Page 44 of The Game

Sniffling, I nod before I snort. “More than you know. But…is that what Dick has over you? To keep you there? He also knows your secret?”

He releases a deep sigh at my question, warm hands smoothing their way across my bare skin to my hips, the pressure and brush of his fingertips making my body feel alight with fire. Gently, he pushes me to turn around, and I obey, catching his darkened gaze in the lowlight of his bathroom, his eyes hooded from the weed, his lips twisted into a frown.

“Bunny…” he says softly before pausing, jaw working as he tears his eyes from me and glares at the door, the side profile of his face so angular and sculpted he could be a Grecian statue, carved by one of the masters. My heart clenches in preparation for whatever else he has to drop on me.

When his eyes find mine again, they are stormy as a raging sea, writhing in quiet fury.

“He’s…my step-father, Alice, and he will kill her if I leave.”

CHAPTER 23

Alice

Shock isn’t really a strong enough word to describe how I feel, so as my eyes trace his frowning face, my heart sinks through the floor. My lips part with words unspoken, words that flit just out of my reach, like a moth circling a flame, because I don’t really know what to say. It’s twisted, sick, disheartening. This one evil man has us all on strings that he alone orchestrates, and despite the weed and booze, fury chokes me.

Teddy’s face breaks into a soft, sad smile, and his fingers brush along my temple down to my jaw. My eyes still water with unshed tears—tears of confusion, because I don’t know whether to be angry with Dick, or hopeless, or…I’m not quite sure.

“It’s okay, Alice.”

“No, it’s not,” I argue, much more forcefully than I mean to. His smile broadens but remains sorrowful. “We have to find a way—”

He’s shaking his head, lips pressed tightly together, before I can finish my sentence.

“He has her in a time controlled safe room. If he doesn’t use his thumbprint to open the door every so often, the chamber will fill with toxic gas and kill her.”

I make a noise of shock mingled with disgust in the back of my throat.

“Teddy,” I whisper, eyes welling with more tears. He chafes my arm, trying to makemefeel better. It’s backwards; I should be consoling him.

“She’s…she doesn’t know what’s going on much anymore. I see her from time to time. She has Huntington’s Disease.”

I want to ask more, but the look on his face tells me he’s exhausted and at his limits. He plucks the half-smoked blunt from the rim of the tub and re-lights it before taking a huge hit, his body immediately relaxing another fraction. Passing it to me, I don’t hesitate this time.

“Let’s eat a bunch of shit and sleep our troubles away until tomorrow, deal?”

Coughing as I pass back the joint, I bob my head. Once we’ve finished it and he’s tidied up the bathroom, he instructs me to sit on the couch as he turns onAlice in Wonderlandwithout me even saying anything. It seems the perfect fit for how I feel right now, and it’s also a comfort movie to me. Bringing an armful of snacks over, my stomach grumbles and we voraciously attack a pack of Oreos, cheese in a can with crackers, and Gushers.

Food has never tasted so fucking good before.

Before I realize, my eyes are drooping, and Teddy is carrying me to bed. But as soon as he situates me and turns to leave, I become flustered and confused, sitting up to watch as he shuts off the lights and closes the door, coming back to bed and climbing in beside me. My head drops to the pillow as I giggle.

“What’s so funny, bunny?”

His rhyming sends me into another fit of laughter, my mind loopy and exhausted, but when his strong arms encircle me from behind and pull me close, it cuts that laughter short. Burying his face in my hair, he throws his leg around mine, and it seems all of our inhibitions are gone.

“What’s sex like high?” I mutter softly to the darkness. He snorts into my neck, twisting his face as though to shake his head at my blunt question. Damn weed.

“Fucking incredible.”

It’s quiet for a beat, and though I feel like he’s trying to hide it out of courtesy, my question has very clearly aroused him, and it’s impressive, to say the least. I’ve missed feeling that strong flash of heat against my ass, accompanied by the swelling of an eager cock. My pussy clenches in response.

“Why do you ask, Alice?” he says, voice husky and full of desire. It shocks me; I’d thought he found me annoying, or too preppy, but he’s been flirtatious and…well, I think we’re both fucking lonely.

Too nervous, I shrug.

“Just curious.”

“Curiosity is rooted in desire,” he whispers, his breath fanning hotly over the back of my neck, and fuck, even that alone feels amazing right now, all my senses somehow dulled but also heightened. “What do you desire, Alice?”

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