21. Chapter 21
Maryn
Iyawned, blinking.
Tapping at the window had me squinting into the light.
I jumped, dragging the blankets up to my chin. Calden’s form filled the frame, waving frantically.
Not again. I shook my head even as my cheeks heated.
He cupped his hands over his mouth, and I scrambled out of bed, throwing the window open, eyes narrowed.
He climbed through, and I backed up as he stepped in.
“You locked me out, Quick.”
My gaze darted to my nails, and I wrapped my arms across my chest. “You can’t be in here.”
As if I hadn’t spoken at all, he crossed the room, dropping onto my bed and kicking his shoes off. He reached for my tablet and turned the TV on.
“Hey!” I hissed. “Why do you keep coming in here? Watch TV at your house.”
“Yours is better.”
I didn’t have a response for that. I knew nothing about his home. Was it large, cold?
I stared between Calden and the image on my wall, raising a brow. On screen, Sera was larger than life, a full list of her qualifications on display: flute, violin, four languages, history expert, gymnastics, pottery. The list was longer than her very long legs.
My gaze slid to the vanity chair in the corner. I sat on the edge of the bed instead, eyeing my tablet in Calden’s grip.
“Give me that.”
He held it over his head and grinned. “Come get it.”
I huffed, pulling my legs up and crossing them. “At least scroll past this.”
He turned over onto his stomach and scooted next to me. His warmth pressed against my side and the memory of his fingers brushing up my arm at the ball surfaced before I could stop it.
“Get us some chips?”
I scooted away and hugged my arms over my chest. "Go eat at your house.”
He glanced at me sideways, but said nothing, his bottom lip protruding in a pout.
I sat back, eyes narrowing on Sera’s perfect face.
A knock sounded at my door, and my blood ran cold.
I stared at Calden—he stared back, muscles bunched.
“Maryn?”
I jerked my head toward the window.
Calden frowned.
My eyebrows climbed up my forehead and I glanced wildly around the room. I stared at the freestanding wardrobe in the corner.
He stood, moving on tiptoes.
“Maryn, are you awake?”
I yawned loudly. “Just a minute.”
The wardrobe began to close, and I glared at Calden, sliding my finger across my throat before pressing it to my lips.
His self-assured grin only made my lips twitch.
I turned and kicked his shoes under the bed before starting toward the door.
When I opened it, Nami glanced around the room, gaze landing last on Sera’s face.
“You’re watching her recap?”
I nodded.
“Did you see her interview?”
I swallowed. “Not yet.”
She laughed lightly. “Its the perfect Monday morning pick me up.”
She sat on my bed.
My gaze swept the room as I moved to sit beside her. His shoes were under the bed. The wardrobe was closed. Steady, Maryn. Five minutes, then think of an excuse.
I pressed play on my tablet, and announcers rattled off Sera’s odds of winning, her family history, her medical records.
I turned to Nami. “So… what’s up?”
She ran a hand over her blankets. “The party was… something.”
My lips tipped up. “Yeah.”
Nami looked up from my bedding.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
I scooted closer to her, resisting the urge to bite my nail. “Of course.”
She leaned in. “My date last week… with Elias.”
My stomach sank.
“We played baseball.”
I blinked. “What?”
She laughed. “It’s my favorite sport. “Two brothers, remember.” Her hands trembled, and she smoothed my blankets again.
“Yes.” I agreed, still not understanding the connection.
“Anyway, he must have read my file, because he took me to play baseball for our first date. It should have been sweet—” She looked up. “It was sweet. But…”
I let the silence hang in the air.
“He was terrible at it.”
A sound from the closet—suspiciously like a snort—had her glancing up, and I coughed loudly, my heart hammering as I worked to slow my breathing.
“You can really hear everything in here.”
I glared at the wall. “Mmmhmm.”
“Is that Beth’s room?
I nodded.
Nami covered her mouth. “I snore in my sleep. Do you think Lydia can hear it?”
I shrugged helplessly.
“Well, anyway. What about you? What did you do for your first date?”
I glanced at the closet, my throat suddenly dry.
“Just dinner.”
Nami frowned. “Oh.”
I nodded.
“I hope it was good at least?”
I touched my finger to my lips. “He sent it back, actually.”
Her hand sank deeper into the bed. “Why?”
“I don’t like steak.”
Nami’s mouth fell open. “And you just told him?”
I nodded. Something flashed across her face. A darkness I couldn’t name.
I glanced at the bedroom door, the silence suddenly thick between us.
“I’m going to get breakfast.” She stood. “Want to come with me?”
“I need to shower. Maybe later?”
She stopped, hand on the door, and turned back to me. “Hey Maryn?”
“Yeah?”
“We can be friends… if you want.”
I smiled. “I’d like that.”
The warmth of it lasted only until I remembered he was still there. Listening.
When she’d gone, Calden tore the closet door aside. He looked me over. “You hate steak?”
I fluffed my pillow, sliding back on my bed. “It’s none of your business.”
He dropped onto the bed beside me, stuffing my other pillow behind his head.
I turned to face him. “How are you getting out on Mondays?” He looked at me. “Every alarm in this city goes off the moment you open your front door. I’ve seen what happens to people who try.”
He held my gaze for a moment. Then reached for the tablet.
“Calden.”
“It's none of your business, Quick.”
For a moment, the weight of his dark gaze burned through me.
My pulse thrummed at my collarbone.
He touched my tablet, scrolling forward.
“Wait.” I grabbed his finger, lifting it, ignoring the warmth spreading up my arm at the contact.
The screen stopped on Ruth’s beaming face.
“As we enter week three of Joshua Silva’s Rite, Ruth maintains the lead. The nation waits and watches as she prepares to give her lineage recitation.”
A genuine smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
Calden propped an arm under his head. “She’s doing well.”
