Chapter 5

He hadn’t slept well that night, so the harsh sound of pounding on the door, early for a Saturday, already had his face set in a grim expression, ready to kill.

But when he whipped the door open, wearing nothing but his snug boxer-briefs and a loose tank-top, he was surprised to see the fuming face of the girl who had been floating through his head all night.

Her eyes held none of the surprise and disorientation that he did, and all the fury. Maybe double the fury, if her flushed cheeks and crossed arms were any clue. “No avocados? Are you insane?”

Staring at her blankly, bleary-eyed and yawning, he stepped back and started to close the door on her. But she slammed her hand against it with surprising force, wedging herself in so he couldn’t shut it.

“You can’t tell me I’m not allowed to have food, Alyx.”

He grunted and tried to push her back without actually touching her, which didn’t really do anything but wiggle the door between them.

She glared at him. “No, you colossal ass-hat. We need to talk about your ridiculous rules.”

“Go away. You aren’t allowed in my room.” Grumbling his words, he refused to meet her eyes as he hoped like hell that his cock didn’t choose this moment to say hello.

“Oh my god, what are you, twelve?” Her rolled eyes combined with her exasperated tone, and he felt about three inches tall.

Mick chose that moment to pipe up from his bed, sitting up but leaned back on his elbows, his blankets falling to reveal he slept shirtless. “You can come into my room, Sam.” His hair was tousled and the man’s eyes were sleepy and heavy lidded. Alyx nearly punched him in the face for looking like that while inviting Sam in.

“Thank you, Mick,” Sam’s face turned fond as she looked at the other man and Alyx growled. She glared at him. “At least there is one gentleman living in this room.”

Alyx immediately turned his glare on Mick, refusing to meet Sam’s eyes. “Seriously? You are going to take her side?”

Mick’s words were slowly becoming less and less sleepy as he woke up. “Her side of what? That rules list?” He nodded, rubbing his eyes lazily. “Yes, it’s dumb.”

Sam nodded as if she had won a battle, pushing the rest of the way into the room. Alyx immediately backed off. But he definitely wasn’t fleeing from her, moving across the room and behind his bed as Sam stalked in. He quickly scrounged up his pants from yesterday as he glared at her. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Mick groaned, flopping back on the bed. “Language!”

“Whom the fuck!” Alyx roared back, his zipper scraping uncomfortably against his crotch as he tried to get his pants on as quickly as possible while avoiding eye contact with Sam.

He glanced down to try to adjust himself and a moment later, he felt small hands plant themselves on his chest and shove. Off balance, he stumbled, tripped over the loose leg of his jeans, and then fell, half-on and half-off his bed.

He found himself looking up at a furious Sam. Her face flushed pink and her body practically vibrating with anger. “Who the fuck am I? I’m Sam fucking Lawrence, that’s fucking who!”

She stalked closer, bending over him. “Now you listen here, you little shit.” Her finger stabbed into his chest as she spoke, looming over him in a way that he never expected her to be capable of. “I’ve survived worse than you. I didn’t give up on myself when I was in foster care, or when I got beat on, or when I was homeless.”

She was breathing hard, but she pulled back, not breaking eye contact as she visibly tried to calm herself. She took a deep breath, pushed a few hairs off her face, and smoothed her pajamas. When Sam spoke this time, her voice was slow, though he could still hear the heavier breaths of exertion from being angry. “So I don’t care if you are seven feet tall, and made of muscles, and scarred up like the devil himself. You, Alyx fucking Collins, do not scare me.”

With a nod, she turned in a nearly perfect pivot and stalked out of the room. A moment later, he heard the sound of ripping paper and rending tape that signaled she had torn down the list of rules he had put up.

Mick sighed, flopping back down to lie flat. “I love you like a brother, but you might be the biggest asshole on the planet. if even one of those things is true, you owe her like eight million apologies...” With a soft grumbling sigh, he pulled his blankets back up, and closed his eyes, clearly going back to sleep.

Slumping to the floor, Alyx tried to shake off the whiplash he just got from that encounter. “Yeah… Yeah, I guess.”