Page 18 of Dramatic AF
Oh. Right. That made sense.
“I just asked another resident to hold the door,” he added. “If you speak with enough confidence, most people don’t ask questions.”
He had a point. I probably would have held the door for him as well.
“I feel kind of silly,” I admitted, ducking my head, unable to meet his gaze.
Now that he was there and the danger had passed, the whole thing seemed like it really had been a misunderstanding. And maybe, just maybe, I had overreacted.
“Don’t.” Trick tucked two fingers under my chin, urging my head up. “Even if nothing happened, you did the right thing.”
His words made me feel a little better, but I frowned when he patted my hip to usher me onto the cushion beside him. “Where are you going?” I demanded when he slid forward and pushed to his feet. “You just got here.”
“I caught a scent outside your door. It’s faint, but I think I can follow it.” He stared down at me, his eyes narrowed at the corners. “Lock the door behind me. I won’t be gone long.”
My pulse spiked, and I lunged forward, grabbing onto his wrist. “No,” I blurted, trying to drag him back down onto the couch. “Don’t go.”
“Jay.” He spoke with calm authority, his voice gentle yet firm. “I’m just going to see if I can find out who was here. I’m coming back.”
I shook my head rapidly, not as okay as I pretended to be. “It doesn’t matter. Just stay here.”
For a long time, he didn’t speak, didn’t move. Then he sighed and carded his fingers through his hair.
“Where’s your phone?”
“I left it in my room.”
“Go get it.”
“Why?”
“This is important. I need to try to figure out who was here, but I’m coming back.” Bending at the waist, he pressed his free hand to the side of my face and brushed his thumb across my cheek. “Get your phone. You can talk to me while I track the scent.”
I wanted answers, too, but I didn’t want him to leave. Still, I knew he was right. Whoever had tried to break into my apartment might be gone now, but until I had answers, I wouldn’t feel settled.
“You’re coming back?” I checked, rubbing against his palm.
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
I glanced up at him, my pulse still thrumming in my throat. “Promise?”
His expression relaxed, his eyes turning soft and tender. “Try and stop me.”
seven
~ Trick ~
I’dlostthescentsomewhere around the ninth floor, and I didn’t pick it up again, not even in the lobby.
Still, I didn’t think it had come from anyone on that level. Maybe not even a resident at all. That had simply been where the scent disappeared.
“I’m here,” I said into the phone when I returned to Jayden’s unit.
The words had barely left my mouth, my voice still echoing down the corridor, when the door swung open. Jayden looked a little calmer now, but the stench of anxiety still spilled off him, muting his natural fragrance I loved so much.
“Maybe it’s a good thing that you lost the scent,” he said, ending the call and sliding his phone onto a side table in the entryway. “Maybe that means it was a neighbor like I thought.”
“Maybe,” I allowed as I followed him into the apartment and locked the door behind me.
