Page 86 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

A quick Google search showed there was a gas station just up the road. Small mercies and all that. I had never liked peeing outside. Ever. Even when I’d spent a lot of time outdoors I’d done my best to avoid it. Unlike Adam, or even Paul, who had always made fun of me as they went off to do their business like little pee-headed dude-bros. The fact they could bond over peeing in the wild made me simultaneously want to laugh, and also bash my head against the nearest surface.

I knew my aversion to it was weird, so I purposely played it cool so as to not arouse suspicion from Prudence as I asked, “You okay, if I head to the gas station to pee?”

Prudence arched a brow in annoyance. “Do you really need my permission to go to the bathroom?”

“Okay, fuck.” I laughed. On my way past him I slapped the hood playfully right next to his hand, just to enjoy the memory of his glare as I headed down the beat-up asphalt away from him. There was a prickle between my shoulder blades, a tingle at the base of my neck that had me checking both abandoned sides of the road for threats.

I’d been feeling that same awareness for hours now. Ever since we’d left the hotel, actually. But I’d shoved it aside. Like Prudence had said, no one was going to follow us. And even if they did? He’d promised to deal with it.

There was nothing to worry about.

Which is what I told myself, every time I jumped as a twig cracked behind the tree line. Or when a bird fluttered its wings, and my soul promptly left my body.

“You’re being paranoid,” I reminded myself as I pulled around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I spotted the gas station I’d sniped on Google. Before I headed inside, I gathered a handful of cash and shoved the stolen wallet into my back pocket. At the hotel we’d consolidated our bounty into the biggest of the seven, and seven different IDs and credit cards had made their home against my ass the entire drive there.

Prudence had explained that he wanted to keep the IDs in case he needed to assume a new identity, like the one he’d taken back at the hotel. I figured he knew more than I did about shape-shifting, so I wasn’t about to argue.

Soooo because I didn’t want to risk the gas station attendant seeing anything suspicious, I needed to be extra careful should I need to buy something.

Sunshine McIdiot was now Sunshine McParanoid.

Go figure.

As I pushed the door to the convenience store section of the gas station, the bell chimed. The guy manning the cash register glared at me, and I tried not to judge him for the ratty tatters of his baseball cap. Or the fact I could smell him all the way from the door—B.O. and too much Axe body spray to cover it.

Everything else about the gas station was unremarkable, aside from it being maybe a bit dirtier and older than what I was used to in San Diego. I couldn’t remember if everything had been run down this close to my hometown when I was a kid, or if this was a recent thing, but I refused to dwell on it too long as I made my way toward the back where the bathrooms should’ve been. Only…there were no bathrooms.

“Bathrooms are for paying customers,” the dude grunted. I swiveled around, my heart thudding unsteadily as I caught him leaning over the counter to watch me suspiciously.

“Right.” I’d thought something like this might happen. I ignored the need to do a little I-need-to-pee-jig and made my way toward him, snagging the first thing I saw—a lighter, and placing it on the counter. Something beeped under the table, and cashier dude’s eyes flickered in surprise, before shuttering once again.

“ID?” He asked and I scowled, gesturing at the sad stubble beginning to form on my face.

“Do I look like a high schooler to you?” The look in his eyes most definitely said yes.

“Five bucks.” I offered, waggling the extra cash I had in my hand. “I don’t have my ID with me.”

He debated with himself, his beady little eyes swiveling from side to side. His attention caught on Prudence’s necklace, dangling from my throat out in the open. Fuck. I hadn’t even noticed. Something in his gaze changed then, and the darkness in his eyes grew even darker.

“Fine.” He snatched the five right out of my hand and didn’t give me any more trouble as I paid for the pink lighter, and shoved it into my front pocket. When we were finished, he handed me my receipt and I waited.

And waited.

“Bathroom?” I reminded him, my leg beginning to bounce a little.

“Out back.” He tossed me the key, and I was so grateful that I ignored the way his gaze followed me all the way out the door. I tucked the necklace protectively under my shirt, weirdly uncomfortable when I remembered the way he’d ogled it.

It wasn’t something I was supposed to share.

It felt private.

Even though it was just a necklace.

The bathroom was indeed out back. A single stall inside a tiny little building covered in chipped blue paint, probably older than I was. It took a couple tries to get the damn key into the lock. And I forced out a relieved breath the second it clicked open, and a flickering fluorescent lightbulb burst on.

When I had finished doing my business, I washed my hands liberally, ignoring the fact the bathroom was even dirtier than the gas station had been. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, ignoring my reflection as I checked my notifications. I’d meant to turn the damn thing off, but I’d forgotten in light of my bathroom adventure.

It was one of those emails from a random beauty company wishing me an early birthday with a coupon so small it wasn’t worth using at all. With a sigh it finally hit me. My birthday. Three days away. Jesus. I bit my lip, nervously reaching up to fiddle with Prudence’s cross through the fabric of my hoodie.

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