A Code For Love Read Online Chapter 2 – I locked the door behind Linh and David, turning back to my living room to see the sunset spilling inside.
The floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the apartment, allowing the descending sun to illuminate the grey floors. The golden glow cloaked itself around my tan skin, and my chest filled with a surge of gratitude.
I finished the food we ordered and nestled into the old couch, watching the sky become engulfed in darkness. Well, as much darkness as the bright lights of the city would allow.
My phone pinged, pulling me out of my trance.
Linh: Home 🙂
Me: Night! Don’t think I forgot about the hunk.
Linh: No idea what you’re talking about. Good night! <3
I laughed at her response. Linh was not going to get away without talking to me about David. The last time she even mentioned a guy, we were in high school. I was sure Linh and Kai would be high school sweethearts, but after he transferred out of the blue, they lost touch. Since then, I haven’t seen her even remotely interested in anyone.
Checking the time, I scrambled to my feet. My first day at Cypher was tomorrow, and I had to be up early. The three-hour time difference didn’t combat the exhaustion weighing down on me. It was only ten p.m. back home, but well after midnight here. My parents had already called and given me an earful about my impulsive move. After apologizing and promising to call them often, they were appeased, for now.
Although this move had left my pockets emptier than a strip club on Mother’s Day, I finally felt like I had something to call my own. Albeit, I had a long way to go to making this space mine but knowing I was free to do as I pleased was exhilarating.
I stared at the makeshift bed and the clean white comforter calling my name, debating whether my skincare routine was really that important. Deciding against listening to the pimple-sized devil on my shoulder, I showered, washing away the last specks of my old life. When I was dried and changed into the only pj’s I had packed, I walked into my bedroom.
From the windows in my room, there was a view of the entire city, and I fought the temptation to leave the blinds open. I didn’t need serial killers peering into my apartment to hunt for their next victim. Jumping into my makeshift bed, I drifted into an exhaustion-induced sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
BANG!
My heart lurched, jolting me out of my comforter. I sat disoriented and unable to tell if I was dreaming, or if my absurd thought of getting murdered by a serial killer was actually coming true.
“Universe! I did not mean to manifest that,” I muttered, dropping my head into my hands.
BANG!
I shot out of bed, the noise a reminder that I might not be alone in this apartment. I would much rather prefer hiding under my comforter, like when I was home alone, and the floorboards creaked. But I lived alone now, and that meant I was also the guard dog.
In a terrified search, I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on. It was the baseball bat Linh gave me as a housewarming gift. The ten-pound metal bat, bedazzled with pink rhinestones, would serve as an oddly practical gift since my first day here and I had somehow created the perfect ambiance for an intruder.
I approached my bedroom door on tip-toes, giving myself a pep talk before my trembling hand reached for the knob. Yanking it open, I flipped on the light switch, squinting at the bright light now filtering my apartment. I took a defensive stance with the baseball bat high in the air and ready to swing. My pulse hammered at the base of my throat.
From how the apartment was set up, I could see the living room and kitchen from my room. Running through a mental checklist, I tried to recall whether I had locked the door. I took cautious steps out toward it, praying under my breath. Positive that if I even saw a spider, I’d call the police.
After a quick check, I lowered my bat in a relieved exhale, finding that the sound wasn’t coming from anywhere inside. When I didn’t hear anything for a while, I decided to retreat under my covers and go with my plan of hiding there until I saw daylight. I would notify the concierge tomorr—
BANG!
A loud curse escaped me when stubbed my toe in the door jamb. I clutched my throbbing foot and bounced on one leg. All right, now I was angry.
Couldn’t a girl get some sleep on her mangled piece of foam after a stuffy five-hour flight? It sounded like construction had begun in the building, but there was no way they had maintenance at this hour.
BANG!
Suddenly, as if my brain had been re-routed, I looked up at the white ceiling. The sound was coming from the apartment above mine. I searched my room to find something long enough to jab the ceiling, but it was futile.
Ultimately, I had two options: To go down thirty floors to the concierge or go up one floor and politely ask my new neighbour to shut up. I debated my options when another loud bang, accompanied by a scratch of a record player and muffled music, filtered through the ceiling.
That was the last straw.
Without thinking, I was out of my apartment and making a beeline toward the elevator. It was two in the morning, so I wasn’t surprised when it dinged open a second after I pressed the button to call for it. I was brought to the next level so fast I barely had time to register what I was doing, and a sudden wave of panic washed over me. Remembering why I was here, I flattened the anxious feelings, and prowled for the apartment situated directly above mine. Before I could cower away, I gave a loud knock—that could classify as more of a pounding—and took a step back.
Faint shuffling and the record player scratching to a halt sounded behind the wooden door. Then it swung open with so much force, a gust of wind blew past me, my wild flyaways dancing with it. The bright light inside the apartment spilled into the hallway as he stood there.
Shoulders. Chest. Abs.
Biceps, trapezius, and pectorals.
My brain defaulted to one-word bursts from my tenth-grade anatomy textbook. I couldn’t turn it off, and my eyes were not doing a good job of hiding how I was mapping the naked body in front of me. Or naked torso in front of me. The bottom half covered by grey sweats.
Yup, grey sweats. I was a goner.
I could almost hear the faint sound of my ovaries screaming with joy. The last time they did that was six years ago, and, well, that didn’t turn out so great for me.
His tall, muscular body filled the door frame, and my traitorous eyes landed on the inked skin of his right arm. I swallowed. Sleeve tattoos were my undoing, and I found it hard to focus when a man had them. I supposed my strict parents and the rebelling streak in high school were to blame for that.
