more steps, listening for any sounds of movement.
The Rileys had spared no expense when building. All the appliances were top-notch, commercial-grade quality. Once a month, a maid came in to keep the place spotless. My reflection gleamed in the stainless-steel fridge as I tiptoed past.
The plan was simple.
Sneak inside, deposit the shirt, and let myself back out before anyone knew I was there. Avoidance seemed the best route. Cole would figure it out if or when he came home to find the shirt I’d borrowed from him folded on the kitchen table, but that was part of the fun.
I wanted him to know I’d been inside his house.
This could all backfire on me if he chose to call the cops and report me, but my hunch told me Cole liked to play games. I refused to admit I sort of enjoyed this weird thing between us. Also, I could be reading more into it than there was. It had been too long since a guy piqued my interest.
I got plenty of attention from all the wrong men. Married men. Old men. Too young men. General assholes. It turned me off from dating. Or it could be I refused to settle.
Frankie loved to tell me that if I kept waiting for Mister Right I’d miss out on some potentially great sex. How else were you supposed to know what you liked if you didn’t test the merchandise first? Her words, not mine.
And so Frankie.
I ran my finger along the island’s gleaming marble countertop, bigger than all the counter space at my house. What would it be like to brave a hurricane inside here? I imagined the walls were far sturdier than the frame holding mine together. They probably had some high-tech protection.
Removing the shirt stuffed under my hoodie, I shook it out before neatly placing it on the table.
See you never, Cole.
And yet as I thought the words, a pang of sadness struck my heart .
You’re being ridiculous.
I turned to retrace my steps, eager to get back home and hunker down until the hurricane passed. I’m sure Sadie could use help chopping onions for dinner, a task she detested but I oddly enjoyed. I also ate raw onions as snacks, one of my many weird quirks.
With my mind elsewhere and the sheer darkness of the kitchen, I misjudged the location of the table’s edge and whacked my knee on the corner of a chair. I basically walked right into it.
“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, immediately bending down to rub the sore spot and doing my best to breathe through the pain. What was it about injuring yourself that incited an instant burst of anger? I wanted to slam my hand against the wall to release the sudden onslaught of pain and fury.
Squeak.
A floorboard creaked, and I spun, expecting to see a shadow looming in the hallway, and my pulse hammered. No one was there, and I exhaled. You’re being paranoid, Arie. It’s just the wind.
Facing forward, I caught movement from the corner of my eye, but it was too late, and a hand wrapped around my throat.
For the second time this week, my life flashed before my eyes.