Page 7 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
Clearing his throat, Nolan spoke. “Her parents are worried about her,” he said evenly. “They got a call from her that concerned them. Then, after that, they couldn’t reach her. Asked us to come check on her.”
Brad rolled his eyes and sighed. “She’s fine. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Sorry you came all this way for nothing,” he said, trying to close the door.
I held out my hand, and put it against the rough wood, preventing the door from closing.
“We’ll judge for ourselves whether she’s fine or not,” I said. “Get her down here. Now.”
Before he could argue further, the sound of more footsteps coming down the stairs rang out. I heard her voice before I her saw her, thanks to the spiral staircase that was blocking my view. But, I knew, right away that it was Elise, and she was safe.
“What’s going on? Who’s here?” she asked.
She stepped into view, and a profound sense of relief rushed through my body. She was fine. She was more than fine, actually. She was beautiful – as she always was. Her honey blonde hair was cut shorter than the last time I’d seen her, grazing her shoulders in sleek, but soft waves as if she’d simply forgotten to straighten her hair that morning. Her blue eyes were wide and vivid, and dare I say it, she smiled when she saw us standing there. Her perfectly pink lips pulled back into a small smile, which she quickly hid from view the moment she realized it, and cut a quick glance at Brad, the look on her face saying she hoped he didn’t notice it.
“Trevor? What are you guys doing here?” she asked, her voice having just the slightest hint of an accent.
She reached the bottom of the steps and I noticed that she was barefoot. Wearing only gray yoga pants and a pink t-shirt, she was still a vision. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were freezing.
“Your parents wanted us to check on you,” I said gently. “After you didn’t return their calls, they got worried about you, Elise.”
Her face fell, and a darkness washed over her as she glanced at Brad. Her face was tight, pinched, and she looked scared.
“Oh, yeah, my phone broke,” she said, holding herself even closer and tighter that before.
Elise seemed to be drawing further into herself. My gaze fell to her arm where I noticed that a bruise peeked out from under her t-shirt sleeve. My blood boiled before I even knew what hit me and I stepped closer to Brad, grabbing him by the shoulders, a look of pure malevolence in my eyes.
“What the fuck, man?” Sean said, grabbing me and yanking me back.
“Look at her arm,” I grumbled.
Elise pulled the sleeve down, hiding it from view. “Come inside, ya’ll, it’s cold outside,” she said, her voice wavering.
It was hard to tell if she was shivering from the cold or the memory of how she got the bruise on her arm.
“They’re not coming inside, Elle,” Brad said, standing in our way. “They may as well just get out of here.”
“Like hell we’re not,” I said, towering over him again.
“Brad, please, don’t be difficult,” Elise said softly. “It’s a freaking blizzard out there, and I’m freezing to death.”
“This is my cabin,” he said.
“Your cabin?” I scoffed. “Because you fucking rented it?”
“No, because I fucking own it, dipshit,” he said.
Ahh, right. Made sense why they were the only ones there when it was closed now. Still, he wasn’t about to keep me from talking to Elise. There was no way in hell I was going to let him force us out before making sure she was okay. Judging by that bruise on her arm though, I thought she was pretty fucking far from okay.
“We’re not leaving until we talk to Elise,” I said. “Either you can let us in, or we’ll force our way in.”
I wasn’t one to turn to threats typically, but when it came to Elise, I certainly wasn’t above it. Brad and I stared each other down for a second before he lowered his eyes, unable to meet my challenge. He sighed and stepped back.
He knew he couldn’t win. Not with four of us standing there, ready to kick his ass. It wasn’t like he could call the cops on us either. How the hell would they get up there in this weather? He was on his own, and he knew his options were limited.
“Smart man,” I said, pushing my way past him.
The others followed me in, and Sean closed the door behind us.
The cabin was much larger than it appeared from the outside. The fireplace took up a large section of one wall, and had a fire burning brightly in it, casting a cozy warmth throughout the whole place. The spiral staircase led upstairs to a loft that looked down upon the main floor. It was a bedroom with a king-sized bed and giant picture windows overlooking the snow-covered landscape. The windows came all the way down to the first floor, and out back was a patio and a hot tub with steam rising from it and curling up into the frigid air.
