CHAPTER 3
Hazel
I toweled off my hair. I was fresh and clean and dyed, for what felt like the first time in years. Heather had left me a box of dye and bleach, and now that my roots were gone, I felt like a real person again. A little closer to myself. Maybe now I could handle the babysitter situation better.
Babysitter, bodyguard, what difference did it make? It had irritated me to the point of rage that Grant had followed me to the bar, and had thought that Ineededhim to step in and take care of me. That was far from what I needed.
But in the end, I was glad. Grateful, even. Annoyed, yes, but relieved too.
The strangest part was what he had offered.If you want someone to hurt you, ask me.He had said it nonchalantly, like it was as easy as asking who was going to order pizza. A simple agreement between roommates. Something he wouldn’t have to think twice about. His shoulders relaxed as he offered, and his brown eyes stayed tempered.
But he was the enemy; he had helped abduct me. Now he was basically my guardian until I ‘proved’ that I was ready to be on my own.
A feeling deep inside of me argued back, that Grant wasn’t as bad as he seemed. If you put aside our screwed up history, he had protected me at the bar. And now he was offering to hurt me like I wanted. In a safe space.
A knock sounded on the doorframe.
“I’m going out,” Grant said. I gave him a deadpan stare, trying to hide the fact that I was gawking. A dark shirt, tight on his chest, showed off his muscles. Dark jeans hugged his strong legs. What would it feel like to be squeezed between them, as he pulled my head down, forcing me to take more of his length?
Get your damn head out of the gutter, Hazel. Not with him.Neverwith him.
“And you’re telling me, why?” I asked.
He shook his head, ignoring my question. “I’ll be back later.”
He went down the hallway, but it wasn’t until his loud ass footsteps were on the stairs that I realized something.
I did care.
I shot out of the bedroom and leaned over the railing. He grabbed his keys off of the counter.
“Where?” I asked.
“Nowhere.”
“Because beingso mysteriousabout your whereabouts really intrigues me,” I yelled, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
He made his way towards the door. Was he seriously not going to tell me?
“I’ll follow you then, like you did to me,” I yelled. “Maybe the bodyguard needs a bodyguard too. You ever thought of that? Invasion of privacy? Anything?”
He closed the door behind him.
I groaned, practically ripping my hair out in the process. My gut screamed to demand more answers, and my heart told me to stay. Because if I went, if I chased after him, I would only be letting myself get closer to him. To that emotional place where I might depend on someone. And he’d leave in the end, like they all did, like my parents, my exes, even Heather sometimes, and there’s no way that I wanted to go through that ever again.
Screw it. I grabbed my purse and raced to the elevator. I wanted to see where he was going.
Down on the ground floor, I waved to an idle rideshare across the street.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
“Wait for a second,” I said. Once Grant’s gunmetal car pulled out from the parking garage, I pointed towards it. “Follow that car.”
“Uh—”
“Just do it,” I quipped. I handed the driver a few twenties. “Here’s a tip.” He pulled out, trailing Grant at a safe distance. It wasn’t long before I knew where we were going. I recognized that building: the gray exterior, the lack of any sign, the same people covering their fetish wear in long coats, hiding the truth underneath. Club Hades.
Shit.
