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There was a thud of something like a hand slapping the wall. “Fuck me. Spider,” Gabriel grumbled softly.
I had no time to respond before there was a soft knock at the door. “Sang?”
I lit up the flashlight and held it upright like a candle to light up the space a bit more. I opened the door and peered into the well-lit bedroom. “Yeah?”
Jimmy squatted, sitting on his heels, and leaned into the attic space. He scratched at the tight curls on his head. “Mom thinks you’re weird for wanting to sleep in here. Are you sure you want to?”
She’d already said it was okay. Why was she sending him to talk to me? Or was he doing this on his own? “Don’t you want your own room?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “There’s no light in there.”
“I know,” I said and fidgeted with the flashlight. It shut off on me and I fumbled to get it back on again. I probably sounded like a complete goof wanting to sleep in the attic, and now I felt like a klutz. “I can put a lamp in here.”
“And no air conditioning.”
“It’s cold right now,” I said, quieter. Why did it matter to him? He’d get his own room if I stayed in here. Or did he not want me to stay in a space where I might pop in on him at odd times? “I won’t need it for months.”
“It’ll be freezing at night.”
“I’ve got a heater and a sleeping bag that warms up.”
“We can share the room,” he said. He placed a palm over his heart. “I swear, I wouldn’t ever do anything. I won’t bother you. You don’t have to sleep in there.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “This gives us separate spaces.”
He grunted and repositioned himself to sit cross-legged in front of the door. “Seriously, is it me?”
“No,” I said, but a blush heated my cheeks. I reached for one of the bags, unzipping it a little and then stopping because I had no idea what the guys had put inside. I didn’t want Jimmy to see something he shouldn’t.
“I know we just showed up out of nowhere,” he said. He stared at his knees, rubbed one with a palm. “I just feel like I’m shoving you in there.”
Oh. He sort of was, but was it his fault? He was trying to be nice and it probably seemed like I was recoiling from him. Not a great way to start. “It is a little weird we don’t know each other,” I said. “But I like this attic space. I don’t mind staying in it.” Especially if Gabriel and the others would be lurking around.
He pressed his lips together, thinking. “Well, maybe for a night or two? Maybe you’ll come out later?”
“Maybe,” I said softly, although I was more hoping he’d just get used to it. And also that I might not be here that long.
“I might have a lamp in the boxes in the garage,” he said, scooting away from the door. “I’ll see if I can find it.”
I wanted to say I didn’t need it, but he was already on his way out, and I wanted him to go. He left the bedroom, and I wasn’t sure about shutting the door again. How soon would he come back?
“Motherfucker needs to back off,” I heard Gabriel mutter behind me.
I closed the door for the moment, scurrying to the back of the attic space. My knees burned a bit from crawling across the carpet. I used the flashlight like a candle, leaving it upright as it illuminated my face and the space inside the attic. “He’ll see you if he comes in here.”
Gabriel crouched on the beanbag and leaned out, hovering close over me. The beam of light the flashlight created gave him a long nose and heavy shadows around his eyes, so he looked a little spooky. “I’m not leaving you here alone with him. Or her, for that matter. We don’t know shit about either of them.”
“They don’t seem bad,” I said. “They just don’t know what they’re doing.”
“That’s bad enough,” he said. “We need a safe way to get you out of here without attracting the police, or Volto, or FuckFace McCoyFuck.”
That did make it much more complicated. “Mr. Hendricks doesn’t have anyone watching the road right now, does he?”
“Not at the moment, but we’ll have to watch out if we’re going to be climbing in and out of windows.”
Then maybe it didn’t matter if I slept in the attic, if it was going to put them and me at risk by drawing attention from anyone. I sighed, gazing back toward the door, now dark, listening for Jimmy.
Gabriel reached for my face, redirecting me by the chin to look at him again. He hovered close, his nose near mine, his eyes half-open as he gazed down at me.
“Never thought we’d be like this again, Sang,” he said quietly. “In this house, alone, waiting for someone to catch us.”
I clutched the fibers of the carpet, much like I’d done sitting downstairs with him months ago. In a closet. Naked. Afraid he’d get caught, yet then, he wouldn’t leave me either.
I couldn’t have made it out without him.
His mouth twitched. His gaze traced over my face, stopping at my cheeks, my chin, my jaw. The deep analysis caused my cheeks to heat.
Those crystal eyes finally traced their way to my lips, holding steady.
He bent forward, kissing me softly enough that our skin barely touched. A brushed kiss that sent a ripple of depth and feeling through me as if he’d kissed every part of me, even if it was brief and simple.
His lips were a touch dry. I relaxed my lips, puckering only a little, afraid to go too far with a deeper kiss, but desperate to feel how he felt for me at that moment. Would he soon have to leave me because Jimmy was getting too close, or because Carol came back to demand that I sleep in the bedroom?
He backed his head away to look at me again. “Feels like ages ago we sat in that closet, and it was only a few months.”
“A lot has changed.”
“Not enough.” He smoothed his fingers across my cheek and tilted his face closer until his forehead nearly touched mine, almost too close to look directly at him, but I couldn’t turn away. The blond locks of his hair seemed to glow against his face in the light. His bright blue eyes were dim, sad. “I promised myself this wouldn’t happen again.”
“We didn’t know what was here,” I said. “But this...isn’t as bad as it could be.” I wanted to give him some hope. I needed to feel the same thing, but I needed to convince him not to do anything too rash.
“Our backs are against the wall,” he said, holding more firmly to my face. He readjusted so he could hold on to each of my cheeks with both palms. “Same rules apply, Trouble. She lays a hand on you, or it looks like anyone does anything, you’re coming with me. No hesitating like last time.”
Could I make such a promise without knowing what would happen?
What would I have to go through to be able to walk away quietly without causing more problems in the future? Last time I’d left, we’d left a door open so that I’d return if called upon to, and now I was here and stuck. I didn’t want to be in this position again.
I didn’t want Gabriel to have to go through this a third time.
We needed to find a way for me to be out without problems. As much as I desired to be with them right at this moment, I needed to be stronger if we were ever going to be out from under all of it.
It was just so hard to be that strong.
Thunder erupted on the stairs. At least we could hear when Jimmy was coming.
Gabriel groaned and pulled away. I started crawling toward the doorway so I could meet him at the door.
Jimmy opened it up before I could fully get to it and started coming in. “Found it,” he said.
He was going to find Gabriel if I wasn’t careful. “Thanks,” I said, getting on my knees and deliberately getting in the way of him coming in further. Gabriel could hide, but not if Jimmy thought he would come in and stay with a light on and poke around. “If I can just plug this in, I’ve got it from here.”
Jimmy paused. “Do I need to bring up an extension cord?”
I didn’t think I could stand him coming back and forth to bring me things. “I’ve got it. Don?
?t worry. I can vacuum the bedroom, too. Don’t you have to help with dinner?” I forced a smile.
He nodded slowly and backed up. I followed, intending to get the vacuum and hopefully to stop him from wanting to come back into the attic.
I avoided looking at his face. I was too stressed and I was sure if he looked at me too long, he’d see how tense and nervous I was and would know I was hiding something.
The vacuum was just inside the door next to the wall. I found a wide head attachment and sought out a socket to plug it in to. The whirr built up momentum. I spoke louder so he could hear me. “I’ll get started.”
“Don’t forget the corners,” he said, eyeballing me and backing away.
When he thundered down the stairs again, I closed the bedroom door. I locked it at first, out of habit, and then quietly unlocked it. He might find it too weird if I was locking him out.
I sighed.
