Page 23 of Free

I don’t know what else to say to her, so I don’t say anything. Instead, I motion around the room before I speak.

“This is the main room. Most of us hang out here,” I tell her. She follows behind me as I walk, showing her the kitchen, bathrooms, and the rooms that are off-limits to her. Kelly sits at the bar with Nails, and the thought of those two becoming friends makes me sick to my stomach.

“You don’t think you should do something about that?” Addison asks, nodding toward the two of them.

“I like the girls to be comfortable here,” I tell her.

“Do I need to tell you what she did again?”

“No. I don’t need the reminder, thanks. What do you care anyway?”

“You’re supposed to take care of me, right? After the drugs?”

“Yeah, and I will, too.”

“How with your fucked up arm? What if she got you shot somewhere else? Then what?”

“Are you worried about me or you here? Because it’s getting a little hard to tell,” I admit to her. She looks around the room, spotting Bunny near the kitchen before she responds, “Both.” Then she walks off toward Bunny and leaves me standing here stunned. She’s been here a week. She doesn’t know shit about me. She doesn’t need to know and yet she’s working her way under my skin already. That’s a new fucking record.

“What’s wrong? Your arm botherin’ you?” Van asks as he walks up next to me.

“A little, but it’s Addison. She keeps shockin’ the hell out of me at every turn, brother. I can’t figure her out,” I tell him.

“Like what? What’s there to figure out? You never analyzed the other girls like that,” he reminds me. I get that, but she’s different. I can feel it. I can see it.

“I don’t know, man. There’s somethin’ different about that one,” I tell him as I nod toward her.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. If I knew, it wouldn’t be botherin’ me. She isn’t afraid to get the drugs for one. She just asks a lot of questions about it. None of the others have given a shit enough to ask.”

“That is different,” he adds.

“Right? And I don’t know how to deal with that. I’m used to just pumping the drugs into their systems and watching them have at it.”

“That is a strange one. You’re gonna have to work harder with this one, Free.”

“No shit.”

Chapter 11

Addison

Tonight is the night. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I am. I don’t want to sleep with anyone. I don’t want to feel that way either, but there’s no way of escaping it. I’ve been a good girl and stayed away from the doors and windows like Free told me to.

Now he’s smiling as he comes toward me with a box in his hand. Once he’s in front of me, he sets the box on the table and looks at me.

“There are two ways of takin’ this. A liquid or a shot. Your choice.”

“Liquid.” I don’t want any shots of that shit. I’d rather swallow it. Free nods his head and pulls out a small tube with clear liquid in it. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was water in that tube. I watch as he pops the top and passes it to me.

“Bottoms up,” he says as he smiles that drop-dead gorgeous smile at me. I lick my lips before bringing the tube to them and tipping the liquid onto my tongue. It isn’t nasty. It actually has a sweet taste to it as I swallow it down. I pass the tube back to Free, and he sticks it back in the box before sitting in the chair in front of me. He motions for me to sit and I do in the next chair.

“In about fifteen minutes, it’s gonna hit you. You’re gonna feel a little high. You’re gonna feel a lot horny. Every guy in this room is here to help you with that if you want. Girls, too.”

“I’m not really into girls,” I tell him.

“You’ll be surprised what you’re into,” he tells me. I don’t know about all that. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a girl in that way before, but there’s a first time for everything. I’ve never been bought and drugged either, and here I am.

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