Chapter 16 Sloane
Sloane
With Kolton’s body pressing mine into the wall of the elevator, I found it hard to move.
Not only did he tower over me, not only was his muscled body nearly twice my size, but for a moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.
Because the fantasy that had been running through my head as we stood there pressed against each other felt like it was coming true.
Only, Kolton didn’t slide his hands over my hips, lift me up, and wrap my legs around his waist. He didn’t drop those delectable lips of his to mine and kiss a smile onto my face.
Kolton didn’t do anything other than grip my hips.
He froze in his place, his entire body trembling against mine, and breaths heaved from his chest.
“What the hell?”
For a split second, I was worried he’d had a heart attack. That he was standing there, dead, against my chest. But his eyes were squeezed shut, a look of abject pain was painted across his face, and his hands clasping my hips were becoming more painful by the second.
It was then I realized we were in near darkness. Only a thin line of red light shone down from the ceiling above.
“Kolton?” I pushed against his chest, trying to move him, trying to free myself from his biting grip. “You’re hurting me.”
He released me then. Not fast with apologies on his tongue, like I would have expected from this man. It was a slow release, his whole body shuddering as he let go of the breath in his chest and curled in on himself.
Then he sank, all his weight suddenly dropping to the floor at my feet as he fell to his knees with a hard thunk. He pushed his body into the corner and buried his face in his legs. His entire body was shaking, his breaths ragged and quick as a whimper left him and filled the tight space.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
He didn’t respond, and I stood there over him, unsure of what to do.
I glanced around the elevator, like I wasn’t standing in a four-foot-wide box, and I might find someone to help me.
I jabbed at the buttons on the panel, somehow expecting them to light up and get us moving again, even though I knew it was no use.
The power was out in here, and I was stuck inside this elevator with my bodyguard, who was currently curled up on the floor, whimpering like a small child.
“Kolton?” I knelt beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Kolton? Are you okay? Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
He didn’t speak, but he slipped his hand from where it was tucked to his chest, his large palm coasting along the inside of my bare thigh.
I grabbed him, squeezing tightly as I stopped him from going any further, sure I knew what was going on. “Okay, asshole. One more inch and you’re fired.”
Rather than moving closer, Kolton closed his fingers around mine, dragging my hand with him as he tucked it back into his chest.
“Hey!” I tried tugging away, but his grip was holding strong, and each time I pulled, another small whimper cut through the air. Quieter, I asked, “Hey. What’s wrong?”
Kolton lifted his head enough to suck in a deep, shuddering breath, and from the angle I was sitting, it looked like his eyes were squeezed shut.
His face was slick with sweat, and his breaths came in short pants punctuated by tiny cries that didn’t sound like they could possibly be coming from him.
Something inside of me clenched. My chest, my stomach, I wasn’t sure what. I didn’t know what was going on, I didn't know how to help. I just knew something wasn’t right, and I had to do something.
I put my free hand on his shoulder again and felt the trembles that shook his body. Leaning closer to him, I peered at his scrunched-up face, and that clenching thing inside of me broke.
My brain screamed panic attack.
Hadn’t he said he was afraid of tight spaces? Was that just about nursing or was it more?
“Hey. Hey, it’s okay.” And then I was petting him.
Petting my bodyguard who was having a breakdown on the elevator floor.
His short brown hair was silky under my palm, the skin on his face so smooth as I ran my fingers over it.
He’d shaved this morning, shaved off that five o’clock shadow that showed up each day around two.
I petted his neck, stroked his back, cooed to him as I tried to convince the both of us that we were going to be okay.
Because really, what the fuck was going on? Why weren’t we moving and what happened to the lights?
“It’s okay,” I repeated, both for his sake and for mine. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Whether that was true or not, though, it wasn’t like I could sit around waiting for something to happen. With my hand still gripped tight and stuck to Kolton’s chest, I couldn’t go far. I wiggled my hips, used my legs to scoot away, only for Kolton’s whimpering to increase.
I spun back to him. Caught a tear trickling down the side of his face and felt something inside my chest crack. I couldn’t leave him, I just couldn’t. But I needed help. I was in no way qualified to do this on my own.
My purse had fallen near the door when Kolton dropped to his knees. I extended my leg, stretching as far as I could until I finally snagged the strap with my foot. Careful not to lose it, I dragged it toward me and let out a like whoop when I grabbed it and brought it to my chest.
Kolton whined as his body began to rock, his head shaking frantically like he was locked in a nightmare.
I put my hand on him again, petting his head, his face, his neck.
Cooing to him that I was going to get help.
I wouldn’t let him get hurt. I would take care of him even if it was the last thing I ever did.
When his breathing calmed, when his trembling had nearly stopped, Kolton twisted where he sat, curling his body around his legs.
Each brush of my hand over him seemed to help.
Each time I tugged him closer, he responded by moving an inch.
By the time I had his head in my lap, his crying had quieted, though it hadn’t quite stopped.
His breath was steady, the fast beat of his heart had slowed under my fingertips, and I was almost sure he’d fallen asleep.
Slowly, I pried my hand out of his grip, only to use it to sweep his damp hair from his forehead before I combed my fingers through it the way my parents had my own when I was just a kid.
With my free hand, I flipped open my purse and dug out my phone.
I pulled up my contacts and hit a button, bringing it to my ear as it rang.
“Sloane? Where are you?”
