Chapter 99: Lead The way
The apartment door clicked shut behind him.
Silence. Real silence this time. Not the awkward kind that had settled over the gym. Just... plain.
David slipped off his shoes without thinking about it, let his gym bag slide from his shoulder, and walked straight toward his bedroom.
The curtains were still half drawn from that morning, leaving the room washed in a dull afternoon light.
He didn’t bother changing.
Didn’t bother sitting properly.
He simply let himself fall backward onto the bed.
The mattress gave beneath him with a soft thud.
"..."
One arm drifted over his eyes.
The ceiling disappeared.
For the first time since leaving the gym...
There wasn’t anything demanding his attention.
Which was probably why his mind immediately wandered back there.
’Huh.’
’How exactly did I end up here?’
This morning, he’d been sleeping in the same bed with Holly. Now she probably didn’t even want to look at him.
This was really their first day as a couple. He let out a slow breath through his nose. What a day.
None of it had even been close to intentional. Yet somehow... He was still standing right in the middle of the mess.
’My fault?’
The question lingered.
He turned it over once.
Twice.
Then quietly shook his head against the pillow.
’Not entirely.’
Mrs. Walbury had made her own decision.
He’d made his.
Holly had simply arrived at the worst possible moment.
That didn’t change the result.
She’d still walked away looking like someone had pulled the ground out from beneath her.
His brow creased slightly.
’...Should I have stopped her?’
He pictured himself calling after her.
Trying to explain.
Explain what?
That kissing a married woman wasn’t what it looked like?
Somehow, that sounded even worse.
A tired sigh escaped him.
’Yeah.’
’That would’ve gone well.’
He lowered his arm and stared at the ceiling instead.
There wasn’t a version of that conversation that ended differently.
Not today.
Time.
She needed time.
Maybe he did too.
...
Knock.
His eyes shifted toward the bedroom door.
The sound echoed faintly through the apartment.
He stayed where he was.
Another tenant, maybe.
Wrong apartment.
The landlord.
Didn’t matter.
Someone else could knock.
He wasn’t in the mood.
A second knock came a few seconds later.
Slightly firmer this time.
"..."
His gaze remained fixed on the ceiling.
’...Holly?’
The thought surfaced before he could stop it.
He frowned.
If it was...
What exactly was he supposed to say?
Sorry?
For what?
For being there?
For kissing Mrs. Walbury?
For existing in the wrong place at the wrong time?
None of those answers would make her feel any better.
A third knock interrupted the thought.
Three quick taps.
Impatient.
He stared at the ceiling for another second before letting out a quiet breath.
Funny.
He’d walked into a dungeon without freezing.
Yet opening his own front door suddenly felt like the more troublesome task.
"...I’m coming."
He pushed himself off the bed, stretched the stiffness from his shoulders, and made his way across the apartment.
The knocking stopped just as he reached the entrance.
His hand settled around the handle.
One slow pull.
The door swung open.
A familiar blonde stood in the hallway with her arms folded across her chest.
The moment their eyes met, she raised one eyebrow.
"There you are, pervert."
David blinked once.
"...You’re still calling me that?"
April looked almost offended.
"Still?"
She leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, tilting her head at him.
"As if nicknames come with expiration dates."
"It was one mistake."
"One mistake?" A laugh escaped her. "You grabbed my butt the first day we met."
"You walked into me."
"You still touched it."
"..."
"I remember."
David pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I already apologized."
"You did."
"And you accepted it."
"I did."
"So why am I still ’pervert’?"
She tapped a finger thoughtfully against her chin as though genuinely considering the question.
"Hm..."
Then she smiled.
"Because it’s funny."
"..."
"And because every time I call you that..."
She pointed at him.
"...you make this exact face."
"I don’t make a face."
"You literally just did."
"I blinked."
"Mhm."
She nodded with complete confidence.
"Pervert blink."
"...There’s no such thing."
"There is now."
David looked at her for a long second.
Then quietly stepped aside from the doorway.
"You’re impossible."
"I’ve heard that too."
She beamed, completely taking it as a compliment.
Arguing with her felt remarkably similar to arguing with bad weather.
It happened.
You complained.
Nothing changed.
