Page 94 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

“No. What kind?” He clarified.

“I don’t know. Red?” I blinked up at him, my heart still racing.

Prudence’s head bobbed once to accompany the dry look he gave me, before his eyes narrowed in the direction of the gas station. “You will not leave this spot,” he commanded. I simply nodded, not sure what else to say. “I will be back for you soon. Stay still, and stay safe.” He glared at me. “Call me if you need me. I’ll come.”

I’ll come.

“Okay.”

And then…he walked away.

Maybe he’d been right. Maybe this really would give me nightmares. But…as I watched him let a tree branch swing right into his meat puppet’s face, because he was a petty bitch that didn’t want to spare my attacker damage, even in death, I thought…maybe…maybe not.

I was pretty fucked up.

How the hell were we going to get out of this?

By the time I returned, Luca had made himself at home with his back against a tree trunk, lean thighs slung wide. I chucked the backpack at him without warning, watching him critically to check his reflexes as he caught it with a grunt, and immediately pulled it open.

A fast response time meant the likelihood of a concussion was low.

Still.

I’d keep an eye on him.

“Please tell me you packed me a hat,” he muttered under his breath, acting surprisingly normal considering how bruised and swollen his face was, and the fact that he was well aware I’d just returned from disposing of the corpse I’d murdered.

“I packed you a hat.” I didn’t understand why he needed one, but I’d figured considering the size of his collection, if I hadn’t, eventually I’d have to deal with a bitch fest. I was nothing if not a planner.

“Aha!” Luca pulled out the half white, half purple monstrosity, then carded his fingers through his sweaty, dirty hair with a grimace, shoving it out of the way before pulling the cap on. His hands were shaking. I hadn’t noticed at first, but I certainly noticed now. “Thank god.” He huffed out a laugh, then smiled at me and flashed a double thumbs up. “My hair kept poking my eyes. It was driving me crazy.”

I stared at him, at a loss for what to say.

Why was he acting so normal?

Maybe he really did have a concussion after all.

Then again, I was coming to realize Luca was all layers. Maybe on the surface he was calm. Maybe he was smiling. But beneath that—if I peeked into the depths of his stormy gray gaze, I could see the turbulence whirling like a hurricane.

“I was thinking…” Luca continued, ignoring the way I was staring at him. “You know, while you covered up the fact we killed a guy—”

“I killed him—”

“Yeah, well. I definitely helped.” He laughed, and the sound was just a hair higher than normal. I cocked my head to the side and stared at him. “Jee-sus, stop looking at me like that.” Luca rose shakily to his feet. He was pretty banged up. I’d cataloged his injuries earlier. Nothing would leave any lasting damage. Scrapes, bruises. Healing would take a few weeks at most. “Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me…” Luca glared at me, his long legs wobbling. I took a half step forward, ready to catch him, but he steadied himself, then offered me a friendlier, more genuine smile like he could tell what I’d been about to do before I’d done it. “I was thinking we could hitchhike.”

“No.”

No.

That was not an option. I clenched my fists, ignoring his protests, as he cocked his head to the side, mirroring me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“He knows.”

“Who knows?” Luca blinked in confusion. “Knows what?” He scrunched up his face, as if realizing too late, that his questions made no sense. “Explain.”

“The cashier you were worried about.”

“Okaaaaay?” He waved a hand. “You’re making no sense.”

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