The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 34

The walk to Tyler's house was a short one but the discomfort between them had grown exponentially despite the short amount of time. 

There was something off about him today, Lola just couldn't seem to put a finger on it and it didn't help that her mind was filled with thoughts of Julian ignoring her. 

She felt used. 

She felt hurt. 

She turned to Tyler who was whistling to himself, a ghost of a smile on his face. She felt uncomfortable. 

"There's no one at home, so we have the house to ourselves." He unlocked the front door and took a step into the dark hallway. "You coming?"

Lola didn't realise she had frozen in front of his house, her legs cemented into the floor just before the threshold. Tyler was already inside, he had turned on a few lights and he was now looking at her. 

Lola stared at the poor lighting in the living room, the sun was still out but Tyler's house looked like it hadn't seen sunlight in years. The hallway was dim, the floors dark, the curtains in the living room were washed out and faded. There was nothing inviting about this place. 

"Lola, you there?" Tyler's voice was teasing, as if he could sense her discomfort. 

She momentarily considered backing out and running as far away as she could but the thought itself was so unreasonable. Tyler had done nothing to harm her or her friends, he'd always been the nice guy. The one who saw her, the one who gave her an ice cream cone when she had dropped hers. 

Tyler was the nice guy here. Julian was the one who had used her. 

She smiled at him and took a step inside. The wooden floor creaked slightly with each step and she saw that the table was bare, so was the kitchen top. No evidence of recent use visible. 

"Your parents work during the day?" She joined him in the hallway and he inched closer. 

"You want something to drink? Or eat?" His fingers brushed her arm and she took a step back, wanting to establish some distance between them. She didn't feel that way about Tyler, not anymore and she didn't want him to get any ideas in this dark, empty house. 

"No, I'm fine. You want to discuss our project in the living room?" She nodded at what seemed to be the brightest place in the house. 

"Nah, my room's better. More cozy." He smiled down at her and walked up the stairs, not waiting for her to follow. As if he was confident she would. 

Lola didn't know what to do. Things were moving too fast, they were alone in his house and now he was leading her up to his bed room. 

If Lola's parents knew, they would probably kill her and Tyler. 

But she was already here and she couldn't stop thinking about Tyler in that picture with Eva. Maybe he was the good boy she used to like, maybe he knew something the murders, maybe he didn't. The only way she was going to find out is if she spent more time with him and earned his trust. 

A small voice in her head scolded her for still thinking of helping Julian. He obviously didn't appreciate any of it so why should she even bother?

In the end, her heart won over and she texted her friends that she was now in Tyler's house, heading up to his room. This received a flurry of alarmed replies but Lola quickly shoved her phone into her bag. 

She needed to stop thinking too much because that would lead her out the door and running back to the comfort of her home. 

Instead she walked up the stairs, each step getting heavier by the second. Tyler was already in his room, she could hear soft music playing into the hallway. She walked silently, eyeing the other rooms that were firmly locked shut.