Page 29 of Better Hide

But I’ll be damned if I’ll tell Cole that. I will never beg someone to care. Not anymore. I want them to care because they want to, not because I beg them to.

“Jo,” Cole’s voice is tight. “I asked you a question. What do you want?”

I glance out the window again, saying mockingly, “I want breakfast in bed.”

“Okay. What else?”

I roll my eyes. “I want to live close to the grocery store so I can get whatever I want whenever I want. A 24-hour grocery store.”

“Okay,” Cole says as if that’s perfectly reasonable, even though I wasn’t being serious.

I laugh. This is the stupidest conversation I’ve ever had. “I want someone filthy rich so I can travel the world. I don’t want to work. I want to eat foods from all over the world while my man waits on me hand and foot.” Or men. I could have a harem of them while we’re just making shit up.

“That’s it?”

I roll my eyes. “And I’d like a unicorn.”

“A unicorn I can’t do. What about a real animal?”

“Unicorns are real.” They are in this fake fantasy we’re talking about.

Cole chuckles. “I’ll check Amazon for one. In the meantime, what about a dog?”

I sneak a glance at Cole.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like dogs.”

I do. I love them. I’ve wanted one for forever. I allow myself a shrug. “A dog would be fine.” In this imaginary world.

“Good.” Cole’s hand drops over my thigh, and he grips me. “Believe me or not, Jo, but I want to make you happy.”

Instantly, I’m uncomfortable. Cole looks over at me. I refuse to look at him, but I feel his eyes on my face.

“Okay, you don’t like emotions. How about this.” Cole’s voice drops an octave, “You can fight this. Us. But don’t try to actually get away. I’d rather kill us both than have you abandon us again.”

I freeze. Everything freezes, and I stop breathing.

Cole pulls away, the seriousness in his face dropping away to his happy mask. He winks at me. “Capiche?”

13

COLE

Seventeen YearsOld

I gripthe phone so hard I feel the edges cutting into my hand. My knee bounces, and I feel the sweat dripping down my back in this stupid suit.

The phone rings and rings and rings.

Just like I knew it would.

“Fucking hell.” I hang up and throw the phone onto the couch.

Jayden’s mom walks by.

Immediately, I put on my fake smile, pissed that she saw me like that. She doesn’t act like she’s noticed. She’s getting dressed up for graduation, putting on an earring as she walks. His mom got her life back together after she met Pat. Well, she stopped shooting up with my mom. She definitely doesn’t have her life together.

“She didn’t answer?” his mom asks.

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