Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(45)

Nikki angled to the side and slithered through. Inside the building, it was dark, the dusky space only illuminated by the murky rays of light. They stole through the cracks and the hazed-over windows situated up near the high ceiling that was caved-in on one side.

The urge to escape hit her, and Nikki fumbled for the stairway off to the right, her hands gliding over the splintered walls so she could find her way. Slowly, she edged up the stairs as quietly as she could. No matter how light her footfalls, the aged wood creaked with each movement.

Laughter rang through the cavernous space.

Echoes and joy.

Sydney.

Always so free and brave. Living life the way Nikki had always wanted to.

Nikki made it to the second floor, not even sure where she was going. The only thing she knew was she needed to get there.

The wood moaned when she stepped onto the second-floor landing, and she weaved deeper into the old halls where she’d hidden so many times as a child.

She shrieked when a hand latched on her wrist, and she was suddenly pulled into one of the rooms.

Ollie.

He was there, backing her into a wall, that same look on his face that he was wearing when she’d left him standing down by the river.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

A glittering beam of light lashed across Ollie’s face, one part aglow and the other a shadow. He grinned in that way that made her spirit sing a million songs.

“What does it look like I’m doing,” he whispered. “Finding you.”

He’d always had an uncanny way of sniffing out her hiding places.

“We’re not playing,” she managed. She swallowed the big lump that had grown in her throat. Trying to pretend she didn’t have that feeling again. “We haven’t played that game in years.”

Two only.

But that summer felt like a lifetime ago. Before everything got strange and different and better and worse.

She could almost hear the tinkle of Sydney’s laughter. “That’s what growing up is. It hurts and it’s amazing at the very same time. That’s called living, Nik. Don’t ever be afraid to live.”

“No? With the way you went running, I sure thought we were.” Ollie’s voice was a rumble, so much deeper than it’d been.

She shook her head. “I was just looking for everyone.”

She tried to shake out of his hold, duck away. The funniest thing about that was he wasn’t even touching her.

“Where’s Meredith?” she asked, her voice feeling too fragile.

His lips pressed into a thin line that looked like frustration. “Downstairs. She decided she didn’t want to come up.”

“You should be down there with her.”

Nikki didn’t know a whole lot about relationships, but at least she knew that. Ditching your girlfriend in a deserted warehouse was not cool.

She could see the shift. As if the lightness he’d found her with had only been a mask, and she stood there watching it be peeled away. Beneath it was confusion. A kind of disorder and anger she hadn’t seen him wear before.

Something about it made her shake.

He suddenly reached out and took her by the chin. “Is it true?”

She jarred back a fraction. “What?”

“That you have a boyfriend?”

Her gaze dropped to the side.

“Look at me,” he demanded, and her eyes fluttered open, just like the flutter in her belly.

He stared at her, eyes drawing together, teeth gritted. “I don’t like it.”

A sound scraped from her throat. “You have a girlfriend, but you’re telling me you don’t like it?”

His jaw clenched, and lines pinched his forehead as if he were trying to make sense of something. “I don’t like it. The way it feels. The way it makes me feel.”

His eyes moved over her. Nikki felt as if he was looking at her for the first time.

He hesitated, and his tone twisted in confusion. “You make me feel different.”

“What’s that mean?”

He fiddled with a piece of her hair.

Softly, watching the movement as if he was in awe.

Her knees wobbled. “Ollie.” His name was close to a whimper, and if she hadn’t been tied to him in this unseen way, she would have floated through the ceiling.

“It means I want to take care of you.”

She tried to clear her head. “You have a girlfriend. Right downstairs. Remember? And I’m not a little girl anymore.”

He looked at her in that strange way again. “No. You’re not. But that doesn’t mean you won’t always be mine to protect.”

Footsteps clattered up the steps and came their direction. “Hey, assholes,” Rex shouted, “We’re coming for you.”

Ollie jumped back, putting a couple of feet of space between them, looking away from her as if standing that close to her was a sin.

Kale’s voice carried, getting closer and closer. “Come on, shit sticks! We’re heading to the lake. Cliffs are calling my name. It’s hotter than the devil’s backside in here. Think we walked right into the pits of hell.”

“Alabama is hell. Thought you would have figured that out by now,” Ollie shouted back.

“Ollie! Come on. It’s hot in here, and this place is super creepy. I want to leave.” Meredith’s voice echoed through the worn walls, a bit of frustration behind them.