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“Open the door, Katie. I have your money,” Cole bit out between clenched teeth as he fought against the urge to pound his fists against the door, afraid that he’d scare the little girl that was slowly making his life a living hell.

“No, you don’t! You only have five dollars!” Katie snapped from the safety of the other side of the locked basement door.

“I can get the rest of the money if you let me out,” Cole said as he glared at the door, imagining all the things that he was going to do to the little brat once he escaped.

“You should have paid me my dollar in the first place!”

“And I would have if you hadn’t handed me a cup of water and called it lemonade!”

“That was the secret ingredient!” the little brat shouted back as Cole released a frustrated groan and forced himself to turn around and head back downstairs before he said something that he would regret.

With a heavy sigh, Cole sat back down on the cold cement floor with a muttered, “Your little sister is evil,” as he glared up at the basement door that the little demon had slammed shut over an hour ago.

“I know,” the girl that he really didn’t want to be locked in a basement with mumbled sadly as she continued to stare helplessly up at the locked basement door.

At least she’d stopped mumbling, “I really hate my life,” Cole thought since it had been a bit concerning for a little while there. God, he had to get out of here, he thought, biting back a sigh because the last thing that he needed right now was to be locked in a basement with Chloe Anderson, especially now that he knew that she wanted him.

Not that he could blame her, Cole thought as he risked a glance to his right to find her staring helplessly up at the basement door. As flattered as he was that she wanted him, she just wasn’t his type, he thought, biting back a sigh as he ran his eyes over her, taking in her honey-gold blonde hair, her baby-blue eyes hidden behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, the way she worried her teeth over her bottom lip that looked soft, down to the baggy T-shirt and worn jeans that hinted at a figure and back again.

She was definitely cute, but sadly, he just wasn’t into cute. Even if he was, he wouldn’t be interested in Chloe. She was quiet, barely said a word in class, always had her nose in a book, and definitely was not his type, which brought him back to the real reason that he came here today.

He should probably get this over with.

With that in mind, Cole slowly exhaled as he tried to think of a way to break this to her gently only to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to do this without breaking her heart. Really hoping that she didn’t cry, he opened his mouth and–

“Do you have your phone with you?” Chloe asked, not bothering to take her gaze off the basement door.

“No,” Cole quickly said, clearing his throat as he discreetly reached down and made sure that his phone wasn’t sticking out of his pocket, because the last thing that he needed was for his family to find out that the little demon trapped him in a basement with Chloe.

He would never live it down.

Sighing heavily, Chloe turned her attention to the large basement that they were currently trapped in with a muttered, “There has to be a way out of here.”

There wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to say anything, mostly because he was debating whether he should wait until they were out of here before he said anything to her. If Cole waited, then he probably wouldn’t have to worry about seeing her cry since he would be able to leave, but…

This was going to be hard enough for her to hear. He didn’t want to do this in front of anyone and make this more difficult than it needed to be. It would just be easier to get this over with now. God, he wished that he didn’t have to do this, but what choice did he have? The longer that he let this go on, the worse it was going to be for her.

Telling himself that he was doing the right thing, Cole said, “Chloe, we have to talk.”

“No, we don’t. She’s my sister, which means that I’m the one that gets to beat her,” Chloe said as she stood up and after a heavy sigh, moved to go up the stairs only to go still when he said, “I’m not interested in you.”

For a moment, she simply stood there with her back to him and then slowly, oh so freaking slowly, she turned around and said, “What?” looking truly confused.

Biting back a sigh because this wasn’t going the way that he’d hoped, Cole said, “I’m just not into you, Chloe. I’m sorry.”

Blinking, she said, “Why exactly are you telling me this?”

“Because I don’t want you to get your hopes up,” Cole said with a sympathetic shake of his head as he added another, “Sorry,” because he really didn’t know what else to sa

y.

“Hold on,” Chloe said, raising her hand to stop him. “You actually think that I like you?”

When he shrugged, she slowly shook her head with a mumbled, “Unbelievable,” as she turned back around and headed up the stairs, leaving him sitting there wondering if that was it?

That was…

Easier than he’d thought, Cole mused, sighing in relief only to frown when Chloe calmly said, “Katie, if you open this door right now, I’ll let you throw the expired eggs that I tossed in the trashcan last night at Cole and I’ll even tell Uncle Nick that I’m the one that did it if he finds out.”