Chapter Twenty-One
Liv
Ididn’t sleep well, and I hated myself for it. Why was I letting him get to me? That wasn’t who I was. My days of letting men walk all over me finished a long time ago. But just lately, I felt like those walls were crumbling, struggling under the weight of everything that was going wrong in my life. I needed to get myself some stronger bricks. Maybe reinforced steel to rival Fort Knox would probably be better if I was going to go up against Adam Noble and his soldiers. Anything less would be suicidal.
After spending most of the day doing some heavy-duty procrastinating, I decided to get my shit together and get the boys ready for their sleepover at their friend’s house. They had better social lives than me these days, and they were off to spend the night in a tent in one of the lad’s back gardens. Better them than me. I wasn’t the camping type. Give me a warm bed and heating any day.
I rolled up their sleeping bags and added them to the mountain of stuff they were taking that was piled up by the front door. Behind me, I could hear a scuffle going on as they bustled out of the living room and headed down the hallway.
“Did you remember to pack your toothbrushes?” I asked them both as they came bounding towards me. I pulled the blind at the window to the side and spotted their friend’s Mum’s car pull into our driveway.
“Yes, Livy.” Ollie grinned, then his face took on a serious, solemn stare as if he was mulling over something. “Will you be all right on your own tonight? Without us in the house? You won’t get scared, will you?” The concern etched on his face made my heart melt.
“I’ll miss you, but I’ll be fine.” I ruffled his hair then did the same to Hayden. “Don’t worry about me. Go and have fun and then come back tomorrow and tell me all about it. I expect to hear all the ghost stories, what sweets you ate, and what you did to scare each other with those torches in the dark. I want to know everything.”
“But what are you gonna do?” Ollie asked, still not looking convinced.
“I’m going to lie on the sofa in my PJs and watch love stories while eating all the pizza to myself.” I gave them both a fake, self-satisfied smile that made them wrinkle their noses.
“I’m glad I’m not staying. Kissy films are lame.” Hayden grimaced and pretended to puke on the floor.
“See, nothing for you here tonight. Now go. Jayden’s mum is ready for you, look.” I pulled the door open and waved as the boys shot down the drive to meet her. Guess I was going to have to lug the bags to the car myself then. Typical.
Five minutes later, I closed the front door and stood in the hallway, not liking the silence that greeted me. Maybe a love-free movie marathon would be better. I really didn’t need to sit and depress myself anymore with love stories and reminding myself what I was missing out on. So, would it be Marvel, DC, or should I go really overboard and do a Fast and Furious night?
I ran up to my room and put on my favourite pyjama shorts set. Then I made my way down to our den, which my mum preferred to call the cinema room, and I started to scroll through the channels. I preferred to call it the den because it was dark, had two huge wrap around sofas, and when you drew all the curtains–like I had done now–you felt like you were hidden away from the world. Perfect for my current mood.
I decided I couldn’t be bothered to cook, so I pulled up the delivery app on my phone and ordered a fully loaded meat pizza with a side of wedges and then lay back, waiting for the doorbell to rouse me out of my pit as I watched an episode of American Horror Story before starting the main movie with my food later.
When the doorbell rang a little later, I turned the T.V. off and made my way to the front door, hoping it wasn’t Gavin who was on delivery duties tonight. I’d used up every fake smile I had in storage already today and I had no more fucks left to give. But when I opened the door, my jaw hit the floor. There, filling the whole frame of my doorway and holding three pizza boxes in his hands, stood Adam.
“What the actual fuck? Are you moonlighting as a pizza delivery guy now?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The lengths this guy would go to just to get to me was insane. Not to mention, I was standing in my pyjamas. Not my best look, but then, who was I trying to impress?
“Only for you,” he said, standing his ground and burning me to the spot with the intensity of his eyes.
“What does that even mean?” I replied, trying not to show that I was feeling thrown and totally unnerved by him being here, at my house, on my fricking doorstep.
“It means I told the actual pizza guy to fuck off. I didn’t want him here.” He smiled and cocked his head to the side. “Aren’t you pleased to see me?”
“Jesus Christ, please tell me he isn’t pinned to my fence with your knife too?” His eyes darkened as I said that, and I couldn’t confidently say that Gavin, or whoever had turned up at my front door, had escaped unscathed tonight.
“That reminds me, I need to pay that Lockwood fucker another visit.” From the look on his face, he meant it too.
“No, you don’t. If you go anywhere near Chase bloody Lockwood again, I will never forgive you. And I mean it, Adam. Stay away. He might be a weasel but he’s nothing. A nobody. I couldn’t give a fuck about him, but I don’t want any more trouble. Do you hear me?”
“I’ll think about it,” he said, but from the pensive look he was giving me, he was still debating that issue.
“You’ll think about it. Great. Now, give me my pizza and fuck off.” I reached forward to try and grab the boxes, but he stepped back, keeping them out of my reach.
“Fuck off?” He gave a low, disgruntled laugh. “And here was me thinking we might take this opportunity to get to know each other.”
