Page 5 of Shadow's Sinner

“Stop fucking rambling and just get to the point,” he hisses.

I press my lips together, swallowing the lump in my throat. Travis has a temper, one that I try my very best not to invoke. He hates it when I ramble, when the thoughts in my head get stuck and I can’t figure out the right thing to say.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble.

“I don’t care that you’re sorry, just tell me where you are going?” he asks, grabbing my hand.

I mindlessly follow beside him.

“I’m not sure. They just said I was going on this trip. He said I was reaching a milestone.”

Travis doesn’t bother to say anything as he continues to pull me further into the park where the wooded area lies. I glance behind us, unsure why he felt the need to drag me here, but I don’t question him. I don’t want to anger him.

Once we step between the trees, Travis turns me around until my back hits a tree, the bark digging into my shoulder blade.

“What milestone?” he asks.

For some reason, I can’t look at him as I whisper, “My birthday…my eighteenth birthday.”

I never lied about my age to him. While I know it’s wrong to mess around with a boy, I also know it’s wrong that he is four years older than me. But that doesn’t matter, not to me. I want to feel normal, and seeing Travis is as normal as possible.

“Oh,” he mumbles, looking off into the distance again. “I almost forgot about your big day.”

I want to tell him there's nothing special about my birthday. I just have to get through this last little bit of high school before I can leave home. I want this town to be behind me and to never think about it again.

“I’m sad I’m not going to spend it with you,” he pouts. I tilt my head to the side, confused about why he would be upset about this. He never once asked about my birthday or told me he wanted to spend it together.

“We can celebrate it next weekend? I’m sure I can tell them I have some work I need to catch up on since I’ll be gone.” I shrug. I doubt they would believe me, but at least I can try.

“I’m not sure that’ll work either,” Travis says, leaning forward.

I frown up at him, my mouth opening to ask what he means when Travis rushes forward, slamming his lips against mine. I suck in a breath, confused about what he’s doing. My eyes widen, afraid to move.

“Kiss me back,” he growls against my lips.

I should want to kiss him, but something inside me refuses to let my lips move. I’m frozen against him, begging my body to move, to do anything. But I can’t.

“Jesus fuck, what is wrong with you?” Travis yells. He pulls back, grabbing my shoulder to shove me harder against the tree.

My body trembles as fear sinks into my spine, realizing I never should have followed him out here.

“I asked you a fucking question, Lakelyn.”

I shake my head, unable to speak. Even if my life depended on it, which this feels like it might be.

“What, you think you’re too good to kiss me? Is that it?”

Again, I shake my head. I don’t think that I’m too good. I can’t explain why I can’t move. I like Travis, I really do, but something deep down in my heart tells me he’s wrong, thatthisis wrong.

I’m too wrapped up in my head to realize what's happening until I hear the blow echo around the woods and feel the stingradiating through my cheek. Dad is the only man to ever hit me, and while I know it’s wrong, I’m shocked Travis has hit me.

My eyes widen as tears threaten to fall when I look up at Travis. I’m not sure why I expected him to be surprised by his actions, or at least sorry. But he just stands there, fuming and breathing heavily. His blond hair shifts in the wind, his brows pull together, and his muscular build suddenly no longer seems attractive to me.

“You’re worthless,” he spits. I bite my tongue to stop myself from crying. I won’t let him see me break, just like I won’t let my family. But his words sink deep, reminding me that I am nothing. I live in my younger sister's shadow, and my parents hate me, not that I don’t blame them. But now hearing those words from someone that I thought liked me hurt more than I care to admit.

“You’re not worth it,” he repeats, scoffing as he walks around the tree towards the park.

I blow out the breath I’ve been holding and swallow the fear down. I step away from the tree and watch him cross the park on shaky legs before climbing into his car. I wait until he drives off before finally allowing the first tear to fall.

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