Page 18 of Better Hide

“Seriously. I tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up.”

Cole huffs again. He’s silent for a minute, then asks, “You okay?”

“Of course I fucking am.”

“Okay, well, you just seem…like, I don’t know. Before.”

“Jesus, Cole. Just get some sleep.”

“Just don’t let it be a problem. You’ll scare Jo off.”

Jayden just grunts.

“I’m being serious, dude. We just got her back, and you’re kind of being a giant asshole.”

“Go to sleep,” Jayden growls.

“You know what? Don’t say I didn’t try,” Cole grumbles, running his fingers through my hair and causing a shiver of delight to run through me. “Just don’t go back to the old you. I thought we moved past that.”

The silence is loud.

Finally, Jayden mutters, “She disobeyed. This is what you get when you disobey.”

Adrenaline fills me, and I flash back to my dream. That’s exactly what my dad used to say. After he’d kick my ass.

Fuck. None of this is going to get better. I’m just repeating history. Only this time, with a killer.

After some time, Cole’s breath evens out under me. As his evens out, mine gets more ragged. Jayden thinks he can just abuse me into compliance. And that’s not going to fucking work for me.

Cole isn’t safe, either. He’ll fuck with me just as fast as Jayden will. He stood by as Jayden killed Sage.

I refuse to believe he’d allow that with me. But still…

I refuse to be the next Sage.

Jayden can kiss my ass. As soon as Jayden falls asleep, I’m out of here. My legs jerk with the need to get away.

The silence in the car feels like it’s gone on forever. Jayden leaves the car running, which I don’t expect. But it’s hot as balls out, and we’d probably cook if he didn’t. Finally, I dare a peek up at Jayden. His seat is leaned back, and his breathing is even, slow, and deep. Cole’s snoring slightly.

I sit up slowly.

Neither man moves.

I glance around. There’s nothing as far as I can see. We are truly out in the middle of nowhere with the sun blazing down on our car. I can see the heat rolling off the ground.

Fuck. I won’t last long out there without water. I glance in the trunk. The boys have some bags. Mine is back there, just out of reach, but I know there's water in it.

Do I risk grabbing it, or do I just run?

My heart hammers. If I can just get to a main road, I can flag someone down and get away. Forget the water; I’ll do that.

I look at the boys again. Still asleep.

Slowly, painfully slow, I inch away from Cole and reach for the door handle. As slow as I can, I pull the handle toward me.

Nothing.

I try again.

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