Page 41 of Better Watch Out

“You killed them.” Everything falls into place. Why they didn’t want me to see all the pictures. Why they were careful not to let me talk to anyone from school yesterday. There’s no way for me to have known the three of them died last year. I’dsothoroughly cut ties with all my contacts from school. “Youtorturedthem. Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Boone sounds bemused, and he releases my wrists gently, instead pressing his hands to my hips. “We did it for you, Conor.”

“But you…” Fuck, I can barely think. It’s hard enough not to hyperventilate. Not to panic when all I can think of are the words Boone made Olivia say before he butchered her.

The same words Theo made me say that haunted me all the way to swallowing a bottle of pills.

“Poor darling girl.” Fletcher moves around the couch, forcing me to sit up so he can slot himself behind me. Once he’s there Boone pushes me back, both of us cradled between Fletcher’s knees. They’re like living bars around me, a warm, terrifying cage that never wants to let me go.

“Don’t you get it, Conor?” With Boone cradling my face in his hands, Fletcher wraps his arms around my waist from behind, putting his head on my shoulder. “Don’t you see yet?”

“See…what?” I’m running every possibility through my head, trying to decide if this is petty revenge, or fun, or?—

“We did this because we love you.”

Out of everything I could consider, I never would’ve come up with that.

“You…love me?” I repeat, my words stilted and unsure. “Youloveme?” No matter how I say it, the words sound unnatural on my tongue. “You killed them because youlove me?”

“We killed them because they hurt you. We almost lost you, thanks to them.” Fletcher sounds so sweet, so affectionate as he murmurs the words against my throat. Boone’s gaze wanders my face, and I shudder in their hold.

I have no idea what to say, though if I’m honest with myself, it’s hard to feel pity for my three ex-friends. They did everythingin their power to hurt me. And they were never remorseful even after my attempt to end my own life.

Which I got to hear all about, once I was back at school. Olivia, in particular, had made it known she was only sorry I hadn’t succeeded, which nearly sent me spiraling all over again.

So why should I care that they’re dead?

“We fucked up when we were younger. We didn’t understand,” Fletcher admits. “It wasso hardto let you go, to not follow you and drag you home where you belong.”

“We should’ve kept you,” Boone adds. “See what happened to you when we let you go? See whatcould’vehappened?” He moves so he’s between my thighs, my legs over his hips. I shudder at his touch, at their closeness, and almost miss Fletcher’s next words.

“But we’ll never make that mistake again.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“You don’tloveme.” The words are out before I can really consider if they’re smart or not, and I writhe on the couch, unable to pull away from either of them. “That’s not…” I shake my head. “I haven’t seen either of you for seven fucking years. Whether or not you’ve been stalking me doesn’t count.” That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

“You think we just decided we loved you some time in the past seven years?” Fletcher murmurs against my shoulder, his voice soft and dangerous. “Princess, we’ve loved you since before you left us. We just weren’t very good at showing it.”

“Really bad at showing it,” I agree under my breath.

“You’re right,” Boone agrees too quickly, and I glance up at him, alarmed. “We were so bad at showing it. But we’ve gotten so good. After all…” He reaches to the floor and picks up the water-stained box from the shed, upends it, and dumps the photos all over the floor in front of the couch. “Look at what we did for you.”

Thankfully in the near-dark, I can’t see more than shapes, stains, and limbs in awkward positions. But it’s enough. Now that I know who those three are, it’s enough for me to come to the worst conclusions possible about how they died. I can’t helpthe shudder that goes through me, and Boone lets out a soft sound, like a growl, before shoving me back into Fletcher’s grip and looming over me.

“See what we did?” he croons, reaching out to cradle my face in his hands. “All for you, snow bunny. We’d do anything for you. We’d do this to anyone and everyone who hurt you.”

“Not that you have to worry about that anymore,” Fletcher comments. “No one will hurt you while we have you.”

“I’m escaping, remember?” My mouth barely seems to work right, and forming words and thoughts is difficult.

Boone’s laugh is dark and menacing. “Sure,” he agrees. “Sure, you’re going to escape. I bet that’s exactly what you’re going to do.”

“If we let you.” Fletcher bites down on my shoulder, dragging his hands up my sides and pulling my shirt up with him. “Let us show you, okay?” His voice is so soft, so promising. Sosweet, even though I know there’s nothing but darkness under those words.

“Conor.” Fletcher jerks my chin up until I’m forced to look at his face and his wolfish, predatory grin. “We’re going to show you just how much we love you.”

Whatever argument I’m trying to come up with dies on my tongue when he grabs me and yanks me to my feet. I gasp, fighting against him automatically. But once again I find myself over his shoulder, being carried up to their room. This time it seems like the trip takes only a moment, before I’m on their shoved together beds on my ass with the door closing behind Fletcher.

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