“I need to use the bathroom.” I rush out of the room before he can say anything.
I walk into the bathroom and lean against the door. I shake my hair out in frustration. I’m a fucking coward and stupid too. I didn’t even bring my phone into the bathroom to ask Dani for support. Who goes into the bathroom without their phone these days? No one, just me. I grunt and massage my face, thinking.
“Raquel?” I hear Yoshi’s call on the other side of the door. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“No!” I open the door as fast as I can, but I only catch a glimpse of his back disappearing out the door of my room. Throwing myself on my bed, I let myself be consumed by laziness. I don’t want to think anymore; I just want to rest my mind. I close my eyes and quickly fall into dreamland.
Rocky’s barking wakes me up abruptly. The barks are continuous and loud—what I call his “serious barks”—and he only gets this worked up when there is someone he doesn’t know in the house. I get out of bed so fast that I get dizzy and crash against the side of the wall. “Ow!”
Rocky is barking in the direction of the window, as if sensing something out there. It’s already dark outside, and the night breeze moves my curtains gently. There’s nothing at the window, so I calm down.
“Rocky, there’s nothing there.”
But he just keeps barking. Maybe there’s a cat outside, and his dog senses are tingling? Rocky doesn’t stop, so I walk to the window to soothe him. When I peek out, I yell so loudly that Rocky jumps up beside me.
Ares.
On a ladder.
Climbing up to my window.
“What the hell are you doing?” Is the only thing that comes out of my lips as I see him standing there in the middle of a wooden ladder. He looks as cute as ever in his jeans and purple T-shirt, but the craziness of this situation keeps me from drooling.
“It’s called climbing, you should try it.”
“I’m not in the mood for your sarcasm,” I say.
“I need to reboot your router. The signal is down, and it’s the only way to recover it.”
“And you decided to sneak into my room without permission, climbing into my window like that? Do you know what people who do that are called? Burglars.”
“I tried to reach you, but you didn’t answer the phone.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to come into my room like this.”
“Can you cut the drama? I just need to come in for a second.”
“Drama? Drama? I’ll teach you drama.” I grab both ends of the ladder stuck to my window and shake them as hard as I can.
Ares holds onto the rungs tightly and gives me a death stare. “Do that again, Raquel, and you’ll see what happens.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then do it.”
“Don’t challenge me,” I warn.
“Really? Are you going to drop me?”
“It’s not worth it.”
I watch as Ares finishes climbing, and he’s level with me, his face inches away from mine. Rocky goes crazy, barking as soon as he sees the intruder, but I’m too busy gawking to call him off.
“Could you control that fleabag?”
“Rocky hasn’t had fleas this month, show more respect.”
“I don’t have all night.”
I sigh in frustration. “Rocky, sit down.” My dog obeys me. “Quiet.”
I step back to let Ares into my room. Once inside, his height makes my room feel small. His eyes look me up and down from head to toe, lingering on my breasts, and that’s when I remember I don’t have a bra on.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I say quickly.
For the second time tonight, I try to use the bathroom as an escape strategy, but I forget one small detail. Ares is not Yoshi. Ares won’t let me flee so easily. His hand grabs my arm, preventing me from moving.
“There’s no way you’re leaving me alone with that dog.”
“Rocky won’t do anything to you.”
“I’m not taking any chances.” He holds me by my shoulders, forcing me to walk to my computer. He pushes me until I sit in the chair and then kneels down to restart my router.
“Why do you feel like the owner of my internet connection?” I ask, but he just shrugs. “I could report you for entering my house like this, you know that, don’t you?”
“I know. But I also know you won’t do it.”
“How can you be so sure?”