His Secret PuckBunny : Dark Hockey romance (TCP #2)

Chapter 10 - New Locks and New connections

 The worn-out stairs creaked beneath her weight as she ascended, the rhythmic thud of her footsteps echoing in the narrow stairwell. The laundry bag, heavy with the freshly washed clothes, swung against her hips like a pendulum marking each step.

Reaching her door, she shifted the bag to her other hip and reached into the pocket of her jeans, fingers curling around the cold metal of her key. As she raised the key to the lock, a sudden instinct made her pause. Something felt amiss.

She withdrew the key and eyed the door suspiciously. She pressed her palm against the door, giving it a push. To her surprise, it swung open effortlessly.

Her heart quickened as she hesitated at the threshold. Confusion etched lines of worry across her forehead as she took a step into the apartment. Had she forgotten to lock the door before leaving? She was occasionally forgetful, misplacing keys and overlooking minor details, but this lapse seemed unusually out of character. The unsettling thought crept in – what if someone had broken in during her absence?

Setting the laundry bag down, she moved with purpose, her fingers wrapping around the knife she had left on the kitchen counter beside some orange peels. The air inside seemed undisturbed, yet an inexplicable tension settled over the space. Her gaze swept the room, searching for any sign of intrusion or disturbance.

There was none. Everything was as she had left it. The creeping worry receded, replaced by a blend of relief and lingering confusion. Lily took deep breaths and dashed over to her door, locking it and willing herself to shake off the fear.

She needed new locks.

◦•●◉✿ . ✿◉●•◦

Lily waited outside her apartment building, squinting against the bright morning sun. A shiny black sedan pulled up, tinted windows rolling down to reveal her friend Gina in the driver's seat.

"Nice ride!" Lily said, sliding into the leather passenger seat. "Whose car is this?"

"It's for Derek," Gina replied. "And yes, we are back together and I know what you are going to say and I just missed him so much."

In a flat tone. "I wasn't going to say anything."

Derek was Gina's on-again, off-again boyfriend that Lily had been vocal in the past about how much she didn't like him. Everything about Derek was fairly normal, almost too normal.

Gina was like a magnet for the strange and unusual. From guys who collect vintage taxidermy to another who was a flat earther, she's seen it all. There was another who believed in reincarnation. Well, that one was particularly decent.

They pulled away from the curb, the engine purring as they drove through the busy streets. The late afternoon sun filtered through the trees, casting flickering shadows across the dashboard. Gina fiddled with the radio dial, settling on a pop station.

"How is the ad campaign going?" she said, glancing over at Lily in the passenger seat. "Does this mean you and Pavel are going to be working together?"

Lily sighed, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. "Kind of. Just when I assumed I had a break from his annoying face, he seeped back into my space. He is like a rash that won't go away."

Gina raised an eyebrow. "Well, I won't say anything other than the fact that the boy likes you."

"Really, Pavel?" Lily scoffed. "Nah, he's so annoying. Can you believe he told my brother about Micheal from the club?" She shook her head, clearly irritated.

"Somehow that still proves my point. He likes you and he is literally trying to sabotage your relationship," Gina declared confidently. "Or what would have been a relationship if you didn't run away."