Page 84 of Better Hide

“Get off me!” Jo struggles. It makes me hard as fuck to have her at my mercy.

I chuckle. Jo has put her one pair of shorts back on, but that won’t stop this from stinging.

“Tell me why you fought your dad.”

“Get off me!” Jo tries, but she can’t get out from under my arm. I barely feel her attempts. I know if I checked her panties, she’d be wet.

“Guess you want the spanking now.” I raise my hand.

Jo stiffens.

I wait.

“I was bored,” she gasps. “I was bored, okay!”

I stare at her, suddenly even more interested. She was bored? Sounds like something I would say.

“Let me up.”

“You were bored?”

“Yes! I answered the question, let me up.”

I frown. She did, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t give it to her, and I still owe her a spanking. I slap my hand down on Jo’s ass with a delicious sound.

Jo squeals, and I let her up. She scoots back, crossing her arms again. “Caveman.”

“Who picks fights because they’re bored?” I raise an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t know! I did.” There’s no deceit in her tone, just embarrassment and…arousal.

“Did you win any of them?”

Jo glares at me. “Depends what you mean by win.”

I pause again. I fought throughout high school. I won every time, but I never felt like I was winning. It was always a fix until my next fight, and I’d leave that one even more empty. The only time I didn’t feel empty after a fight was with Jo.

She was the first time I didn’t win.

I blink and cock my head. I stare at her. Really look at her.

Jo narrows her eyes. That fight I’ve been obsessed with for so long is burning bright in her eyes. But for the first time, when I look at her, I also see the pain. And then I realize something with horrifying clarity.

I’ve been trying to break something that was already broken.

Something just like me.

39

COLE

The restof our trip is a blur. Jayden is even more withdrawn than usual, but we’re all exhausted. Despite my misgivings, the people Jayden found to mule us across the border were fine. We flew on an undeclared plane, landed in a field, and they gave us some money and took off again.

The first thing we did was walk to a town, where we paid for a ride to one of the big cities. It is easier to disappear in the masses.

We pay for a cheap hotel, and even though we get in around noon, all of us are beat. There are two small beds, and I throw my shit on the one farthest from the door. I know Jayden will want the one right by the door. Easier to shoot someone from, blah blah blah. The beds are small, and it’s going to be a challenge to fit two people on one. Even so, they look like heaven after nothing but a car and an airplane for the past two days.

Honestly, I just need to wash my face and sleep—in that order. When I’m done with my face, I see Jo standing between the beds, clearly trying to decide which one she wants.

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