Page 33 of Better Hide

Cole doesn’t take his eyes off me, his pupils blown, as he cleans Jayden’s fingers and, finally, gives me a slow grin. “Your torment tastes delicious, lemon drop.” He leans back. “What do we do when life gives us lemons, Jayden?”

Jayden rubs his fingers together. “Rub them in cuts.”

I shiver.

Cole casts me a crooked grin. “Make lemon drops.”

16

JO

We drive for a while longer,and I can’t stop shifting. My panties are soaked, I’m hungry, my cuts hurt, and I need to go to the bathroom.

“You that bad off?” Cole chuckles.

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Okay, I’ll pull over.” Cole looks around.

“No. I will not be squatting on the side of the road. I want a normal bathroom.”

Jayden snorts. “So you can run?”

“Just where do you think I’m going to go?” I sink further into my seat. “I don’t even know where we are.”

“No.”

Embarrassment fills me. I don’t want to explain the details to them, but if I don’t get out of this car for a minute, I think I’ll crawl out of my skin. Plus, I have to take a shit. “I have to go bad. And I need a shower.” I haven’t bathed since Rosemarry’s house, and I’ve done a lot of running and fucking since then. I feel disgusting.

Cole glances over his shoulder at Jayden. “We do need gas.”

A spark of hope runs through me.

“It’s the middle of the day.”

Cole shrugs. “Easy to blend in with everyone else. No one will notice us if we’re just part of the group.”

Jayden grunts. “I don’t like it.”

“I’m hungry,” I say. “I want something fresh. Fruit, cheese, something other than fast food.”

“Any other requests, princess?”

Yes, I want to come too. But I don’t say that.

After a moment’s silence, when Jayden probably thinks of every reason to say no, he sighs. “Cole, look for a Loves. Park in the trucker’s lot, away from the building.”

“Got it.”

It takes us about thirty minutes to find one on the side of the interstate. In that time, I shift excitedly. I need to get out of this car more than I need my next breath. I’m so tired, overstimulated, and under-stimulated at the same time.

People! We’ll be back around people. My stomach knots in conflict.

Cole drops his hand on my thigh as if he can sense my thoughts. “You thinking about running?”

I freeze.

Cole squeezes—hard. “You’re going to stay by my side the whole time. We came this whole way to get you. Don’t think for a second that we’ll do something stupid like let you get away.”

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