Page 253 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

I grip my hands together so they’ll stop shaking.

“Eleven days ago, someone broke into my house and murdered my mother.”

Briar’s mouth twitches, but that’s it.

One. Fucking. Twitch.

“Case is still open. No suspects.”

I lean forward, pressing my palms onto the moss.

Briar slowly sits up and runs his hand through his hair with that same silent scowl on his face.

Guess you wish you could take back all that shit you said earlier, huh?

“One guy. That’s what the cops said. Could have been more, but they only found traces of one?—”

I cut off.

Fuck, I can’t do this. What the fuck’s wrong with me? This is private shit. I’ve made my point.

I push up, but Briar darts forward and stops me in my tracks. We’re both on our knees, our bodies a few inches apart. I have to look up at him to see his eyes, and he’s gazing down at me like I’m some kind of forest fairy that’s about to grant him a wish.

My stomach coils uneasily as he slides a hand around the back of my neck, the other on the small of my back.

“Don’t stop,” he murmurs, back to scowling.

“You sick fuck.” I turn my head a little, bile-bitter saliva flooding my mouth. “You sick,sick?—”

“Tell me.”

I swallow hard. “What, so you can get off on?—”

He squeezes the back of my neck, and I cut off, taking it as a warning. He dips his head a little lower. Suddenly, he doesn’t look angry or frustrated or smug. There’s an intensity to his gaze, some kind of urgency.

“Wh—?”

“You’ve never told anyone this, have you?”

My stomach flips over. I shake my head, not trusting my voice right then.

“Then tellme. I can take it, whatever it is. Tell me, and forget about it. I’ll keep it for you.”

I frown at him.Keepit? What the hell?—?

He grabs my hand and puts it on his heart. Just like when I shoved him away from Addy the other day.

His heart pounds like a racehorse’s.

“Feel that? It’s going strong. And it can still take a fuck load more.”

I tense my fingers, burrowing my nails into his flesh through his cotton shirt. His lips part, and his breath washes over me as he lets out a sigh.

“They—he—tied her up.” My heart starts pounding harder, faster. Blood roars in my ears.

Briar’s eyes light up, but not for the story. I’m confiding in him, and for some reason he’s eating it up. I can’t think about what this means, not right now.

I’ve reached the top of this fucking roller coaster, and there’s nothing left to do but close my eyes, hold tight, and hope I don’t fucking die.

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