By the time she flipped the last chair onto its table, her shoulders had begun to ache.
John locked the cash drawer and slipped the keys into his jacket pocket.
“You need a ride?” he asked.
“I could drop you off at the campus.”
Isla hesitated.
She barely knew him.
But the kindness in his voice sounded genuine, and the thought of walking across campus at this hour made her feet throb in protest.
“That would be great, actually.”
They walked out together and closed up the pub.
The cold night air hit her face as they moved towards the car.
John’s hand went to his back pocket, then his front pockets, then his coat pockets.
A slow pat-down that grew more frantic with each empty slap.
“My keys,” he said, the words almost a whisper.
His face fell.
“My keys. I can’t find my keys.”
“Maybe you left them inside.”
John ran a hand over his face and let out a breath.
“I’ll go check.” He turned away.
Then he stopped.
“Doesn’t the dorm gate close at 12:30? I don’t want to delay you with finding the keys.”
Isla reasoned it.
If she doesn’t leave now, she may never make it on time.
“No. It’s fine. Good luck finding the keys.”
“It’s so late. I should help you get a taxi at least.”
Isla waved him off.
“It’s fine,” she said quickly.
“And if I can’t get one, I’ll walk. It’s not far.”
It was far.
They both knew it.
But John looked genuinely distraught, and she didn’t have the heart to make him feel worse.
She waved him off again before he could argue and turned toward the street.
The first taxi she flagged down was already occupied.
The second drove past without slowing.
The third, a beat-up sedan with a flickering TAXI sign, pulled to the curb, and the driver rolled down the window.
“Off-duty, sorry,” he said, then sped away.
Isla checked her phone.
Eleven-thirty.
The campus gates were still a thirty-minute walk away.
She thought about calling a rideshare, but the app showed surge pricing and a fifteen-minute wait.
Now she was walking.
Alone.
The night was too quiet.
No cars passed.
No pedestrians.
Just her and the wind. The source of this chapter is g.com.
She walked fast, head down and her arm crossed.
Isla was halfway past the old laundromat she had noticed days ago when an engine sound came out of nowhere.
Low.
Rumbling.
Closing in.
She didn’t turn around.
She kept walking, her eyes fixed on the sidewalk ahead.
The engine sound grew louder.
The headlights washed over her from behind, throwing her shadow long and distorted against the pavement ahead.
The horn blared.
It was short and insistent as if meant for her.
She ignored it.
Another honk.
Two quick blasts.
Then she stopped.
The car pulled up beside her.
A sleek black Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon that looked like it didn’t belong on this street, in this neighborhood, and at this hour.
The window slid down, and the driver leaned across the passenger seat to look at her.
“Hey, Grumpy,” He said.
Liam Douglas.
Isla felt her stomach drop and her teeth clench.
She stopped walking to stare at him.
One hand draped over the steering wheel; his thumb tapped against it like he had all the time in the world.
His smile, lazy, infuriating; she already wanted to slap it off his face.
She never liked that I-know-exactly-who-I-am smile.
“Are you stalking me now?” she asked.
Her voice came out flatter than she intended.
Liam tilted his head, the smile widening.
“I wouldn’t call it stalking.” He said.
“Coincidence.” He let the word hang there for a moment.
Isla scoffed.
“Right.”
“What are you doing out so late?”
Isla turned away from him and resumed walking.
“None of your business.”
The car rolled forward, keeping pace with her.
She walked faster.
The car kept up.
“It’s too late for you to be alone,” he said.
Isla didn’t answer.
She walked faster.
The horn came again.
One long, bleating blast that cut through the silence and made her flinch.
Isla stopped, spun around, and walked back.
She planted her hands on her hips.
Liam’s smile softened into something almost boyish.
Almost charming.
“I want to give you a ride,” he said.
“Obviously.”
Obviously, the word dripped off his tongue like he was savoring it.
Isla felt her hackles rise.
“Oh, I see,” she said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness.
“Sir Liam Douglas. Knight in shining armor, come to save the damsel in distress.”
He chuckled.
It was a low, easy sound that should not have made her stomach tighten the way it did.
“Are you in distress?”
“No.” She snapped.
“Then get in.”
“No.”
He gestured toward the empty road ahead.
“It’s a long walk back to the dorm. And there are no taxis at this hour. You’re the only person out here.”
Isla lifted her chin.
“I’d rather walk than be in the same space as you.”
For a moment, something flickered across his face.
Something that might have been hurt, or annoyance, or both.
But it was gone before she could name it.
Liam sighed, put the car in park, and killed the engine.
“What are you doing?” she asked, walking away.
Liam didn’t answer.
He just opened his door, stepped out, and walked around the front of the car until he jogged and stood in front of her.
He wore black baggy shorts and a hoodie, paired with white sneakers.
He was close enough that Isla had to tilt her head back to see his face.
He smelled like cedar.
“You’re stubborn,” he said.
“I’ll give you that.”
“And you’re—”
“But I’m not soft either.” He cut her off, and there was no strain in his voice, just a matter-of-fact certainty that made her pause.
“And I’m not about to leave you out here. Alone.”
Isla opened her mouth to tell him exactly where he could put his concern, but before she could get a word out, he spun her around.
His hands were on her shoulders, firm but not rough, and he was steering her toward the passenger side of the car.
“Let go of me!” She gritted.
“You can yell at me in the car.”
“I can yell at you right now—” She nearly stumbled over the curb.
He caught her elbow.
“You could.” Liam opened the passenger door.
“But I’m not going to be the guy who drove past a girl walking alone at midnight and kept going.”
Then she stopped fighting.
Not because he had convinced her, but because she was tired.
Too exhausted to keep going back and forth with him.
And she hated it.