“I’m not letting you in,” I said, folding my arms over my chest, determined to stand my ground. When he didn’t respond, I huffed and then made another grab for the pizza. It was pointless, he wasn’t going to give it up.
“No entry, no pizza, I’m afraid.” He shrugged like he felt bad about the ultimatum he was giving me, which I knew he didn’t.
“Then I’ll go without. It’s probably gone cold now anyway, after standing outside here, arguing with you. See you around,” I snapped, trying to close the door on him, but he put his foot in the way so I couldn’t. He was being his usual persistent self, and yet, there was a softness to him now. His eyes had a new, playful sparkle, and his smile was, dare I say it, sincere?
“Look. Olivia. I’m just here to say sorry for whatever happened last night, and to maybe, if you’ll let me, spend a bit of time with you. No funny business. No games. Just two people, with nothing better to do right now except eat pizza and… talk.”
He was being down to earth, and I had to admit that my plan to drive him away by letting him get to know me would be easier if it were on my terms, in my comfort zone.
“I’m not sharing my pizza with you.” I gave him the under the lashes stare that meant I was deadly serious and watched as he smirked back at me.
“You have three boxes and I know for a fact there’s no one else in there with you. Stop being selfish.”
Was he serious?
“Selfish? Are you fucking kidding me?” He smiled again and a little voice inside my head said, ‘You’re so screwed,’ while my stomach twisted over, thinking about what that smile was doing to me. “Ugh! Fine. You can stay for the pizza. But that’s it. The minute you try anything, I will kick your ass out of here.”
The way his smile widened, I knew I was most definitely screwed.
“Do you have your Louboutin’s ready just in case?” he joked, and I gave a fake laugh back, rolling my eyes.
“I’ve got more than Louboutin’s. Don’t try me.”
I opened the door wider to let him in, and he stepped over the threshold like he was a vampire who’d just been invited in but was still cautious in case the powers of my home compelled him back onto the driveway. I shut the door and then walked off back to the den, not bothering to make small talk, and he followed, not talking either.
Funny, but I hated silence. I always liked to fill the void with inane chatter, even when I was with my friends and family, and yet, I didn’t feel that need with him. I felt at ease as I was. Well, as at ease as I could be with him behind me. My stalker. My opponent in this battle of wits.
I sat on one of the sofas and he made his way round to the other one, staying opposite me and just far enough away that it wasn’t threatening. He placed the pizza boxes onto the table in the middle of the room, and as he opened them, he started to frown.
“Why do you have two side orders of wedges?” he asked, and I stifled a laugh. Bloody Gavin and his wedges of eternal hope. Did he really think that was the way to a girl’s heart?
“I like wedges.” I shrugged and leant forward to grab a box. “But you can have the other box. Contrary to popular belief, I do actually share.”
He shook his head and chuckled to himself, then opened up the largest pizza box and grinned wide. “Meat. Love it. I knew you wouldn’t be a plain margarita or a fucking pineapple princess.”
“I’m no princess. I’m a queen,” I spat back, raising my eyebrow to warn him not to challenge me.
He nodded but didn’t respond, then he turned to look at the T.V. screen that was on standby.
“What are we watching?” he asked.
“I was thinking I might try 10 Things I Hate About You or Happy Death Day, maybe Natural Born Killers, or I don’t know, She’s Out Of My League?”
I smiled smugly to myself, but he didn’t bat an eyelid, just settled back into the sofa, chewing on his pizza slice and said, “Yeah, sounds cool.”
I glared at him as he stared at the black screen then slowly turned to look at me. The way his eyes bored into mine made me feel hot, uncomfortable under his gaze, and the cocky confidence from seconds ago seemed to drift away as I sat forward, fumbling to pick up a pizza slice.
“I’m not here to watch the movie, but it’ll be good to have background noise,” he added, and I ignored the butterflies in my stomach that were making it hard to chew and swallow.
I switched the T.V. back on and the credits for American Horror Story were running. From the corner of my eye, I could see him smiling to himself, and I huffed, not bothering to address the fact that my tastes were probably more like his than I wanted to let on.
I scrolled through the movies, intent on putting on something that’d bore him to tears and get him to leave, but then I stumbled across Reservoir Dogs, and I couldn’t resist. I loved that movie. I didn’t care if he did too. This was my house and I’d watch whatever the hell I wanted to.
He didn’t comment on my choice of film, but as the movie progressed, I could see him watching me at certain points, seeing how I reacted. We didn’t talk through the film, but we didn’t need to. I was starting to feel surprisingly relaxed, and from the way he put his feet up and lay back on the sofa opposite me, he did too. When I found something funny, I could hear him laugh at the same time. His feet tapped out the rhythm of the soundtrack in the same way my fingers did. It was strange, but we seemed to have fallen into some weird alternate universe where we were in sync with one another and almost… connected in some way? I’d never expected to feel like this around him, like my soul was at peace, but I did. Wasn’t that the craziest oxymoron ever? The violent, vigilante stalker made me feel a calmness I’d never experienced before. Life was certainly surprising.