Page 12 of Better Hide

Jo’s stomach growls. I snap my gaze at her. Even in the low light from the rising sun, I see her pale cheeks.

Of course she’s hungry. We forgot to fucking feed her.

A horrible feeling cramps through my stomach. How could we forget that?

I motion to the fast food place attached to the gas station. “Jay, swing in there, and let’s get some food.”

Jayden glances back at us. I see the inner debate in his mind: a stolen car, warrants, a missing woman, witnesses.

“I’m fine,” Jo grumbles.

“No, you’re not.” I glare at Jayden. “Go, Jay.”

He glances between us again.

“Fuck man, we have to eat sometime.” There’s venom in my voice. We don’t have much food in the car. We hadn’t planned on running. This whole thing is so fucked up.

Jayden relents, and we pull in line.

“What do you want?” I ask Jo.

“Ten-piece chicken nuggets with a Sprite,” Jayden rattles off.

The car gets silent. That’s the last order she gave us in the hospital before she ran. Jayden rehearsed every detail after she got away. As if that would somehow bring her back.

Jo glances at us, suddenly looking shy. “Uh, yeah.”

I nod. “What else? That’s not enough.”

She pauses. “Uh, I guess a burger?”

I say, “Make it two. And fries. And a milkshake.”

Jayden nods. As he pulls up to grab our order, I pull Jo to me and smother her in a kiss. Both to hide her face and keep her from doing something stupid. She fights me, but I don’t let her up until we’re past that window. When we get our food, we drive to a part of the lot where we’re out of sight of the cameras and Jayden parks.

Jo is still sputtering, but she tries to grab a bag of food.

“No,” I lightly smack it away. “I’m going to feed you.”

Jo pulls back with a horrified look on her face. “What?”

I chuckle. “I’m. Going. To. Feed. You.” I open the box of nuggets. “Now be a good girl and open up.”

Jo leans back further, a flush on her cheeks. “That’s stupid, I can feed myself.”

“I know you can, you stubborn woman.” I arch an eyebrow. “Let me do this.”

Jo clamps her lips shut.

“This isn’t a choice.” I raise an eyebrow. Am I going to have to force her to let me take care of her?

My dick twitches at the idea. Yeah, I think I’d like that.

“Is anything a choice with you guys?” Jo’s pretty blue eyes look between me and the food.

“No.” I grin.

Jo’s face twists in a pretty little snarl. However, her stomach growls again. Loudly.

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