DIRTY

4 SAM/BAYLEIGH

Oh nell no.

And with that being said I headed for the elevator. As I rode the elevator to the parking garage, I continuously fisted my fingers. Frustration flooded me as I thought about the situation. This had better be a fluke. She wouldn't be dumb enough to do this. She has to know this would piss me off. Once I made it downstairs, I walked out into the pouring rain and around the side of the building. I stepped under the small shelter hood and up to the power boxes. I stepped up to the box for my floor and my eyes went wide. In big, bold, red sharpie were the words: CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!

BAYLEIGH

The party cleared out faster than I expected. The hallway was nearly quiet, and I was relieved. I sat in my living room waiting for Sam to knock after all the guests left, but he didn't. After a few moments, I decided the battle wasn't happening tonight. Maybe he'd catch me at school in some desperate attempt to humiliate me in front of everyone. Coward. My frustration had depleted all of my energy, so I pulled myself up from my position in Dad's recliner and headed for the bathroom. I brushed my teeth while I pat dried my hair with a towel and scrolled through TikTok. The rain really beat down on me, while I was busy getting my sweet revenge. I leaned down, spit in the sink, and then rinsed my toothbrush.

I laughed at a video on my phone just as I put my toothbrush back in the cup on the side of the sink. I looked up in the mirror on the medicine cabinet and gasped. Sam was glowering at me, his eyes zeroed in on mine in the mirror. He was completely drenched from the rain, as he stood there with both arms up on the door jamb. His nostrils were flared as he burned holes in me with a look of murder in his eyes. Maybe cutting off the power was too far.

He was terrifying as he stood there, chest heaving up and down. I turned to face him; a mortifying realization swallowed me as our eyes burned into each other.

"How did you get in my house?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I have my ways doll" he said with an evil grin.

He lunged at me, but I ducked under his arm, bolting out of the bathroom. This man...runs...fast. I run marathons before, even ran races that made me feel like some kind of greyhound thoroughbred. But this man was right behind me. I'm talking so close, if he wanted to, he could snatch me back by my hair. He was on my ass the minute I hit the hallway. I squealed and turned to run into my bedroom. He was right behind me. I tried to turn around and close the door, but he shouldered it so hard, it sent me soaring to the foot of my bed. I rolled and landed on my floor. He approached closer, his hands clenching and unclenching. He stopped, the gray, black and white retros right in front of me.

I looked up as he stood over me cracking his neck. A visible tattoo of a puzzle piece showed on the left side, under his jawline, his jugular vein pressed against it with tension and anger. I stayed in my horrified position on the floor. He kneeled down until our eyes met. I scrunched up and retracted in fear.

"Why can't you mind your business?" He growled, his eyes burning into me.

"Because I want to sleep and you're a noisy ass" I countered.

"Well get some fucking headphones" he replied through bared teeth.

"Why can't you just shut up? Did your neighbors back in Texas have to put up with this?" I huffed.

"My neighbors in Texas were half deaf elderly people" he parried.

I rolled my eyes getting up and leaning against my bedroom wall. Of course, they were.

"Well, I want sleep" I scowled.

"And people in hell want ice water" he vollied.

"What?" I answered, my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.