“I’m trying to wait out the storm at Maria’s… wait, are you stalking me?!” How else would he have found me out here? “That’s illegal; you can’t follow a woman just because you’ve kissed her. This is so inappropriate!” I raise up my arms to put space between us and retreat slowly. He rolls his eyes.
“Why would I be stalking you?” He sounds exasperated.
“I don’t know, do you have a need for a skin suit?”
“You spend too much time with Hazel.” He shakes his head, dislodging snow. “I live here.” He gestures up at the building, which is also Maria’s building. I hadn’t even realized I had made it here. I might have just kept walking, getting lost and then… the shiver that grips me has nothing to do with the cold.
Without a word, he walks into the building, holding the door open behind him for me. I scurry in, eager to be out of the wind. I stamp my feet on the dingy carpet to knock the snow off of my frozen toes. James glares down at my feet.
“What the hell kind of shoes are you wearing?” His eyes blaze at my yellow sneakers like they’ve offended his mother.
“What? I think they’re cute.” I personalized them myself, painting little flowers and swirls on them, covering the obvious wear and tear.
“They’re a death trap in this weather.”
“I ain’t dead yet!” I try to come off as cheery, but I only seem to exasperate him as he storms off. I follow him on numb legs up the stairs to the third floor and stop.
“Thanks for your help earlier, and for letting me in.” He grunts in response. “Well, stay warm!” He nods and continues up to the top floor. I knock on Maria’s door, so ready to be done with this day.
I wait.
And wait.
And wait, and yet there’s no response. I press my ear to the door. No noise inside either. I knock again, louder this time.
“Maria?” I call through the door. “Are you home? It’s Stella!” Still nothing.
I pull out my phone, which is almost dead from the cold and see two missed calls and a text from Hazel.
Hazel Nut
Hey, I hope you’re not too far away from the shop! We just found out Maria was snowed in at Beck’s mom’s when the storm hit. She’s staying there until things are cleared up.
Hazel Nut
Do you need Beck to come pick you up? You can stay with us.
Crap.
I let my head fall against the door, trying to figure out what I’m going to do, when I hear a voice from above.
“Top floor, sunshine,” James calls down to me curtly. It takes me a minute to understand what he means before I lug myself up the stairs and find a door wide open at the end of the hall. Warmth is pouring out of it as I approach, and I sigh. I knock the snow off my shoes in the hallway, slipping through the entrance. Quickly removing my outerwear, I take in my surroundings.
It’s obvious he recently moved in, with minimal personal possessions on the walls, empty bookshelves, a distinct lack of colour, aside from the living room, and a few half-empty boxes scattered around. No recent signs of women being around, the little gremlin in my brain notices, and I have to shush her. We have no claim on the sexy, older man.
Is he too old for me?I ponder as I continue my perusal. It’s not something that’s bothered me.Though, with the way he played my body, I doubt I would’ve cared in the moment anyway.The apartment is definitely more mature than those of men my age, which is a relief.
It’s a surprisingly calming space, well put together, with pale blue walls and large windows with daylight still able to beam in through the disastrous weather outside. I walk up, hugging my arms around myself as I survey the winter wonderland. There are almost no cars, and not a pedestrian to be seen. Which makes me think…
“You have windburn.” I jolt at James’ voice, having been lost in my own thoughts.
“Probably, yeah.” My hands flutter up to my cheeks which are stinging in the warm air. James looks me up and down, thenwalks down the hall to what I assume is his room. He is such a weird guy. I would have to live in his head to understand any part of him.
When he returns, he has sweats and a sweater in his arms—all in black, because apparently he only lives in greyscale—and he holds them out to me.
“Bathroom’s down that way.” He nods his head towards where he came from. I look down at my soaked jeans and socks. I could kiss him.
I kind of already did…