I glanced sideways at him. “It’s early days.”
“Have faith in her. She’s stronger than you think.”
I faced him. “You stalking her, too?”
He barked a laugh, and my eyes went wide.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I think of myself as a one–girl–at–a–time kind of stalker.”
The corner of my mouth began to curl up before I pressed my lips into a flat line. “So you admit it.” I sat up. “You've been stalking me.”
“Shhh. I’m watching.” He waved his hand at the screen, and I leaned back, settling into a comfortable silence as we watched Ruth’s recap.
I peeked at the strange man who had barged into my life and my room, admitted to being my stalker, but claimed he was only stalking me.
Stop it, Maryn.
The screen changed. A message from our president.
Then, the recap of another Friday Rite ball.
The silence between us was too easy. I got lost in the announcers’ droning voices, and Calden slid closer, his warmth pressing against my defenses.
On screen, two guards flanked a woman as she was escorted from the ball.
“Who is she?”
“Nobody now,” Calden said.
“What happened?”
His eyes stayed on the screen. “She lost her ribbon.”
I watched until she disappeared from the frame, something cold settling in my stomach.
Calden leaned over me. A finger traced the line of my ribs, light as a feather, and I went still.
“Here.” His voice was quiet. “A blade, or anything sharp—slid between the ribs.” The finger moved, following the groove. “will incapacitate a man long enough for you to run.”
His eyes found mine and I forgot to breathe.
Goosebumps chased his touch.
“What—” I inhaled. “Are you doing?”
He reached for the tablet and scrolled forward. “Teaching you to defend yourself.”
His tone was casual, as if it wasn’t illegal.
He settled back and I exhaled, but the ghost of his touch still traced my ribs.
When I checked my device, more than an hour had passed.
I sat up. “You have to go.”
“Plans?”
“I need to eat eventually…”
He stared out the window, then back at me. “Go get food. I’ll be here.”
I rolled my eyes. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“I did.”
I slid off the bed, grabbing a robe from my closet and wrapping the tie around my waist.
“Tell me again.”
“I don’t like spending Mondays at home alone.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“And I don’t think you do either,” he finished.
“You don’t know me.”
His feet hit the floor as he stood, moving toward me. “Don’t I?”
I backed up. “No.”
“I wouldn’t be a very good stalker if that were true.”
My back hit the wall, and I glared up at him as he caged me against it.
His hand wrapped around my wrist, lifting my hand. “I know you bite your nails when you’re especially nervous.”
My stomach twisted.
He held my fingers up, inspecting them.
“I know these trials have you especially on edge and you’ve been wrapping your fingers in Band-Aids.”
I stopped breathing.
He laced our fingers together, splaying mine wide, as he spun us, reversing our positions.
“I know you keep the truest parts of yourself locked away where even you can't find them.”
My heart was loud in my ears. Too close. He was too close.
I tore my hand from his grasp, backing up. "You're wrong."
A knock sounded at Calden’s back, and he raised an eyebrow.
I held my finger to my lips.
“Yes?”
“Maryn, are you coming to eat?”
Calden pushed off the door, crowding closer to me.
“Yes.” My voice came out higher than I meant. I coughed. “Yes. In a minute.”
Calden ran a hand over my cheek, wrapping a dark strand of my hair between his fingers and twisting it. My breath caught. I held it.
"Okay," Nami finally replied, her footsteps retreating down the hall.
I exhaled.
Calden leaned into me, his nose dragging over my hair like he was memorizing my scent.
I backed up, cheeks burning. “Get. Out.”
“You don’t want that.” He smiled, closing the distance between us. There was nothing chivalrous in the way he watched me.
Shuffling sounded outside, and I glanced down.
Calden swallowed the distance between us, and my eyes widened as I silently pleaded with him to say nothing.
We stared at the door, the heat of his body pressed against mine, raising the hair on my arms.
An eternity passed before the shadow moved, slinking away. I motioned for him to move and he slipped behind the door.
I threw it open, shuddering as Sera’s door clicked shut down the hall.
Backing up, I shut mine, leaning against it and closed my eyes for a moment. Had she heard?
“Please.”
Calden straightened.
“I’ll go if that’s what you really want.”
“I do.”
He nodded and passed me, stooping to grab his shoes from under my bed.
I watched him, saying nothing as he laced them and stood.
“If you don’t want me to come back… I won’t.”
I should say yes. I should have demanded it, but my chest squeezed.
His gaze ran over me again. “I’ll see you next week.”
He climbed out the window, disappearing over the ledge.
I didn’t take a breath until I was sure he wasn’t coming back.
***
“Tuesdays are my least favorite,” I gasped, dropping the heavy weight between my feet.
“Your breasts look bigger already,” Nami said, laughing.
I narrowed my eyes at her, but couldn’t help the curl of my lips.
Reaching for my tablet, I exhaled a breath. “My time’s up.”
I swiped to the health screen, pressing my thumb to the sensor. Nothing happened. I pressed harder.
"What are you doing?" Nami peered over my shoulder.
"Trying to check my heart rate."
She laughed, taking the tablet from my hands. Two quick swipes and a small red light blinked to life on the side of the device. "Hold still."
I stared at it.
“I know. I had to learn how to use it when we moved to the Center, too.”
The beep sounded, and one-thirty-two flashed on screen.
“You’re good.” Nami handed me my tablet. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving!”
We strode toward the door, but I glanced back, frowning. “It’s not fair what they’re doing to Beth.”
Nami looked over her shoulder at the red-faced woman hunched over the resistance band machine they’d installed in the corner.
“In a different world, women would be valued for their minds instead of their bodies.”
My eyes widened as I glanced around the nearly empty room. “Nami.”
She shrugged. “Beth agrees with me.”