Page 28 of Hard Count (Newhouse University #4)

“We can figure this out. We have a desk filled with jars and books,” Holden says. There’s what sounds like desk drawers opening and closing, then she says, “We have a flashlight. I’m going to pass it over the wall. Maybe you have something written on the walls.”

Holding tight to my hand, Nash walks toward the wall connecting our two rooms. He passes me his phone and then reaches over the wall. “Got it,” he says. It’s small and has a warm yellow light. He runs it up and down the walls looking for something to glow.

“I don’t think this is a black light.” I take the light from him and run it over my white floral dress. “This would glow.”

“Damn, you’re right. This isn’t for us. Oz, you need to find something to use it on in your room. Or maybe Eli and Frankie need it.”

“We’re wasting a lot of time,” Frankie calls out. “We need to do something,” she says, starting to panic. I don’t think she expected it to be so dark. Eli’s deep voice is barely audible but I have a feeling he’s calming down my friend.

“What are we supposed to do while you figure it out? Just stand here?” Nash asks.

“Hold tight. Give us a minute to look through some of this stuff in here. Frankie and Eli, keep looking around. Maybe you missed something. I don’t fucking know,” Ozzy mumbles in frustration.

“I’m sorry we got stuck in the room with nothing in it. I know you wanted to help figure out the clues.” Nash turns the flashlight off on his phone and pockets it. Then he wraps his arms around me and tucks my head against his chest.

“It’s fine. I’m still here with you.” I lift my head and run my hands up his chest. Even through his shirt I can make out every muscle on his abdomen. He drops his hands to my ass and pulls me tight against his body. In the dark, his lips find mine.

I slip my tongue inside his mouth. The taste and feel of him pressed against my body makes my toes curl.

I nudge him backward and he falls against the wall.

He laughs against my lips but I don’t care.

There’s something about being with him in the dark but knowing our friends are on the other side of the wall that turns me on.

He must feel the same because his hands are on my breasts and up my dress. I move my left hand down over his dick, making him grunt. “I know something we can do while we wait for them. That is if you’re not worried about getting caught.”

“I’m not. What did you have in mind?” His breathing becomes ragged as I continue running my hand up and down his growing erection.

“Can you be quiet this time?” I ask, unbuttoning his jeans. He nods against my forehead. “Let’s see.” I slip my hand into his underwear and wrap it around his dick. A growl rumbles in his chest. I release him and he pushes my hand back on him, making me laugh.

“Don’t you dare stop,” he warns. “I’ll be good.”

Ozzy and Holden bicker behind me. Occasionally they ask Eli and Frankie a question. She’s still in a panic over being in the dark.

“What if I want to do something else?” I bring his jeans and boxers down with me as I get on my knees. Nash’s dick is thick and long. I knew it would be after feeling it pressed against me so many times but having it in my hands is even better.

Bracing one hand on his bare thigh, I lick him from root to tip. There's no way I’ll be able to take all of him in my mouth. I grip him around the base of his shaft and press my lips against the head. Pushing him further in my mouth, I don’t stop until his dick hits the back of my throat.

“Fuck,” Nash says. I squeeze his thigh reminding him to be quiet.

“Did you find something?” Ozzy asks.

“No. Not a thing,” he replies even though it’s difficult for him to speak.

“Damn. Okay, keeping looking. Let us know if you do,” Ozzy replies

“Yep.” His fingers tickle my face as he feels around to find the back of my head. Wrapping my hair around his hand, he holds me in place. “I wish I could see you,” he murmurs so only I can hear him. “I bet you look so pretty with my cock in your mouth, baby.”

I hum at his praise. Salty precum leaks into my mouth and I swallow it craving more of his release.He whimpers and grits his teeth when I tighten the suction of my lips.

“Oh…oh,” Frankie practically moans and suddenly our room sparks to life under a black light.

Nash’s eyes meet mine and my heart thunders inside my chest. Desire bleeds from his eyes. I wish I could see myself from his perspective as my dress glows around me and I suck and swallow down his dick.

The lights go out and I have to blink a few times to adjust my vision to the dark.

“Do that again,” Ozzy says in a panic. “Whatever you just did made a light pop on in Nash’s room. ”

“They need us to do that again. Do you want me to do that again?” Eli asks.

“Yes,” she says out of breath. Once again the black light pops back on and our room is illuminated.

“Is there anything written on the wall? Maybe that corresponds to something in our room,” Holden suggests.

I start to take him out of my mouth to speak, but Nash holds me steady. “Don’t even think about it.” His eyes wander around the room. “There's a few things on the wall," he tells them between shallow breaths. "Read it in a book,” he shouts.

“Okay. Okay. Let me think. The books. Is there anything else that would tell us what book? There are a dozen books over here,” Holden says.

“Fuck, that feels so good, baby,” he murmurs. I tighten my fingers and suck him down harder, faster. His eyes glaze over as he watches me. Saliva starts to leak out of the corner of my mouth and he wipes it away.

“Nash!” Ozzy shouts through the wall.

“Fuck! Fine. The wall says it’s your birthday, one foot in the sea and one on shore, don’t let your hardships define you, stay in your lane,” he says the words so fast they all jumble together.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Say it again but a little slower this time,” Ozzy requests.