Forcing my eyes away from the smooth planes of his torso, my gaze travelled to his face. Our eyes met at the same time, and my breath caught
in my chest.
That’s when I noticed his body wasn’t the only attractive thing about him. His brown hair was shaved short on the sides, faded perfectly against his dark skin. The coiled curls on top gave him a glowing halo under the apartment light. A sight I would soon learn was nothing more than an illusion.
I recovered from the fact that his skin looked luminous in the light, and his abs were etched out so perfectly, he could feature in the art gallery where Linh was interning. Or that his full lips were the perfect shade of pink and his light brown eyes were so alluring, I had to stop myself from walking toward him.
“Yes?” His deep voice cut through my charged thoughts like a serrated knife. The huskiness of it was not doing me any favours. Who in their right mind would open their door without throwing a shirt on first? Someone with a body like that.
Now, leaning against the door frame, he crossed his arms waiting for me to speak. With his half-naked body on display, I became hyper-aware of my tiny silk shorts and thin strap camisole. I wished I had the forethought of throwing a cardigan over these skimpy pj’s. The draft of cold air in the corridor fell across my exposed skin, inviting my Hershey’s kisses to my confrontation with the stranger.
Hot stranger. Chimed the extremely delusional and concupiscent part of my brain. Shifting uncomfortably, I took a healthy step back and crossed my arms over my chest. I tucked the baseball bat, which I hadn’t realized I brought along, under my arm.
“Can I help you?” His voice came again. The rude tone sent any plan of being nice hurtling out the window and onto the trash-filled curb.
“Yes, you can. How about you start by postponing your home improvement projects for the morning? I’m trying to sleep, and all I hear is an incessant noise coming from your apartment, which happens to be
directly above mine. So, if you don’t mind, people are trying to sleep.” I was surprised I managed not to stutter with the way he was looking at me
His brows furrowed. “No one lives in the apartment below mine.”
My blank stare should have conveyed how dense I thought he was. He sounded so certain as if I didn’t know where I lived. His confident tone almost had me double-checking the door number.
“Well, now someone does, and they like to be asleep at two in the morning.” I took a deep breath, briefly closing my eyes. I did not have time to go through the floor plan of this building. I needed sleep. “Look, I have my first day at work tomorrow, and I don’t want to be an annoying neighbour and tattle to the concierge. If it comes down to it, I’m not above telling them you caused me some serious distress from this whole ordeal, which would partially be true since I’m freezing and losing sleep by coming here. So, please, can you stop with the hammering and the music?”
He scrutinized me for a long while, and I stared back, waiting for his reply.
A look of suppressed curiosity appeared. “What’s the toy for?”
I followed his gaze to the pink bedazzled bat tucked under my arm. This thing could crack a skull, and he was calling it a toy? The way the corner of his mouth inched up into an infuriatingly s*xy smirk made me want to show him exactly what this toy could do to his kneecaps, but instead, I mustered a tight smile.
“It’s not a toy, and not that you need to know, but I brought it for protection.” I held my head high, not caring that he was trying to make fun of me. The amusement written on Grey Sweats’ face made me want to roll my eyes. Of course, he was finding this comical. He was probably an insomniac who found his object of entertainment for tonight.
“A better option would be to not knock on stranger’s doors in the middle of the night,” he retorted. The audacity to blame this unfortunate situation on me made me clench my fists in barely contained anger.
I let out a scoff, my mouth falling open. I straightened my five-foot- seven frame—which didn’t have the desired intimidating effect I wished it would—and levelled our gaze. “You know what? I thought I would be polite and ask you nicely, but forget it. You’re standing here like some self- obsessed prick who thinks he owns the f*cking building. Other people live here too, so you have no right to disrespect me, or anyone else for that matter,” I huffed. “How’s that for a better option?”
His smirk was quickly replaced with a scowl. Uncrossing his arms, he moved from his leaning position on the door and took an intimidating step toward me. His body was so massive and towering, the muscles in my neck tightened in response. I could tell this was the first time anyone had the balls to put this guy in his place, and he did not appreciate it. Before he could get a word out, I sprinted toward the elevator. Like a coward.
Unfortunately, my half-awake brain had more bite than I needed it to, but I was never good at filtering myself when I was sleep-deprived. Standing upright, he watched me slip into the elevator.
“Just let me sleep,” I said, this time more fatigued.
He started to say something, but whatever it was, I didn’t hear it because the elevator doors closed, and I descended to my floor. I hadn’t noticed how hard I was breathing or how rapidly my heart thrashed in my chest until I got inside my apartment.
Still reeling from the interaction, I slumped against the door, trying to calm the adrenaline running through me. I regretted going to the stranger’s apartment and hoped he wouldn’t complain to the front desk. I would be mortified if someone found out I got kicked out for verbally harassing my neighbour on my first night here. I wasn’t sure about the laws surrounding this, but I wouldn’t risk being deported back to Canada. It hadn’t even been a full day since I got here.
“Please don’t kick me out,” I begged no one in particular.
Dragging myself to bed, I rested my baseball bat on the floor and was engulfed by my thick comforter again. All my exhaustion and built-up anger dissipated when I sank deeper into the foam. I held my breath, waiting to see if the banging would start again, but it was quiet enough to hear the air escaping the vents. Smiling, I drifted into a much needed sleep, hoping I wouldn’t dream of a certain stranger.
Want to Full list click here, A Code For Love PDF and you can also “allow notification” to get updates of latest chapter or Bookmark this site www.NovelKoo.com for Daily Visit.