Chapter 72. Not Much Of A Choice

Chapter 72: Chapter 72. Not Much Of A Choice

Chapter 72. Not Much Of A Choice

Rosa froze the moment the words left his lips. Her grip on his arm loosened, her fingers going numb against the damp fabric of his sleeve. The teasing smirk remained fixed on Tim’s face, his eyes darting down to her trembling hand before flicking back up to meet her gaze.

She blinked rapidly, fighting to contain the storm of emotions raging in her chest. Deep breaths did nothing to soothe the burning frustration clawing at her throat. Squeezing her eyes shut, she released her hold on him entirely and pulled her hand back, stepping away.

She didn’t know what to do anymore. She clenched her jaw so tight her teeth ached, staring at him through the downpour.

"Can you please... just for a second... breathe and stop fucking playing games with me?" she murmured. Her voice strained under the weight of her suppressed anger, trembling as she fought to keep from losing her mind. The sheer helplessness of the situation was driving her to the brink.

Tim remained standing still, completely unaffected by her outburst. He stood rooted where he was, watching her with that same infuriating smirk. "And if I don’t? What are you going to do about it?"

Rosa’s eyes snapped open. Before she could force another word past her lips, a deep, guttural roar burst from inside the building for the second time.

Almost instantly, a blinding flash of lightning split the dark sky, followed by a violent explosion of thunder that made her jerk in terror. She stumbled sideways, her shoulder bumping hard against Tim’s arm, but the instant she felt the contact, she flinched and quickly scrambled away.

Tim merely watched her, his amused expression unchanged.

She swallowed hard, her eyes darting nervously between the darkened building and Tim’s mocking face. The rain picked up after that, pouring down in heavy, relentless torrents that pelted her face and sting her skin.

She frowned in total confusion. Her mind raced, unable to process what was happening. She couldn’t stay out here in the storm, but there was certainly no way she had the stomach to step into that building. Not with whatever was making those sounds inside.

There seemed to be a wild animal in there.

A sudden thought struck her mind. She blinked rapidly, turning around to look at Tim, who was still staring at her with that smirk.

"Is Mr. Don... an animal?" she asked, the question hanging heavily in the loudness of the raging storm.

Tim blinked once. Then twice.

A beat later, an echoing laugh burst from his chest. He threw his head back, his mocking, condescending laughter cutting straight through the sound of the rain. The sound made a wave of disgust and annoyance twist violently in Rosa’s chest.

The freezing cold seeped deeper into her skin, making her lips tremble uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to trap whatever little warmth she had left. Her clothes were completely soaked, heavy and clinging to her body like ice sheets. She couldn’t stay out here any longer.

"Oh my goodness," Tim wheezed in the middle of his laughter. "This is so freaking—this is so freaking amusing."

He looked back at her, his face bright with a wide smile. "You have the most ridiculous imagination I’ve ever seen in my entire life."

Rosa could only glare at him in frustration. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Tim stared at her as if he didn’t understand the question. "I’m sorry? Come again? What did you ask?"

She ground her teeth together, her hands shaking at her sides. "Why don’t you please just let me know what the hell is going on here? Why do you get so much pleasure out of driving me crazy?"

Tim raised an eyebrow. For a moment, he just stood there, smiling serenely as he ran a hand through his dripping hair, brushing wet strands away from his forehead.

"Okay," he said smoothly, nodding his head. "Fine. That’s what you want, right? I’ll help you. I’ll let you know. But you just have to do one simple thing."

Rosa’s glare hardened into a suspicious, questioning look.

His smile turned wicked. "You just have to come with me."

Rosa froze. "What?"

He chuckled softly. "You have to come with me."

"Come with you to where?" she snapped.

"You want to know what’s going on, right?" He extended an open hand toward her. "Come on. Let me show you."

Rosa blinked, letting out a nervous chuckle as she took a quick step back. "Hell no! There is no freaking way I’m stepping foot in there."

She wrapped her arms around herself even tighter, putting distance between the two of them.

Tim raised an eyebrow, his eyes briefly flicking toward the downpour as if assessing the storm. "Well, as much as I’d love to listen to your opinions and respect whatever you want to do, I should help you realize that it’s actually quite cold out here. And the rain doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon—it’s getting increasingly harsh."

She could see him forcing a look of concern, deep lines etching across his face as though he actually cared about her.

"You don’t want to catch a cold and get soaked, you know that, right?" He tilted his head to the side, as if stating an obvious fact.

Rosa scoffed in utter disbelief. The sheer sarcasm on his face—the mocking expression, the raised eyebrow cataloging her reaction—made her blood boil.

"Fuck you," she murmured, every drop of disgust boiling through her veins.

The smirk on Tim’s lips widened. "Yeah, right, totally, I get it. You can fuck me all you want, but I’m still the only guidance you have here." He raised both eyebrows, tilting his head as he stared at her with that insufferable smirk.

Rosa scoffed in disbelief and looked away, wiping streams of rain that were pelting her skin and stinging her eyelashes. "That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard in my life."

"Well, it’s not my fault," Tim countered, his teasing tone completely unwavering. "I mean, you started it."

She glared back at him, her chest heaving. "Does this look like a joke to you?"

Her hands returned to hugging her upper arms. The cold was intense now—she could feel her breath hitching and her teeth chattering together.

Tim noticed her shivering, but he stayed where he was.

Rosa looked back toward the building, her anxiety surging. She was losing her fucking mind out here. Why couldn’t he just make this easy for her? She needed answers, and not getting them was driving her to the brink of insanity.

Suddenly, the ruckus inside the building returned, getting louder and harsher than before.

Without warning, the dim lights flickering inside the windows sputtered violently. They blinked once, twice, and then snapped off completely. Inside the building, everything went totally black.

Rosa blinked rapidly, stumbling back another step. She stared at the heavy doors in sudden, overwhelming terror. An unshakeable feeling seized her—a terrifying instinct that something was going to burst through the doors at any second and stumble out into the rain toward her.

She took one trembling step backward, then another, her breath hitching as the cold seeped straight into her bones. She was shuddering violently, feeling as though she were trapped in ice.

Tim stood firm a few paces away, watching her, cataloging every flicker of fear on her face. Then he closed his eyes and breathed out a long sigh.

"Oh, good Lord. This is such a drag," he muttered under his breath.

He raised an eyebrow to look back at her again. "Well, I guess this doesn’t look like the right time for us to figure this out."

Rosa slowly turned her head to look at him, her eyes burning with pure annoyance.

He chuckled softly. "Relax, I’m not trying to cause any trouble here."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" she asked, the anger and exhaustion clear in her voice.

Tim breathed out once again, blowing away puffs of rain that had slipped onto his lips. "Why don’t you just come over? Let me take you over to my apartment and ensure you are warmed up. You know... change those wet clothes and ensure you are perfectly okay and totally dried up."

Rosa scoffed, rolling her eyes and looking to the side. She rubbed her hands vigorously against her soaked sleeves. "Absolutely not," she snapped, turning away and avoiding his gaze.

Tim chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, right. You can refuse all you want."

When she looked back at him, she caught his eyes darting between the pitch-black building and her shivering frame.

"But unfortunately," Tim said, smirking and smacking his teeth together with his lips, "it doesn’t look to me like you have much of a choice right now, do you?"