6. Tessa #3
“Guys?” Natalie called from the other side of the door, followed by subsequent thudding.
Tessa figured she was checking in on them, if for no other reason, to make sure Greer wasn’t murdering her slowly after that screaming fit she’d just had.
But when the old antique doorknob clicked back and forth, followed by a few pushes that only yielded the top left-hand corner breaking free, she announced, “I can’t get the door open! ”
“Are we seriously trapped in here?” Tessa asked Greer, trying to register one more thing going wrong. Hours of work. No necklace. Dirty. Tired.
Trapped?
“No, there’s no way,” he said, gently letting her legs down and waiting for her feet to touch the floor before he made his way to the door.
“Can you get it from your side?” Natalie called out as Tessa watched Greer brace himself, his hands wrapping around the knob. Her eyes darted around, looking for the spider that they were now locked in the room with as he yanked to get them free.
However, after a few pulls from his side, suddenly, there was the sound of cracking metal.
Greer flew back from the door, catching himself at the last moment to remain upright. Tessa’s eyes flew wide as she looked down in his hands, where he still held the rusty doorknob, the other half falling and clattering to the ground on the other side of the door.
“Whoops,” Greer said sheepishly, his eyes connecting with Tessa’s.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Natalie called through the small hole in the door. Tessa peered down into it, seeing movement but not much else. “I’m going to have to call someone to try to get this door open. Do you still have searching to do?”
Tessa nearly rolled her eyes. As if they could keep themselves busy by searching while they were trapped inside a small storage room without windows.
And at least one spider.
“We just finished,” Tessa called back. “We can’t find the necklace anywhere.”
“Oh, gosh,” Natalie worried from the other side. “Okay, I’m going to make a few calls. I promise you we’ll get you out of there as soon as possible.”
“We’ll be good for a little bit,” Greer added, gesturing with the knob still in hand as he gritted his teeth at Tessa. He gave it a toss, and it landed in the pebbles near the door.
From the other side of the door, Tessa could hear Natalie running off, probably to go and find help.
“What are we going to do now?” she wondered, looking to him as if he had all the answers in the world. She wasn’t sure why; normally she was the one who plotted and planned. “My dad’ll be so disappointed.”
“Your dad knew there was a chance he’d never find this necklace,” he said, stroking her dirty hair back from her dirty cheek.
She wanted to pull back and tell him to keep his distance, but…
she liked him close. “The fact that you put in your time for something like this is enough for him. I’m sure of it. ”
“You’re probably right,” she said, shaking her head and looking back at him. “How’d you get to be so good at predicting people?”
“Comes with the territory,” he said, smiling at her once more. “If I can’t predict my opponent in the ring, the fight’s over before it even starts.”
“So if you can predict your opponent, there’s a chance?”
Greer grew silent, and she could have sworn his eyes touched down on her lips. “Something like that.”
She waited, holding her breath, for whatever was going to happen next. Try as she might, she knew she had feelings for Greer that were way more than just fake-girlfriend-friendship.
Snuggling her arms around him, she closed her eyes, listening to Greer’s heart. “I’d rather be trapped inside a room with you than anyone else.”
The way Greer stiffened at her declaration had her regretting her words. She had thrown them out there as a bit of a test, given that he’d been throwing his lips all over her since they’d been together on this trip. She thought it was safe, but maybe Greer was just a physically expressive guy?
Ugh. What had she done?
“You mean that?” he asked, his voice low and only for her to hear. Figuring she might as well face him head-on, she pulled away from his chest, her breath nearly stolen by the tender look on his face.
“Yes,” she said, trying to take in everything about the way he was looking at her. It wasn’t anything she’d seen in him before. Greer was usually smiling, happy, witty. Certainly confident. Or fierce when he was in the octagon and at training. This… this look was different. “Yes, of course I do.”
He studied her mouth before leaning in, delicately pressing his lips to hers.
As if their connection ignited a spark, she quickly found herself melting against him, smoothing her hands over the base of his neck, leaning into every head tilt and lip roll.
Despite having kissed him quite a few times already, this kiss felt different from anything she’d received from him before.
He kissed as fiercely as he fought, only there was a gentleness behind it that made her believe he’d never do anything to hurt her.
It was an intoxicating mix.
And nothing about it felt fake.
“Guys?” Natalie called once more. “I’ve got my brother coming over from the fire department. We’re going to get you out of there.”
“Take your time,” Greer said, coming up for air and breathing as heavy as she was. “We’re good.”
Tessa grinned back at him.
Were they ever.