“Right, you can leave the room at any time if you want,” he answers happily. “Do y’all have a reservation with us?”
“We do.” Because I booked it on the way here under the cover of my sweatshirt sleeve. “Name is Danika for four people.” He looks at the screen and smiles.
“Got you right here. If y’all take a second to sign the waivers, we’ll get you right in,” he says, handing us each a clipboard with a piece of paper on it.
“Of course Danika would bring us somewhere that requires a waiver,” Sydney comments with a chuckle, grabbing the clipboard. We all fill out our information and within minutes, are guided down a long, dark hallway by an “escape artist” named Sammy.
Arden and I trail at the end of the group as Margot and Sydney walk ahead of us.
“You didn’t need four people for this. You big-brained three would’ve been just fine on your own,” he comments in my ear. I turn to answer him but the action brings out our faces nearly flush together and I find the words leaving my brain entirely. He looks at me sideways, like he’s confused that I’m affected by him this way.Don’t worry, I’m confused too. And worried. And alarmed. And intrigued.
“I…” can’t form a coherent sentence. What is wrong with me right now? Is it the way the darkness makes it feel like we’re alone? Like I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to and no one would know? Should I?
I move my hand to grab his arm, not sure why or what I want with it but suddenly I’m feeling like I need contact as much as I need my next breath. My fingertips graze his skin and I’m jolted to reality by a loud commanding voice.
“Alright, folks.” The clapping of hands breaks me from my reverie and I jolt backwards, away from Arden. I can tell he’s still looking at me like I’ve lost my mind but I refuse to meet his gaze, afraid of what I would see. Or really, what I would show.
“Welcome to Escape Room Four, the “treasure hunt”. Your dear old grandfather has left you too soon and with him, his treasure hidden somewhere in his cabin. Don’t worry though, he did leave a map to help you find it. All you have to do is follow the clues, find the treasure and escape the room.”
“The door isn’t actually locked, right?” Margot asks and I’m starting to think maybe she is a little bit claustrophobic. After the staff member shows there’s not even a lock on the door itself, she relaxes.
“Any questions?
“How much time do we have?” Arden asks, and I realize he’s a lot closer to me than he was a second ago. He slips his arm around my waist, pulling my back against his front. I stifle a gasp at the action. He runs his thumb up and down from the bottom of my chest to my belly button. I wouldn’t have thought that the feeling of a soft hand moving up and down my stomach could be erotic but here I am, almost panting at the attention.
“You have one hour. You also have unlimited hints available. I’ll be watching from this camera,” Sammy points toward a small black object in the upper right corner. “So if you need anything, holler in that direction and I’ll put a hint up on the screen for you.”
The girls nod in front of us. Arden nods too–I can feel the movement–but I’m stuck. Suddenly, I’ve never wanted to be alone with anyone more in my entire life. I wish we had booked this room just for the two of us, covered the camera and never escaped.
“Ready?” Sammy asks and Arden leans down so his lips are next to my ear.
“Let’s do this, brat,” he kisses my neck and then releases me immediately. I stumble backwards and Arden chuckles as he walks around me, following Margot and Sydney into the room.
Shit, I need to get my composure or I’m going to be a panting mess throughout this entire event.Pull yourself together.Think about something else. Anything else. Anatomy lab. Dead bodies. Cadavers. Nico.
Okay, I’m officially unhorny.
Taking a deep breath, I enter the room and the door is closed behind me. Arden gives me a look that says he’s ready to play.
Fuck. There it is again. This is going to be the longest hour of my life.
“I didn’t realize it would be so dark in here,” I comment as we move from one room into the next. As a team, we were able to get through the first puzzle but now we’re headed down a hallway toward the next puzzle space and I can’t see a thing except for a distant light in front of us.
“Scared?” Arden says in my ear and I jump but only because I didn’t realize he was so close…again. He keeps finding these excuses to get close to me and I keep finding myself wanting him to.
“There, ahead!” Sydney cries and her and Margot jet toward the lighted doorway. I go to follow but I’m pulled backward by a grip on my shirt.
He’s having way too much fun being in charge here, it’s my turn. As I get back in his grasp, I turn my body around before he can touch me again and make me go loopy in his arms. Grabbing his neck, I pull his face down to mine and kiss him with all the force of a person whose best friends aren’t a hallway away.
He doesn’t hesitate to grab me back, meeting my lips with his tenfold. I want to keep going, I want to open my mouth and allow his tongue all the access it’s asking for but…we are on the clock and I don’t like losing.
“When we get home,” I whisper against his lips. “I’ll finish what you started, but until then…” Moving my mouth, I drag my tongue from the collar of his t-shirt to the tip of his earlobe. Arden’s head goes back and I can tell he’s holding back a moan. “It’s game on.”
Pushing out of his grasp, I turn and run down the hall after my friends, fresh off the promise of two victories at the end of this. One from escaping the room and the other from having Arden so on edge he’s going to be thinking about nothing butmefor the rest of the afternoon.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Danika