We rush to it, and inside are more news articles. We place them together, revealing four shapes in order: a square, triangle, circle, and hexagon.
“Use it for this,” Julia calls out as she holds up a lock box with another combination.
“The sides of the shapes. Square has four, triangle three, circle one, and hexagon six,” I call out. “Four, three, one, six.”
We hoot as we open the box.
“It’s a bat key!” Poppy exclaims. “It’s the way out! Go, go, go!”
Julia takes the key and rushes to the door.
“Thirty seconds,” Reece calls out.
Julia fumbles with the key in the lock. “It won’t turn!”
I grab her hand and we jiggle it.
“Sometimes you just need to wiggle it in just right,” I say.
Julia laughs. “Oh, hockey player, you slay me.”
I snort. “I wasn’t being sexual.”
“Sure,” Reece calls. “Now shut up and try it again.”
It finally clicks. We swing the door open and rush out into the hallway.
I call out, swoop Julia up in my arms, and swing her around while she bats at my shoulders, laughing.
“You’re crazy,” she calls as her hands rest on my shoulders.
“No one’s going to swing me around?” Taylor says with a pout, and Reece sweeps him up like a bride and lets out a big victory yell.
Taylor fans himself. “Just keep carrying me, darling. I feel faint.”
I let Julia down and our eyes cling until she looks away, a slow blush working up her throat to her face.
“Boop. That was fun.” I touch her nose.
“Hmm,” she murmurs.
“Worst experience of my life,” Boone calls, but he’s laughing.
“You’re the first group to solve that room since we opened,” the vampire says as we exit to the front.
Boone walks to the counter and leans on it. “Liam Neeson has the old man ability to kill lots of human traffickers in movies, and my skill is having friends who enjoy escape rooms. We wouldn’t have gotten out if I hadn’t known that last thing,” he reminds us. “Hey, Fake Dracula, you guys sell T-shirts?”
He buys a shirt, then tosses an arm around Poppy. “You ever come to Kappa parties?”
Julia tugs her away from Boone and gives him a mock-stern look. “Hands off the girl, Kappa.”
He grouses as we head outside.
A cold gust of wind blows in and Julia’s crew dashes for Taylor’s sedan. Before Julia goes, she grabs my hand.
“What?” I say, smiling like a fool.
Her whiskey eyes shine up at me. “Nothing. Just . . . it was good to see you.”
My hands itch to pull her to me. Stupid. “Yeah, same.”
All at once, her breasts are pressed against my jacket as she gives me a tight hug. My nose dips to her hair and she smells so fucking good.
She pulls back, a shy smile on her face. “Bye.”
Don’t go . . .
“Bye.”
I watch her as she climbs into the car. I watch until they pull out of the parking lot.
It’s not until I get home that I find an envelope in the pocket of my jacket. Inside is two hundred dollars with a note.
More to come.
Love, Julia
Maybe she’s been carrying it around. Waiting.
I don’t know. I type out a text.
I found ur cash. U don’t have 2 pay me back.
I delete it and fall back on my bed.
It wouldn’t do any good. She wants to pay me back.
Lucifer jumps on my chest, his claws digging into my flesh. I flinch then gently toss him over to his side of the bed.
“No snuggling, motherfucker.”
He blinks at me and curls up his tail.
A text comes in on my phone. Julia. I bolt up and snatch it off my nightstand to read.
I put money in ur pocket, Everest. I’ll give u more. Little at a time.
Whatever u want. U haven’t seen Connor?
Nope. I had fun tonight.
Same. U in bed?
I wonder if she’s alone. If she’s fucking Channing.
Yeah. I’m going to quit my job soon. U did that for me. Thank you.
I send another one before I think too hard about it. Wanna grab coffee sometime?
A few minutes pass before the next text comes in.
Yeah. Night.
I flop back down on the pillows and stare up at my ceiling fan. I imagine Julia and I having coffee, then me kissing her, then— No.
Sleep. That’s what I need.
And I try, I do, but my head keeps circling back.
Her laugh, her silliness, the way she felt in my arms.
Refocus.