My Boyfriend and Brother Left Me in the Escape Room novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Open Door

Orin's POV

I pulled the keypad off the Hole door at midnight on Sunday.

It came away in my hand.

Four screws, a ribbon cable and a green circuit board with my own solder on it.

I had built the lock myself three years ago. I was proud of it.

I dropped it in a bucket and picked up a drill.

The Hole stood bare under work lights, the cot gone, the steel door propped open on a chair.

I had been in there for six hours with no phone and no music.

I told myself I was working.

Boots on the back stair, soft, and then a voice from the doorway.

"You moved out."

I did not turn around. I kept the drill on the hinge plate.

"I did."

"I came back from my mother's with a pie. Your jacket was on the hook and you were gone. I waited four hours."

"I'm sleeping at the shop. It's where I sleep."

"That's not where you sleep," Veronica said. "That's where you sleep when you're hiding."

I put the drill down.

She stood in the doorway in jeans and my gray hoodie, the one I had put on her shoulders that first night.

She looked at me with her arms crossed and her chin up.

I had watched that chin on four cameras. I would have followed it anywhere.

"It's over," I said. "Darius is in jail. Lyla is in jail. Your mother knows. Your brother stands in a courtroom every day."

"Yes."

"You came to my building because you had nowhere to go, and you stayed because you had a war. Both of those are finished."

She was quiet.

"I won't be the reason you keep a room because it's easier than leaving it," I said. "The apartment is yours. The lease is in your name. You can go home."

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend