Page 11 of Finish Line

“Do you know how easy it was to pull the boys away from you?” Carrie sneers at me. “I mean, why would Dom Knight want to be seen with a low-life whore like you?”

“What does it say about you, Carrie, that you had to use hypnosis to get them back? What do you think will happen when they find out what you’re doing?” I tip my head to the side, questioningly.

Carrie’s face turns white, but she recovers quickly. “Once you’re gone, they won’t remember you. You’re nothing, No one wants you.”

Cold water is thrown on me again, and I jolt awake. Roger stands in front of me, looking down at me while smiling cruelly at me. “You looked a little too comfortable.”

The box I lie on and the newspaper covering me are soaking wet.

Roger sets down the bucket, then picks up a bag. His hand dips in, and he pulls out a loaf of bread and two water bottles.

“This is all you have for a while. I won’t be able to come back until it’s time to move again. Your stepbrother is posing a bigger threat than I thought he would. I need to keep him off my tail. Oh, someone has been asking about you. I might let him come over and say hi, so you aren’t lonely.”

He laughs as he walks up the steps.

Who would he let down here? As I take a piece of bread, I struggle to think of who the hell it could be, but come up blank.

I sip the water and shift to sit more comfortably, shoving two pieces of bread into my mouth. I only drink half a bottle of water.

How long will I have to wait for more?

CHAPTER FOUR

SHELBY

My body is numb.

I lie flat on my back and stare at the ceiling, wondering how many days I’ve been down here. My strength is gone. After the day he left me the food, I rationed my bread and water.

I only made it through half the loaf, though, before mold grew on the rest because of how damp it is down here. My water ran out what feels like two days earlier.

Every time I move, I fight a wave of dizziness.

Around the same time I ran out of water, my visitor showed up.

The next time I wake up, I find Evan Ryan leering at my body.

“Damn, I knew you had a body under those clothes.” He bites his lip as his eyes roam my body.

Not wanting his eyes on me, I try to cover myself, but he’s already seen me.

How could I not have thought of him? He’s Roger’s cousin. He was the reason I told the guys about Ashland. Carrie said something when we were playing chicken in Tate’s pool, and she heard it from him.

To cover myself more, I sit up, pulling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them. “What do you want, Evan?”

He rocks back on his heels. “My cousin asked me to come and check up on you.”

My stomach lurches from his malicious smile.

“As you can see, I’m still here, so you can go away now.” I shush him away.

He turns and walks around the corner. I think for a split second that he’s leaving, but he comes back with a chair.

“I’m not sitting down on the filthy floor.” He sits down and pouts at me. “I got some bad news I need to share with you. I heard through the grapevine that faggot boy didn’t make it.”

Why does he think I care about this? Then, I remember him calling Cam that.

“Cam.” My jaw quivers, my breaths growing short. I drop my arms from around my leg.

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