Chapter 4
four
I’d heard once that ‘fight or flight’ wasn’t the full phrase. There was a secret third option not mentioned: freeze.
And that was exactly what I did.
I stared up at him from the floor, my pulse roaring in my ears.
He didn’t say anything, just stood in the doorway like he had all the time in the world, one shoulder braced against the frame, eyes dark and unreadable as they dragged slowly over me—my boots, my coat, my hands splayed uselessly on his rug.
Not amused. Not surprised. Just… assessing.
“Well?” he said finally.
“I—” I swallowed and pushed myself upright, my back hitting the edge of his bed. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
“That’s funny,” he said flatly. “Because it looks like you broke into my apartment.”
“I didn’t break in.”
“You’re in my bedroom.”
Yeah, that was pretty damning evidence, I did have to admit.
“I got lost.” My voice squeaked on the last word. Whatever composure I’d had downstairs was clearly out the window now. “Looking for the bathroom.”
His mouth curved, not into a smile, but something sharp. “It’s on the main floor. Past the stairs. Not in this room.”
“I didn’t realize this was a flat.”
“You opened a door.” His gaze flicked pointedly to the folder on the bed and jaw twitched. “Then again, it seems like you’re very comfortable going through things that aren’t yours, princess.”
Heat crawled up my neck, both at the condescending nickname and from shame.
He was right to be angry. There was no justification for me being in here, and even less for me to be going through his things.
But would backing down actually help me get out of this?
If he really did get expelled from his old school for fighting, who knew what he would do to me now.
“I didn’t read anything!” I said quickly. “I swear.”
I chewed on my lip as I watched him look at the folder, which was still laying open on the bed like a beacon telling him what I’d done.
I wondered what else was in the folder that he may not have wanted me to see.
Proof of him transferring to Northern was no big deal, but what if there was other paperwork in there about why he got expelled?
Or some other incriminating evidence that he didn’t want me to see? Was he going to kill me?
Okay, so maybe assuming his next step would be murder was a touch overdramatic, but still.
“You touched it.”
“But I didn’t read it!” I repeated. “It’s not the same.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly, pushing off the doorframe and stepping into the room. “It is.”
The space felt instantly smaller. He stopped a few feet away from me, close enough that I could see the way his nose was slightly crooked like it had been broken and the scar running through his left eyebrow.
Close enough that my instincts screamed to put more distance between us—and my body absolutely refused as I remained on the floor.
“You think you can just wander in here,” he went on, voice low and controlled, “because you’re curious?”
“I didn’t know it was your flat, okay? I thought it was the staff room or something, but then when I saw that it wasn’t…”
His eyes narrowed. “You stayed.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said quickly. “I just—”
“You just what?”
“I got curious,” I admitted, my voice quieter now. The glare he was sending my way made me feel like I was about to die, so I looked away. “And before you say anything, I know that doesn’t make it okay. I know I crossed a line.”
“Curiosity gets people hurt,” he said.
My stomach flipped. “Is that supposed to be a threat?”
He scoffed softly. “You think I need to threaten you?”
The words landed heavy. Not because they were aggressive—but because he didn’t say them like he was trying to scare me. He said them like he was stating a fact.
I swallowed. “You already decided who I am, didn’t you?”
His jaw tightened.
“Princess,” he said again, sharp this time. “You walked into my space and started touching my stuff. Don’t act like you’re the one being judged.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “I just—downstairs, you acted like you knew me. Like I was some spoiled idiot who didn’t care if I wrecked your day.”
Not that I was really helping my case by accidentally breaking into his flat but I wasn’t going to point that out.
“And?”
“And I did care,” I snapped. “I apologized. Twice.”
“Apologies don’t erase things.”
“They’re supposed to mean something,” I shot back.
Something like annoyance flashed across his face, but before he could respond, voices floated up the stairwell. “It’ll be quiet up here…”
He froze. I was so thrown off by the look of worry that crossed his face that I barely even noticed when he swore under his breath and crossed the room in two quick strides. I did, however, notice when he suddenly barked, “Move!” at me.
“What?”
He swore again, then grabbed my wrist and hauled me toward the hall.
“Are you serious?” I hissed. “You can’t just—”
“Closet,” he muttered, already yanking the door open.
