Page 128 of Wicked Sins

There’s something so right about Joah’s hand in mine. Maybe it’s the strength seeping into me from his strong fingers, or the warmth he radiates when our palms brush. I peek up at him as he unlocks the front door. As if he feels my eyes on him, he glances down and smiles.

I know it’s weird to be happy in a moment like this.

No, not weird. It’s downright fucked up.

After everything Wayne just said, the things he accused of us…

But none of that seems to matter now. For some reason, that’s what happens when I’m around Joah. Things that should be wrecking my mind are just…things.

He closes the door behind us, and for a moment he just stands there, not moving.

My smile slips.

Doubt creeps in.

Was I imagining things?

Then he turns on his heel, an odd smile playing on his mouth.

“What…what is it?” I ask.

“You know, if he gets his way…” Joah’s eyes sparkle like he’s got a secret he wants to tell me, and can’t wait to see my reaction.

My stomach warms, and my heart starts to pick up pace. “Who?”

“Wayne.”

My heart stutters. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him call his father by his first name. “Wh-what about him?”

Joah tilts his head. “He can send us back, you know. Technically, he’s got the authority.”

“Back where?” My mind’s playing tricks on me. I can’t focus on what Joah’s saying, it keeps going back to the way he said his father’s name. So emotionless, like he was just another person and not his—

Father.

“To that shit hole. Back to Happy Mountain.”

He’s so much closer now. I back up, and start when my ass collides with the hallway table. The things on it rattle. I turn, but he’s in front of me now, and I’m trapped between the table and the wall and his body.

“No. He can’t do that. We’ll—”

His grin cuts me off. “Yes,” he says, sounding breathless and overjoyed. “Yes, we’ll run away.”

I blink at him a few times before I can find my voice. He slides his hands up my arms, cradles the curve of my neck. “You…want to run away?”

“Why not? We don’t need him. We don’t need this.” Joah glances up at the house, back at me. “All we need is each other, and we’ve already got that.”

Something like relief washes over me. I sag against the wall and stare up at Joah, biting the inside of my lip so it will stop trembling.

I wasn’t sure, back there. Not of anything. My mind tied itself in knots, trying to figure everything out. But one thing I’ve been sure about all along, is Joah. Maybe not his intentions, or mine. Whether what we had was right, or wrong.

But it’s real. I know that now.

And I’ve never felt anything as real as this.

I don’t know what Joah sees on my face, but in an instant, he has me up against the wall. I gasp when my shoulder blades crash against the wallpaper, and again when his hips collide against mine. He grinds into me, his face an inch from mine, a wild grin near splitting his face in two.

What is he doing? Wayne could send us back to that horrible school today like he threatened. We have to get out of here while we still can.

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