Havok: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance - Riley Rollins Page 0,86

on opposite sides of this issue.

"Not a goddamn thing," I grunted.

Just that I'm supposed to sit here and twiddle my fucking thumbs while the Reapers do God-knows-what to the only chick that's ever made me feel something.

I turned and walked away without saying another word.

12

Holly

I stared into my laptop screen, squinting. I'd been working in my room since the talk with my parents, and my eyes were all red and puffy. I was trying to catch up on all the classwork I'd missed in the last two days. I hated getting behind and tried to avoid it at all costs. Playing catch-up always made things a thousand times harder.

There was barely a month and a half left until graduation, and it was going to be a pain in the ass to finish my documentary without my camera. I was going to have to borrow equipment from the school. And their cameras were all old crap that were guaranteed to slow me way down. Not to mention I had to rethink the entire project without the junkyard angle. No way was I going back there a second time.

I sighed. I minimized the web browser and opened Skype. My best friend Brooke was online.

"hey," I wrote to her, "you ever feel like your life is just a constant parade of the most ridiculous shit happening?"

"haha," she wrote back, "everyday. our lives are ridiculous. keep your head up, girl... you gonna go out with nathan this week?"

Nathan was a kid I met in my chemistry lab. He'd asked me out last week and I'd given him a tentative "yes," but I wasn't excited about it. Nice kid, I guess, but going out with him after meeting Axl was like going from a diet of French chocolate truffles to Fruit Roll-Ups. A kiddie downgrade. From man to boy. I was actually kind of afraid that Axl had spoiled my appetite for guys completely. I didn't think I was going to find another man like him at my college. Or anywhere else.

"idk," I wrote. "He's kinda lame. whatever. I'm wiped out, going to sleep. ttyl."

I sighed and shut the laptop. Bleary-eyed, I looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand. It was already eleven-'o-clock, and I only had Sunday left to finish my work before going back to class on Monday. Yep, I was going to be working all weekend. It seemed strange to be going back to everyday, mundane life after the craziness that had happened this week. But I had made myself a promise that I intended to keep. No more Axl Archer. Not even any thinking about Axl Archer. It couldn't lead anywhere good.

I got up and stumbled out of my bedroom, my feet padding quietly on the soft plush carpet of the upstairs. I crossed the hall and flicked on the light switch in the bathroom. I studied my face in the mirror. God. I was looking rough. I guessed that was what 48 hours of near-constant adrenaline and sleep deprivation did to a girl.

Sighing, I turned on the faucet and started brushing my teeth. I was still brushing when I swore I heard a sound coming from down the hall. I took the toothbrush out of my mouth, toothpaste bubbles foaming at my lips.

"Mmom?" I said into the hallway. "That you?"

There was no response. Normally I would've shrugged it off, but something felt off.

I put down the toothbrush and spit out the foam bubbles in my mouth before walking back across the hallway and peeking into my bedroom.

Nothing.

I entered my bedroom, and everything was as I'd left it. There was a cool draft coming in from the window, though, which was cracked. That was strange—I didn't make a habit of keeping my window open and I couldn't even remember the last time I'd opened it. There hadn't been a draft when I'd been sitting there working on my laptop... had there? I was so tired I couldn't be sure. But nothing else looked out of place. I probably just needed some sleep. I pushed the window closed tightly until the weather stripping sealed out the wind, and latched it again.

I went back to the bathroom, finished brushing, and then returned to my bedroom. I shut the door with a click and turned the lights off. My eyes relaxed, adjusting to the dark. Only a faint moon glow came in through the window.

For the first time in nearly three days, I was finally alone—actually alone, with no one watching me or