Page 6 of Room Twenty-Seven: Theirs to Punish

Luke shuts the door behind him, and I awkwardly stand a few feet away, realizing I’m now alone with a man I barely know.

“Can I offer you a drink? Water, juice, or coffee?” My voice comes out slightly shaky. If Luke notices, he chooses to ignore it.

“Thank you, but I’m good.”

I look everywhere but at him. When my eyes catch on to the pile of overdue bills and eviction notices, I quickly step into the kitchen and open the drawer. With one swoop, I slide the pile of letters into it and shut it.

“You sure I can’t offer you anything?”

He shakes his head. “I would like to know more about you and your past.”

Alarm bells ring inside my head. I don’t want to talk about my past. I've spent most of my adult life trying to forget it.

“Don’t you want to hear Niklas’s side first? Since he is your friend and all.”

“I already know his side. I want to hear yours now.” He shoves his hands back into his pockets like he did earlier. I’m certain he’s doing this intentionally, a gesture to show me he’s not planning to touch me.

It works.

“If you’re thinking my story will be different from his, that this is some kind of misunderstanding and I am really a great person, you’ll be thoroughly disappointed, I’m afraid.”

“So you and your mom did con Nik’s dad and stole a bunch of money?”

My heart feels like a twenty-pound stone in my chest. “Yes.” I can’t bring myself to look Luke in his eyes. “He has every right to hate me.”

“You were only like, what? Sixteen—” Luke talks like it wasn’t a big deal, like I should be exempt from guilt because I wasn’t an adult on paper.

“Seventeen.” I was seventeen, and I knew exactly what we were doing. I should have stopped it. I should have told Niklas the truth. “He trusted me, and I betrayed him.”

“We all make mistakes, especially as teenagers.”

“We don’t all make mistakes that ruin lives.”

“Nik runs a multimillion-dollar company. He drives a Porsche and lives in a mansion. I don’t think anyoneruinedhis life.”

A tiny sliver of guilt lifts off my chest. Knowing they bounced back from what we did is a huge relief, but it doesn’t erase what I did. Nothing will ever erase that. “I’m happy for him.”

“Maybe we can all meet again sometime this week?”

I start shaking my head halfway through his sentence. “No, he hates me, and I can’t face him again.” The look in his eyes today said it all.

Luke sighs. “It’s late. Why don’t you get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll talk again tomorrow?”

A good night’s sleep sounds great but unlikely. “I’m busy tomorrow.” I’ll have to pack everything up and leave. I can’t pay the rent, and now that I know Niklas lives in this city, I have no plans to stay. “I’m moving.”

“Moving?”

“Yeah, that’s what I needed the money for. A new place to stay.” It’s only half of a lie, but something tells me he still caught my dishonesty.

“Mmm.” He nods ominously. “Since I’ll probably never see you again, I would like to stay a bit longer. Maybe I can lie down with you.”

“Lie down?”

“Yes, just lying down. No funny business.” He gives me a disarming smile.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, you had my dick in your mouth earlier. I’d like some cuddles after.”

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