Page 17 of Tormented By Regret

“Listen, lunatic, we're stuck together whether we like it or not. So you do what I say, when I say. You don't wander the fuck off in the damn woods!”

“Why not? It's better than following you around.”

“What the hell's that supposed to mean?”

“We're lost! Admit it!” She stared pointedly at me.

“We're not lost.”

“We've probably been going in circles! If you weren't so stubborn we could have called my brother by now!”

“I already talked to someone,” I grunted.

“Who?” She asked, following me back to where I left Bandit.

“It doesn't matter who, I'm not calling again.”

“Stubborn, jackass,” she muttered under breath.

Pissed, I grabbed her by the lapels of her jean jacket and tugged her toward me.

“I have a man injured and I'm stuck here, in the middle of fucking nowhere, babysitting some spoiled little girl. So calm the fuck down and let me think, or I swear to God I will launch you over my lap and swat that ass of yours for being an insolent brat.”

She blinked twice as she registered what I had just said to her while I stood there preparing for a slap. Instead, as usual, she made my blood boil for another reason entirely.

Leaning in, nose to nose, nostrils flaring and eyes burning bright, she responded.

“I dare you to try.”

We stood there, nose to nose, for an entire minute until I finally pulled back. I stared down at her, and usually my murderous glare would scare the shit out of anyone who dared to cross it. Not, Whisper. She stared right back at me with one of her own. Years of perfecting it glaring at Spectre and Macabre, I was sure.

I grunted in frustration, turning my attention to my cell phone. Putting my ego aside, I made the call.

“Tired of going around in circles?” Hoax asked as soon as he came on the line.

“If you knew, why didn't you call me?” I was frustrated and exhausted, I wasn’t in the mood to be put through trials today.

“Cause Prez told me not to.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course he did. Where am I going, man?”

“You've got to go East.”

I pressed the heel of my hand to my now throbbing temple. “You think I’d be calling you if I knw where East was. Where the fuck is East?”

“Oh, yeah, just head the way you were going and make a slight right on the next path. You're about a half a mile out.”

I raised my hand in the air. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Not my fault you got on Prez's bad side. He said to let your dumb ass figure it out. I did. You didn't do so bad, brother.”

I grunted in frustration and hung up the phone. I missed having the satisfaction of slamming the phone receiver down. It was much more impactful. Instead, I stormed past Whisper, giving her the order to follow me.

“You don't have to talk to me like that.”

“Just do me a favor and quietly follow me.”

She lowered her head and murmured some smart comment beneath her breath. I swore I was gonna take her over my knee. The fact that my cock was loving that idea was null and void over the punishment I was going to issue her ass.

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