“Hey, Mon. Um, I’ve got a problem, and I need help.”
“Where’s Kolton?
“He’s here.” My voice cracked, and I brushed my hand through his hair again. “We’re stuck in an elevator and something’s wrong with him. We need to get out of here.”
I fully expected Monica to yell. Maybe even to curse at Kolton the way I might have had I not seen him devolve into a terror-struck child. Instead, she let out a heavy sigh.
“The power is out.”
“How’d you know?” I asked, glancing up at the ceiling to see if I could find a camera, sure this was some cruel trick.
“The lights went out in the hotel a few minutes ago,” Monica said, and my heart sank. “From the looks of it, the whole block is out, maybe more. We’re not sure what’s going on.”
“Is there anything you can do to get us out?” Desperation pulsed through me as Kolton whimpered again.
Monica’s pause didn’t make me feel any better. “I’ll see what I can do. Let me call you back.”
“Please hurry!”
I wanted to cry as the line went dead. But dammit, that’s not what an independent woman did. Hadn’t I spent the past few months bitching and complaining about being stuck with a bodyguard when I was sure I could take care of myself?
Well, Kolton had done his best to take care of me, regardless how horrible I’d been.
He kept me safe, took a fist to the face from my ex, helped get me to where I needed to go and made sure fans kept their distance and didn’t run me over like they had before we’d met.
I felt safe with him nearby. I felt wanted each time we touched or our gazes met, each time he smiled at me or tried to make me laugh.
And despite the nagging voice in the back of my head that told me he was too good of a person to fall for someone like me, I couldn’t help but want that.
Not just someone sweet and kind and caring like him. Just him.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I told him, smoothing my hand down his side. His legs jerked up like I’d startled him, and a whine squeezed out of his throat. “Shh, you’re okay.”
My eyes caught on the lump in his pocket. Something different than what I thought I’d seen back in my hotel suite when he’d been crouching in front of me. Careful not to disturb him too much, I leaned over his body and reached for his hip, then tugged his phone out.
Of course, it was password protected. Of course. This couldn’t be easy. Not when it came to the one thing I understood the least. Why couldn’t I be more like Skylar? Why couldn’t I have even the slightest grasp of how technology worked instead of having to rely on everyone else?
I dropped my hand to my lap in defeat, only for the phone’s screen to light up. A little padlock appeared at the top, reminding me my face wouldn’t open Kolton’s phone, only his—
“Wait!” Shifting carefully, I held the device in front of Kolton’s face. No matter how I held it, that stupid padlock wouldn’t open up. After trying every possible angle, I gave up and grabbed my own phone. The blasted padlock opened on my first try, and my eyes went wide when a distant memory hit.
“You have to look at the screen,” Brooklyn said as she rolled her eyes at me and handed back my phone. “It’s a safety feature. It won’t unlock unless you’re looking at it.”
Grabbing Kolton’s phone once more, I held it in front of him, trying to get the right angle. “Kolton? I need you to open your eyes, okay? Please?”
He did nothing of the sort, only let out a moan instead.
“Please, sweetie?” I begged, giving him a little shake.
Still nothing.
“I’ll give you anything you want, baby,” I cooed, tracing a finger down the side of his face, across his jaw, down his neck. “I’ll even— Ah!”
Kolton jerked as my fingers hit his collarbone.
His head slammed into my gut, his hand slapped the phone right out of my fingers, sending it flying into the wall of the elevator.
It bounced off his ass and landed face down on the floor in front of him before he curled into a tight ball and let out a faint cry.
Despite everything, I huffed out a quiet laugh. “Bounced right off,” I whispered before sliding my hands under his head and lifting him slightly, just enough so I could lean over him and grab his phone.
What I found when I lifted it had my heart speeding up. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” The screen was unlocked. “I could kiss you!”
Pulling it toward me, I started to jab at the little phone button on the bottom row, only to stop when the background picture caught my attention.
It was Kolton and me the first day we met.
His chocolate eyes were just as delicious as always, his smile so wide it melted my heart.
I was pressed against him, his arm around me as he held me close for the picture.
From that very first moment, I’d felt safe with him. He was the sweetest, kindest, cutest fan I’d ever met, and seeing this picture on his phone warmed something inside of me.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I whispered, bending to drop a kiss to his face, “I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”
It took only a moment of scrolling through his contacts to find what I was looking for. Kolton’s boss, Lee Bridgewater, answered on the second ring.
“What’s up, Kolton?” His deep voice reverberated through the phone.
“Lee? It’s Sloane Rivera. I need your help.”
“Sloane? What’s going on? Where’s Kolton?”
“He’s here. But he’s… I don’t know. I don’t know what’s wrong. We’re stuck in an elevator and the power’s out and he’s—”
“Oh fuck!” The sharp bite of his words made me jump, which made Kolton’s body jolt too. “Is he okay?”
“Um, I don’t know? He’s kinda shut down. Like, I can’t get him to talk. He’s been curled in a ball, and it sounds like he’s crying.”
“Dammit. I never thought—” He cut himself off with a groan.
“What didn’t you think?” I asked, my frustration building as my worry for Kolton grew. “What’s going on?” When he didn’t respond immediately, I all but yelled, “Tell me what the hell is happening!”
Lee let out a sigh. Then, with the deep rumble of his voice filling my ear, he told me exactly what was going on.