How many times do I need to tell myself that?
The clerk from the front desk peaks her head in when the doors are finally opened. I want to narrow my eyes at her and tell her to get lost. “Oh, thank goodness. Mr. Michaels, your stay is free here, for however long you need to stay.”
Yeah, I bet she wants him to stay forever.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Rowan nods, lifting himself up on the floor to push himself through the gap since we are between floors.
All those scary movies start to run through my mind. I imagine the elevator falling, breaking Rowan’s body in half and me plummeting to the bottom of the building. I’d crumble and dissipate with the metal tin.
He’s there, and then in one quick moment, his feet disappear, and all I hear is a loud metallic crash. I can’t see him.
“Rowan!” I scream, throwing my hand over my mouth from the fear possessing my body.
“Oh, Eve,” his voice drifts down, as he gets through the gap and then lays down flat, holding his hands out to help me up. “You’re watching those scary movies again.”
I could cry with relief, seeing him alive and well. I grip his arms and nod, fighting back the tears. When our skin touches, it’s an entirely new sensation. Desire, nostalgia, and love. He feels it too because his breath catches, and his eyes dilate. Electricity zaps between us. Maybe static, maybe something else.
I’ll never know.
And Rowan doesn’t seem to want to feel it anymore because he yanks me up through the gap until my body is safely out of the elevator and puts me on the floor.
“Are you guys okay?” one of the firefighters calls over.
“Fine. Just a little dehydrated is all,” Rowan answers and gets up to his feet, completely ignoring me and shutting me out.
It makes sense. We are around other people now. The spell is broken, and he has awakened from the trance. “How long before we can get upstairs?” he asks.
“Another twenty or so minutes, I’m afraid.”
“We can always take the stairs,” I suggest. “How much further is the penthouse?”
“Eight more floors,” Becky explains.
Becky. What kind of name is Becky, anyway?
“But I’ll be glad to buy you a drink to pay for your trouble?” she asks Rowan.
Rowan puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head up to the ceiling. His face is red from the heat, and sweat is dripping off his temples, cascading down his cheek. He lets out a laugh under his breath and shakes his head.
“Listen, I’m sure you’re a nice girl. Maybe. But we are here to find our parents that are lost on that mountain right now. So no, I don’t want to get a drink with you, today, tomorrow, or any other day. I have more pressing matters at hand.”
He walks toward the stairwell, and Becky’s jaw hits the floor from his audacity. Ha. I turn my nose up and follow Rowan to the stairwell that leads to the penthouse. I should feel bad for the girl, but I don’t, even though I know what it’s like to be on the side of him that doesn’t like you.
I’m still on that side, but she doesn’t need to know that.
Rowan is in front of me, and my eyes wander to his firm bubble butt. The muscle flexes as he opens the door to showcase the stairs. “You ready for this?”
The words make me stumble, and I run right into his back, feeling the soft globes of his butt that are still somehow firm. How? Mine is just soft…
“What?”
“The stairwell. Are you ready? It’s a lot of steps.”
As long as I get to follow behind him to watch his backside, I’ll be alright.
I just need to make sure he doesn’t know I’m looking at it.
“I’m fine. Let’s go. I want to take a shower.”
He nods and takes the first step. The sound of our shoes echo off the walls with every step we take. We are huffing by the time we get to the third floor. I’m exhausted. I’m sweating. I smell like elevator. I had no idea that was a smell, but I swear, it is. And the only thing keeping me motivated is Rowan’s butt. I have no right to look at it.
But it has always been my favorite feature on him.
We walk in silence. And the only thing passing between us is our struggling breath. Well, I’m struggling. He is doing this like he takes ten thousand steps a day without a breaking a sweat.
“How are you holding up?”
“Just peachy,” I insist. “Are we there yet? I thought this was only eight flights, not eighty,” I whine, grabbing onto the white rail to help pull myself along. My legs feel like jello. Even my arms ache from dragging myself up the stairs.
“Almost,” he shortly snips, almost growling.
I sigh. I guess that positive interaction was short-lived. My heart aches from how much I miss him. The moment in the elevator wasn’t enough. I need more. Talking with him was only a small dose for the large one I need. My bones have been aching for him, but it seems I’ll keep aching until I break.
Who am I kidding? I broke a long time ago.
Chapter 15 Rowan
I have to shut these emotions down right now. Talking with Everly in the elevator, although brief, reminded me of how effortless and fun it is—was—between us. And I need to put distance between us, so I shut down. She knows it, too. Everly has stayed a few feet back, giving me space. She knows I’ve withdrawn.
The tension is pulled so tight the air between us threatens to rip
