Page 20 of Cold Front
I kept my eyes fixed ahead, ignoring the way my shoulders were starting to feel too tight, too...aware. The air around us felt thicker, like everything was too close.
Eli didn’t let up. “You do realize how weird this is, right? One second, you’re tolerating me—hell, you actually talked to me—and now you’re acting like I ran over your dog.”
I exhaled sharply, trying to push past the frustration building in my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Eli stopped right in front of me, blocking my path, forcing me to stop short.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” His voice was steady, but the edge was there. “And if this is some hot-and-cold thing, let me save you the trouble. I don’t do that shit.”
I scoffed, shifting uncomfortably. “Hot and cold? You’re reaching.”
“Am I?” His brows lifted, an almost playful challenge in his tone, but his eyes were sharp, too. “Because yesterday, we went on a walk. We talked. It was nice.” He said it like it was a fact, like he wasn’t giving me room to argue. “And now you can’t even look at me?”
I flexed my fingers inside my hoodie pocket, feeling the pressure in my chest, my jaw tight. “It was just a walk. You were there. I was just showing you around.”
Eli’s lips quirked, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “Right. And I bet you take all your roommates on impromptu scenic hikes.”
I didn’t answer.
Eli sighed, exhaling hard, frustration thick in the space between us. “You know what? Forget it.” He turned to walk off, but then he spun around to face me again. “On second thought, Niall, you don’t have to be nice,” Eli said, quieter now, almost too calm. “Just be consistent. We can be friends, or we can be enemies, but we can’t go back and forth between both. I won’t do it.”
The silence that followed felt heavier than it should’ve been. I could’ve said I didn’t owe him anything. That this was nothing. That he was making it bigger than it was.
But none of that would’ve been true.
Eli sighed, shaking his head, and then turned and walked off, leaving me standing there with the sound of his footsteps fading.
I stayed frozen for a second longer than I should’ve, staring at the empty space where he’d been, the words he’d said echoing in my head.
You don’t have to be nice. Just be consistent.
I clenched my fist in my pocket, telling myself he was overreacting. That it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t have to talk to him like we were best friends every time I saw him.
But deep down, I knew he had a point.
And that pissed me off even more.
CHAPTER9
ELI
Heat simmered beneath my skin, irritation curling tight in my chest. I wasn’t mad, not really. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
Niall wanted to be a grumpy, hot-and-cold mystery? Fine. Good for him. I wasn’t about to waste my time trying to figure him out.
Still, the conversation lingered, replaying in my head as I walked away. I hadn’t wanted to call him out like that. It wasn’t my style. I didn’t like unnecessary strife, so I tried to keep open lines of communication with my friends. But if Niall and I were going to be stuck living together, I needed at least a baseline of consistency. If that made me the bad guy, so be it.
Over this past year, I’d been through enough emotional back-and-forth and gaslighting. I deserved to have a fresh start without drama. Without wondering which roommate I’d be living with each day—slightly more talkative Niall, or ‘Iron Wall’ Niall, who lived up to his name of keeping people out?
Should I have flown off the handle? Probably not, but I wouldn’t let myself be walked all over again. And while Niall didn’t know what went down back in L.A., it’s not like he’d given us the opportunity to get to know one another better. But still, there was really no excuse for me to go off on him like I did.
Needing some time to myself, I shot Asher and Gigi a quick group text—Got some stuff to do. Meet you at the café in thirty.Then, instead of heading straight there, I veered off toward the quieter side of campus.
The fresh air helped. A little.
Golden light filtered through the trees lining the path, stretching shadows across the stone benches and ivy-covered walls. The breeze carried the crisp scent of fallen leaves, and somewhere in the distance, a fountain bubbled steadily. I let my feet carry me toward it, drawn to the way the afternoon sunlight shimmered on the water’s surface.
My fingers twitched against my phone.
