The Quirky Tale of April Hale (Quirky Series #1)

2.29: a transition from like to love

"Minor details, Grandma. I almost beat them to death," Ryder wanted to protest but Grandma was having none of it.

"You still need to finish the damn business before you can even think of involving her," Grandma enunciated every word, just like she did every other day when Ryder found his willpower weakening.

"I want to be with her," Ryder said in a raspy voice that was so unlike him it almost surprised him. "When I breathe, I breathe her smell. When I sleep, I dream of her. Everywhere I go, I see her! I'm going crazy, Grandma. I don't want to be separated from her for this long. My body can't stand it."

As soon as he clamped his mouth, he saw a saucepan smashing against his shoulder. There was a resounding CLANK as the metal hit his hard muscles, and as soon as he recovered from the stinging pain, he saw his grandmother raising the saucepan again, readying for the second hit.

"You're strong, Ryder," Grandma said.

"You don't need to do a literal demonstration for that. You just hit the place where they sliced me," Ryder was holding his shaking arm, where blood started gushing out of his previous gash.

His grandmother's face turned green, and she started scurrying around the house to prepare for all the first-aid medications (something that she should have done at the first place). They spent the rest of the evening tending to Ryder's wounds, which totaled to a staggering amount of 30 bruises, 4 deep cuts, 16 shallow cuts, and one particular nasty gash (those people had brought a fucking mace).

As soon as Ryder took a peek of his body on the mirror, he knew that his grandmother had been right all along.

Even if he were back, he wouldn't make her happy now. He couldn't even go to a convenience store and come back in one piece, goddamn it.

He needed to wait.

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2.29: a transition from like to love

Alex and I went back to the club, and then I saw Housemate's waiting for us right in front of the elevator, his eyes slightly red and his expression looked like he was ready to deal some serious damage towards a living creature.

I almost took a step back and retreated to the elevator because whenever Housemate had this kind of face, things wouldn't go well.

Alex grabbed my elbow and took me back to the lobby, and as the elevator dinged away, I prayed for the survival of us three.

My mind raced back to the duffel bag that I left on club's sofa just before I went to the suites. Oh no, if I were to die right now, I wished I had finished everything that I'd put on my Tupperware. I also really liked that mushroom soup...

Housemate was glaring, and the way his fists clenched and unclenched made me uneasy. Fortunately, the lobby was spacious and devoid of any bystanders. Because anyone would have concluded that Housemate was legit homicidal when he hissed towards Alex.

"Took you long enough."

Alex smiled, but he couldn't fool me. I knew that he was as nervous as me, probably even more nervous, because his lower lips were quivering in the slightest bit. "Ah, sorry to make you wait. We need to do this and that."

If anything, the words 'this and that' nearly made Housemate even more livid than before. "You took her to a hotel room!" and then he turned to me. "Why did you agree to go to a hotel room with him?!"

His eyes were so dark that it was almost black. He was standing so close in front of me, and when he started talking to me, his hand was lodged to the wall behind me.