Nash’s head drops back and he bites down on his lip. He tightens his hold on my head and encourages me to go even faster. I love seeing him on the brink of losing his control. I hollow my cheeks and tighten the suction on my mouth. His eyes close and his head falls back against the wall.

“Nash, did you hear me?”

“I’m coming,” he warns, before warm cum coats my tongue and shoots down my throat.

“Where the fuck are you going? We’re locked in this damn room,” Ozzy complains. “I need those clues again.”

I swallow down every drop and lick him clean before helping him back into his boxers. He zips up his pants and then uses his shirt to wipe my mouth. “You’re amazing, baby. Thank you," he says before kissing me hard.

“We should probably help them now,” I say a little breathless.

He sighs. “If we have to.”

“The faster we get out of here, the faster we can go home and do that again,” I tell him.

“Oz, the first clue is ‘ It’s your birthday .’ Are there any books about birthdays?” Nash asks, zipping into action and making me laugh. He smiles back at me over his shoulder.

“Nothing on birthdays,” Holden answers.

“Wait, didn’t we have to give them our birthdays when we signed up?” Frankie asks. “Our box has a number lock on it.” There’s a shuffling noise and then she says, “It’s not mine or Eli’s birthday.”

We take turns giving her our birthdays. “Your birthday is in a few weeks?” Nash asks after I tell Frankie mine. “Why didn’t you say something? ”

I nod. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t really celebrate my birthday.

” The whites of his eyes glow as they widen in disbelief and then droop in sadness.

I turn away and pretend to read the clues on the wall.

It’s not that I’m against birthday celebrations.

I just never pushed for them. I got the occasional card or gift depending on which parent I was with at the time.

He wraps his arms around me from behind me and covers my hand with his where I’m spinning my bracelet around. He moves my hair aside and rests his head in the crook of my neck, breathing me in.

We both tend to do that a lot. As if being in the same room together grants us something that most take for granted.

A full breath.

Whatever we're building together, it leaves me breathless at times. It also makes me forget about my past. All the pain I feel is lifted off my chest and my lungs expand, filling with air and I can breathe.

“It worked, oh my god, I got it open!” Frankie screams. “A dictionary? What the fuck?”

“There’s also a key, baby,” Eli says. Nash and I look at each other and smile. I can’t wait to ask her about that later.

“We have a padlock. We need a number code to open it. What about you?” Frankie asks.

I walk over to our door. “Padlock over here too.”

“The key must be for our door to get out,” Holden says.

“The clue on the wall says read it in a book. What books do you have over there?” I ask. Ozzy lists all the books.

“You said you have Shakespeare?” Frankie asks .

“Yeah it’s Much Ado About Nothing ,” Holden replies.

“That quote on the wall. One foot in the sea. It’s from that book,” Frankie explains. “Flip through that one. Maybe there’s numbers or another clue.”

I stare at the wall looking for anything else. “What are you thinking?” Nash asks.

“That one,” I point to the line about letting our hardships define you. “Frankie, you said you had a dictionary?”

“Yeah.”

“Look up hardship.”

I can hear pages being flipped from both rooms.

“There's a four digit number. Two-four-seven-nine. Try it in your padlock and I’ll try ours,” she says.

“Good job, little fox.” Nash kisses the side of my head as I punch in numbers. Our door pops open and we enter the room with Ozzy and Holden.

Their room is just as dark as ours except for the glow of the flashlights on their phones. “Anything in the book?” Nash asks.

“Nothing. We looked at every page,” Ozzy answers.

“What about with that flashlight?” I nod toward the black flashlight on the desk.

They turn their phones off and start flipping through the pages again with the light. “Here’s a nine. A six.” Holden flips a few more pages. “Three and a nine.”

“Try that in your lock,” Nash says.

“Nothing,” Eli answers this time .

“What are we missing? We’re running out of time,” Ozzy says.

I walk back into our room and look around at the clues. There’s only one we haven’t used. Stay in Your Lane . What could that be for? “Is there anything on the steering wheel?”

“I don’t think so. That’s what turned your light on,” Eli says.

“Oh wait. Look there’s a padlock on this side.

I’ll try those numbers. It opened. There’s a note.

The end is near if it’s love you fear. What the hell does that mean?

” Frankie asks. “I’m over this. I need to get out of this tiny room.

” Her last sentence is muffled as if she spoke it against the wall or maybe Eli’s chest.

Holden and Ozzy frantically look through books. “There’s this diary. It has love on the front but it’s blank. It says dear diary and has an entry date. That’s all it says.”

“The date,” I scream. “That’s their code. August fourteenth. Zero, eight, one, four.”

“You have five minutes left,” the creepy voice says over the intercom.

Frankie and Eli’s door clicks open and I rush inside to give her a hug. Eli takes the key and unlocks the main door, setting us free. He holds the door open for Frankie and she rushes past everyone and out the front door of the building. “I’m going to go ahead and take her home,” he says.

“We did it,” Holden screams and jumps into Ozzy’s arms. He looks stunned for a moment when she kisses his cheek. I glance at Nash and he shrugs.

“You did really good in there. Do you think if I set up something you could escape?” Nash asks, wrapping his arms around my waist. I drape my arms over his shoulder and lace my hands behind his neck.

“Now, why would I want to do that?” If he wanted to lock me in a room, I would stay his prisoner forever.