Page 37 of Ellie Hayes and the Himbos
Without even looking at Cole, I step into the hallway, Ian behind me. We silently agree to leave the door open, so that Cole can watch me take a seat in my makeshift throne, the velvet upholstery which had seemed so indulgent when I bought it suddenly fitting.
“Gentlemen,” I say, “Let’s go home.”
14
“THIS IS WHAT,thirty floors up?” Grant asks, craning to take a last look at the rooftop pool as the elevator doors close. Still high from our moment of triumph with Cole, my coterie and I had swept into the waiting elevator without confirming that it was going down, and were promptly shot up twenty-five floors. I’m still waiting for my ears to pop.
“Thirty and falling.” I point to the digital readout above the doors.29…28…Grant cocks his head, taking in the countdown, and gestures to Diego, who moves to join him.
I stay put in my chair in the corner. I refuse to put my bare feet on the floor. A rooftop pool attracts two kinds of apartment residents: those who will visit the pool exclusively to show off the view, and those who will employ it as a hunting ground for sexual partners. I know that these elevators have seen some things.
Ian leans against the wall beside me. He’s on my bad side, and while my vision has cleared up some, he remains a beige blur, the features of his still-naked torso unclear. Not that I’m trying to sneak peeks. I don’t think I’ll need to; that scene in the apartmenthascore memorywritten all over it. But I wouldn’t mind confirming the accuracy of my updated mental reference.
The car slows, coming to a stop a few seconds later. When the doors part, I expect someone to be waiting to board, but no one’s there. Grant steps out, Diego following.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Achallenge,” says Grant, and looks at Ian. “Bet we’ll beat you to the basement.”
The older Hammond scoffs. “Using what? The stairs? No way.”
Grant holds out a hand to keep the doors open. “Easy bet, then. Say, twenty-five bucks?”
“What? No. That would be stupid.”
“So make it fifty,” Diego offers innocently.Tooinnocently. He glances back at Grant, and I pick up on something familiar in his expression. Something… conniving?
Whatever it is, Ian is too focused on his brother to notice. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Fine.Fifty bucks says we’ll get to the basement before you.”
“We’re on!” Grant releases the doors, looking way too confident for a guy who’s about to run down twenty-six flights of stairsandlose half of his month’s entertainment budget. Not that he knows I’ve set one yet; we’re going over that Monday.
The doors begin to close, but just before they do, Grant shoots out a hand, pressing them back again. He points at Ian. “That’s fifty foreachof us.”
“Sure. I’ll be taking fifty dollars from both of you in however long it takes for you two to get down thereafterwe do,” he adds, with a nod my way.
“You sure about that?” Grant leans in farther, hovering afinger menacingly over the panel of floor buttons. He punches the 21. And the 17. And the 4. And the 8…
Ian straightens, back separating from the metal wall with a peeling sound. “Grant—”
With a shit-eating grin aimed at his brother, Grant splays his palm and draws it down the columns of numbers, illuminating all but three before retreating.
“Grant!” I shout, half laughing at the unexpected cunning.
“You shithead!” Ian bellows as the doors begin to close.
Grant lovingly extends his brother the finger. “Enjoy the ride!” he singsongs, then darts around the corner with awhoop!Diego giggles madly. The doors shut.
I do a quick tally of the floors we’ll be visiting. He managed to miss the 5, my old floor, making it less likely that we’ll be enduring a second encounter with Cole, but we have twenty-three goddamn floors before we get to the basement.
I turn to Ian with a grimace. “There is a second elevator, if you’d like to try your luck?”
Ian shakes his head. “This is what I get for underestimating them.”
“Suit yourself,” I say, not minding the prospect of our forced proximity. I turn to face him, sitting up on my knees so I don’t have to crane my neck as much. “Well, thank you for helping me move. Sorry that it’s about to cost you a hundred dollars.”
He smirks. “It’s fine. It’s been… interesting.”
“Oh?”