“This is not—”
He shoved me inside. I stumbled back, colliding with shelves and hanging coats, my breath punching out of me as he followed, crowding into the space and pulling the door nearly closed behind us. We were chest to chest.
The closet was barely big enough for one person. Two was a joke.
“Are you out of your mind?” I whispered. His jaw clenched, his body going rigid like he was bracing for impact. “This is insane.”
“You going to explain why you’re in my apartment to my aunt?” he shot back under his breath. “Because I’m not.”
Outside, someone laughed. A door opened.
His eyes dropped to mine. “Don’t talk.”
“I wasn’t—”
His hand came up, clamping over my mouth. My breath stuttered against his palm, my heart slamming so hard I was sure he could feel it. His eyes stayed locked on mine, intense and unblinking, daring me to make a sound.
Footsteps sounded outside, light and hurried.
I tried to peer out the gap under the door without moving my head since he still had his hand over my mouth.
I couldn’t see much, but I did notice when a shadow crossed in front of the door.
My heart kicked up a notch, half-expecting his aunt to open the closet door and find us in here packed like sardines, but then I heard her knocking on the door right across the hall.
You know, the room I was in literally ten seconds ago.
“Anyone here?” the voice came again. Now that it was closer, I realized it sounded younger than I was expecting.
He muttered something under his breath, which was completely unfair since he was still blocking me from saying anything.
If he was anyone else, I would have bitten his hand or kicked him in the leg until he let go, but I still wasn’t sure that I wasn’t in danger here, so I stayed completely still.
Was there any possibility he would forget I was here after a little while?
The footsteps faded back into the direction of the living room, along with a high-pitched giggle.
“Oh my gosh, you were right, it’s totally empty up here.”
Another voice, this one definitely male, laughed softly. “Told you.”
The sound of a door closing echoed through the flat. Then laughter. Finally followed by the unmistakable sound of kissing filtered through the wall.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could just melt straight into the wall.
Better yet, I’d love to be able to teleport back downstairs or turn back time to stop myself from coming up here at all.
Being stuck in this closet as a couple made out in the living room would be bad enough.
Being stuck here with him? That was just nightmare fuel.
At least he’d dropped his hand from my mouth by now.
“So,” I whispered, needing something to take my mind off what was going on out there, “since we’re stuck here together anyway, mind if I ask your name?”
I dared to peek one eye open, almost certain that he was going to tell me to shut up. Instead, he ran his eyes up and down my face before muttering, “Cole.”
I wasn’t sure what name I’d been expecting. Something scary like Reaper or Axe. Now that I thought about it, I guess I didn’t expect him to have a real name at all, just something he’d named himself.
“I’m Imogen.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Right,” I muttered. “Of course you do.”
We both fell silent again, which was the worst possible thing we could do when the only other noise in the flat was a couple kissing ten feet away.
“Well good news, it’s not my aunt,” Cole said, breaking the silence again. “It’s my cousin, Katie. She thinks she’s sneaky, bringing her boyfriend up here.”
“That makes two of us,” I muttered. “I also thought I was sneaky.”
His mouth twitched, then stilled, like he couldn’t let himself show any sort of reaction to my joke. I still figured it was progress from how it was going earlier. Every time I made him almost-laugh, I figured I was reducing my chance of getting murdered up here.
“They’ll be a while,” he added.
I exhaled slowly. “Fantastic.”
I tipped my head back against the wall, staring at the underside of a shelf I hadn’t noticed before. A stack of old shoeboxes sat above us, one slightly crushed like someone had once shoved it there in a hurry.
“So,” I said after a moment, because silence felt heavier than conversation, “your cousin lives here too.”
“With my aunt,” he said. “Yeah.”
“What about your parents?”
He huffed and glanced away. “You always this nosy?”
“Only when I’m trapped in a closet with someone who rumour has it has killed people before.
” The words were out of my mouth before I could think them through and I immediately regretted them.
No good could come from shining a light on that particular truth.
Either all the rumours were exaggerated and I was going to make him even angrier than he already was, or they were true and…
well I didn’t even want to think about what that would mean for me right now.
“I’m not going to kill you,” he said flatly. “You’re not that important.”
“Wow,” I deadpanned. “Reassuring and humbling.”