She finally pushed herself off the doorframe.
"Anyway."
"I didn’t come here just to bully you."
"I had my doubts."
"I know."
She clasped her hands behind her back, rocking lightly on her heels.
"I’ve decided something."
David waited.
"I’m going to register."
"...Register."
"At the Hunter Association."
He wasn’t particularly surprised.
After everything she’d witnessed over the past few days, the decision had been inevitable.
She’d always struck him as the type to leap first...
...and decide whether it had been a good idea on the way down.
"So..."
She lifted a finger toward his chest.
"You’re taking me."
David looked at the finger.
Then at her.
"No."
"Yes."
"You know where it is."
"I do."
"So go."
"I could."
She nodded once.
"I could also go with someone who’s already been through the process."
"..."
"Someone experienced."
"..."
"Someone who owes me."
David folded his arms.
"I don’t owe you."
"Oh?"
She raised both eyebrows.
"So we’re pretending the ass incident never happened?"
"It wasn’t an incident."
"It absolutely was."
"I bumped into you."
"You spanked me."
"It wasn’t intentional."
"But."
She spread her hands.
"It happened."
"..."
"So."
She smiled with infuriating satisfaction.
"Escort duty."
David stared at her.
She stared back.
Neither blinked.
Eventually...
April won simply because she looked like she’d happily stand there all afternoon.
His eyes drifted past her toward the hallway.
Quiet.
Empty.
Then, almost against his own will, his gaze slid back into the apartment.
The silence waiting inside suddenly felt heavier than it had a minute ago.
Too many thoughts.
Too much time to replay the morning.
Holly’s face surfaced again.
That expression.
The one she’d worn just before walking away.
He exhaled slowly.
Sitting in his apartment wasn’t going to solve that.
Neither was refusing to leave it.
"...Give me a minute."
April’s smile widened exactly the way he’d expected.
"I knew you’d say yes."
"I didn’t."
"You kind of did."
"I said give me a minute."
"Which is step one of saying yes."
David looked at her. Then gave a tiny shake of his head.
She stepped aside from the doorway, giving him room to close it. "I’ll be here."
David nodded once before easing the door shut between them.
David waited until April wandered a few steps away before easing the door shut.
Click.
The apartment fell quiet once more.
He stood there for a moment, one hand still resting on the doorknob.
Then he let out a slow breath and turned toward his room.
The jacket he’d thrown onto the bed earlier was still lying where it had landed.
He picked it up with one hand before opening the wardrobe.
A fresh shirt.
Different pair of jeans.
Nothing fancy.
Just enough to replace the clothes he’d spent half the day sweating in.
As he changed, his mind drifted back to the gym almost on instinct.
Holly.
That look on her face.
He paused midway through fastening the buttons on his shirt.
"..."
His fingers stopped moving for a second.
’Enough.’
The thought came almost immediately.
Thinking about it again wasn’t going to change anything.
Neither was locking himself inside his apartment until the memory eventually became easier to live with.
If anything...
He’d only end up replaying the same scene over and over until he started inventing things he could’ve said.
That never helped.
He buttoned the last cuff, picked up his phone, wallet and keys from the bedside table, then slipped each into a pocket out of habit.
A quick glance around the room confirmed he’d forgotten nothing.
He switched off the bedroom light before making his way back toward the entrance.
April was exactly where he’d left her.
She’d abandoned the wall and was now idly kicking at a loose pebble with the toe of her shoe.
The soft scrape echoed through the quiet compound.
The moment the front door opened, she looked over.
"Took you long enough."
David stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him before locking it.
"You’ve been waiting three minutes."
"It felt like five."
"I doubt that."
"I have excellent instincts."
"They’re clearly broken."
She clicked her tongue.
"Rude."
"You started with ’pervert.’"
"And I’ll continue ending with it."
She grinned.
"Now come on."
"The Hunter Association isn’t going to register itself."
David slipped the keys into his pocket.
His gaze lingered on the road ahead.
For a brief moment, Holly’s face tried to creep back into his thoughts again.
He quietly pushed it aside.
There wasn’t anything he could do about it today.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe not.
Either way...
Standing outside his apartment wasn’t going to change the answer.
"Lead the way," he said.