Page 7 of Damaged

No fucking way.

“Dalton,” the kid said loudly. His frustration made me wonder if he’d been calling my name while I’d been lost in thought.

I spared him a glance.

He looked both pissed and scared. “Let me out of the car,” he said firmly, though there was no missing the uneasiness in his voice.

I returned my gaze to the road.

“Dalton—”

“Two hundred bucks,” I cut in without looking at him.

“What?” my clearly confused passenger asked.

“Two hundred dollars for the whole night. My house. You on those knees of yours. Your mouth and that tight little ass all mine for twenty-four hours. When I want it, how I want it. I’ll take you to the bus station after I’m finished with you.” I barely recognized my own voice as I spouted the crude words. It was all bullshit. I had no intention of or desire to lay my hands on the young man.

Liar.

I ignored my inner voice and stared straight ahead. I needed the young man to believe I was just like the men who’d use him and throw him away like garbage. My gut knew that if I just gave him the money, he wouldn’t take it.

When he didn’t answer me, I forced myself to glance at him. I shifted my eyes between him and the road as he hung his head, seemingly mulling over his decision. I felt a hole open up inside me as the young man nodded his head.

Not with eagerness at the prospect of making two hundred bucks.

No, there was nothing but sadness as he whispered, “Okay,” before returning his eyes to the passing scenery.

Sadness and something else… something that didn’t fit. That didn’t make sense.

It took me a minute to figure it out as I glanced back and forth between the young man and the road before me.

Disappointment.

He was disappointed.

But why?

I was giving him what he wanted.

Wasn’t I?

No more words were spoken after that, but I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at the young man every few minutes. His head kept drifting down then quickly up as he tried to fight off the sleep that was trying to steal over him. I subtly turned the volume of the car’s stereo system up. It was already tuned to my phone and playing through an instrumental playlist that I’d put together when I’d needed to calm myself after one of my episodes.

I figured both of us could use the music at the moment.

Finally, the kid curled up in the seat as best he could, given the seat belt. He ended up facing me.

Not a good thing because I was already having trouble keeping my eyes off him as it was.

Despite being in dry clothes?—

Your clothes.

I shoved away the reminder that his skin was touching the very fabric I wore when I was sleeping—well, the pants, anyway—and focused on the road. But when I saw him let out a violent shiver, I automatically reached for the button that controlled the heater for his seat. I used the screen in the dash to manipulate his seat until he was somewhere between lying completely flat and straight upright like he had been. The young man barely moved as I tried to make him more comfortable using all of the vehicle’s luxurious add-ons that I’d paid a shitload of money on specifically for the sake of my own comfort.

I waited a good twenty minutes to make sure he was in a deep sleep before I reached for my phone and disconnected it from the car’s Bluetooth connection so he wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation I was about to have—at least not the other side of it. I tuned the satellite radio to a light classical station before dialing the phone. I knew I should pull over while I was making the call, but instinct told me any change in the car’s movement would wake up my resting passenger.

I nearly smiled when Jace picked up before the first ring had even finished. “Hey, you okay?” he asked.

---