Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 27 - FOUR'S A CROWD

Hullo. It's been a while since I've done this, so welcome to our new readers from Sierra Leone, Guyana, Korea, Norway, Turkey and Venezuela (damn, you guys are all from such cool places. I think I've learnt more geography from the wattpad demographics map than I ever did in high school).

"Don't make me beg you," I whined. "Please? Just once?"

Liam shook his head. "I'd hurt you."

"How?"

He just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Somehow. Your elbow's still screwed up."

I gave a derisive snort. "My elbow is fine."

"Oh, yeah? Do a push-up, and then we can arm wrestle all you like," he said, sitting himself down at the kitchen table to pour himself a glass of cider.

We'd found the secret booze store on Day 2 Of Infinite Boredom. It had been hidden in a cabinet in Alpha Jace's bedroom. A cabinet which was now entirely empty, because there was no way in hell we were going to pass up the chance to nick hundreds of pounds' worth of alcohol. Most was stashed away, but we'd gotten through a few bottles in the four days since.

"You swear?" I demanded. I had a lot of upper-arm strength from running, but that had never been transferable to other kinds of physical exercise.

"Yes. But let's make it ten push-ups."

I jumped off the counter where I'd been perched and got to work. By the time I'd lowered myself to the floor, I had realised it was a mistake. My elbow was getting better every day, but it still felt like bones were grating together when I bent it.

I kept going anyway. We'd spent one hundred and forty-four hours cooped up in this little house, and a chance at five minutes of entertainment was worth any amount of pain. Ten push-ups later, and Liam was looking like he might be starting to regret our little bargain.

"You swore," I reminded him cheerfully, sitting down opposite and bracing my scarred, mangled elbow on the table.

He winced. "Yes, I did."

"And you're not allowed to let me win, either," I told him as he set his glass aside and took my hand. "I'll know if you do."

Liam just sighed at me. We took the strain, and then we started the contest properly. He refrained from letting me win, but what he did instead was almost worse. He'd let me struggle for a minute until his hand was a hairsbreadth above the table, and then, just when I was getting all excited, he'd start applying this gentle, constant pressure.

And slowly, inevitably, my knuckles always hit the wood. It only took about five contests for me to figure out that he was a lot stronger than I was.

"What are you getting out of this, Eva?" he asked me. We were taking a break after my twelfth consecutive defeat because although I'd never have admitted it, my elbow was burning. "I mean, seriously..."

"I'm bored," I murmured by way of explanation. It was only part of the truth, with the other part being that I was feeling starved for physical contact after a week alone with a guy who didn't really like being touched. "So, so bored."

We locked hands for round thirteen. And then, like I'd rubbed some magic lamp, the doorbell rang. I shot up from my chair and peered down the hallway. We tended to leave the door open for airflow, so there was no need for them to ring, really.

Hayden and Hannah were standing on the doorstep. They weren't cuffed for once, and Bryn was standing behind them with his arms slung across their shoulders. Two of the faces in front of me were grumpy, and the third was ecstatic.