Page 13 of The Change Up
And I have no idea who could be coming by the apartment in the middle of an ice storm.
I dry my hands off on the towel before making my way over to the front door with just the light from my phone’s flashlight.
It’s okay, Chloe. No murderer is out in an ice storm to attack you. It’s probably Brynn and Quinton coming back to keep you company.
Although I hope not because I really don’t want to listen to the two of them go at it all night.
Standing on my tiptoes, I look through the peephole. Duh, you idiot, it’s dark outside.
“Uh, who is it?” I ask, hesitant because I want to know, but also what if it’s someone I don’t know, and now they know I’m home?
“It’s Cody.”
Cody.
Why is he here?
“Chloe, let me in. It’s freezing out here.”
Snapping out of my thoughts, I rush to unlock the door knowing that he’s right. It’s freezing out there, and ice pellets are coming down.
Cody reaches down to pick something up before he comes inside.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, helping him inside.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he sets a black box down at my feet and slides off his backpack before reaching back outside to grab a bag. “I came to check on you.”
“Ohh-kay,” I draw out, completely confused as to why he’s here. “Brynn’s not here.”
“I know. I came to check onyou.” He repeats, stepping further inside and taking off his tennis shoes. “She said you were home alone and wouldn’t answer. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Do you not have anything else for light?”
“The power literally just went out, and I haven’t had a chance to light candles. If you’re going to be a jerk, you can just leave.”
I don’t need him here, and I don’t want him here. We aren’t friends, he’s made that clear. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I still haven’t had a chance to curl up with my dark motorcycle romance that was released this morning. That’s how I plan on spending my night, not entertaining Cody Jacobs.
He sighs as he takes out his phone and turns on the flashlight. He places it in the front pocket of his jacket which is shallow enough to allow the light to stay out. He reaches down, unzipping his backpack before pulling out a rectangular box.
“Uh, what’s that?” I ask, staring at the metal shape in his hands.
“It’s a DVD player. I stole it out of Hudson’s room with a few DVDs. They’re all comedies but like the good, classic comedies.”
My brows knit together. I’m utterly confused. But before I have a chance to question anything else, Cody grabs the black box at his feet and carries it into the living room. He places it down near the TV stand and walks back toward the front door.
And like a puppy, I’m right on his heels.
“You don’t have to follow me around.” Cody slips his tennis shoes back on and before I know it, he’s walking out the front door, but he doesn’t close it all the way behind him.
What is going on?
His back pushes the door open again, and in his arms is another box. This one is much larger and looks heavier. Cody kicks the door shut and slips his shoes off again before he makes his way toward the kitchen. I follow as he heads into the laundry room, and I cringe knowing that I have lace bras hanging all over the place.
I watch as he pauses at the entrance, no doubt the light of his phone has hit the delicates. But he doesn’t seem to mind. I’m pretty sure I saw him smirk as he walked over to the corner and set the box down. After a few minutes, I hear something running and the power clicks back on.
“There,” he says, walking into the kitchen where I’m leaning against the counter in shock. “Give me a minute, and I’ll have the space heater turned on. The generator isn’t very big, and we need to conserve gas, but I thought we could at least turn on one breaker to get some heat going. We’ll turn it on and off to keep the chill out.”
This has been the craziest day, but nowhere would I have predicted that Cody Jacobs would drive over, in an ice storm, to bring me a generator, a space heater, and a random DVD player.
“What smells so good?”
