Page 95 of The First Time

My jaw hits the floor. That’s quite the threat coming out of her mouth. I can’t believe she would resort to keeping me from her baby if I don’t follow her ridiculous demands. But she arches her eyebrows at me, hand on her hip, as if challenging me to disobey.

My shoulders slump. “Fine,” I agree.

I’m only agreeing now because I’m curious as to what’s got her acting like this. It better be good if I have to get dressed up.

She pulls out my black sundress and some gold jewelry. I’m forced to change right in front of her, like I’ll climb out the window if I go into the bathroom. Next thing I know, we are in my bathroom together while she fixes my hair and puts a little makeup on me.

Is she setting me up on a blind date? Oh my god! Does she know something about Josh that I don’t? My heart starts to race as the temperature of the room feels like it instantly raised twenty degrees.

I don’t even have the courage to ask her. I’d rather live in denial until we get wherever the hell we’re going.

Asher and Brie have started the car and are waiting patiently for us when we hop into their SUV.

“So, do I at least get to know where we are going for drinks?” I ask in the backseat, sitting next to Brie who seems to be amused with her fake phone.

“I mean, we’ve made it this far. Why not add some further mystery to it?” Asher says with a grin on his face.

Right. Why not add a little mystery to it? That’s exactly what my gut needs right now. It’s already in knots over this whole situation with Josh.

We start to drive away from all the restaurants and bars that I know of. The longer he drives, the further away we get from all bars in the vicinity, when I notice he’s looking down at his phone. Is he following directions? What the hell kind of bar is this?

Then we pull into some fancy neighborhood. It has beautiful homes that no doubt have incredible views of the water in their backyard.

“Okay, this is weird. There’s clearly not a bar in this neighborhood. What is going on?” I demand.

“We’re just about there. I promise everything will make sense soon,” Charlotte says, but I swear I hear hesitation in her voice.

Then we pull up to the last house on the street. It’s a lavish country style home with massive stairs that lead up to an even bigger wrap around porch. The white house looks pristine, like it’s just been painted.

But we don’t park in the driveway. Asher parks at the end of the street, where there’s nothing but woods leading up to an old dock on the water.

“Ok.” Charlotte turns around and looks at me. “We are under strict orders to send you off to that dock over there.”

“Are you two having me whacked?” I ask.

I’d love to say I’m kidding, but what other explanation is there?

Charlotte and Asher smirk at each other. Have they been planning my demise for a while? Did I do something to upset them, and this is the revenge they’ve been secretly plotting?

“We thought the same thing,” Charlotte giggles, as if that’s going to make me feel any better about this whole situation. “But no, you are not about to be whacked. Quite the opposite, actually.”

“What the hell is the opposite of being whacked?”

Asher tries to hold in his laugh, so it ends up coming out as a weird snort. “Just go out there, Layla. I’m your big brother. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

I look between both of them, and decide I’d rather end this charade. So, I agree to walk to the dock just to get this over with. What’s the worst that can happen? They can’t really be plotting my murder. What kind of psychopaths would make me get all fancy just to be killed? And would they really do it with my niece in the car?

Okay, I’m definitely being ridiculous. They wouldn’t bring Brie along to kill her aunt in front ofher.

I walk through an old stone path in the woods towards the dock. The large stones show their wear and tear as green moss and dirt cover most of them.

My hands grip my dress and lift it up a couple of inches. I’m trying to avoid the dirt along the path as well as not tripping and falling on my face.

I step onto the old wooden dock, the splintered wood evidence of its age. It’s starting to get dark; the sun having set a little while ago.

The view is beautiful though. The homes are stunning, but it’s the surrounding woods that I love the most. I don’t understand why this property is sitting here vacantly.

Then I hear something crinkling in the woods behind me. I turn around, but there’s nothing there. This is getting really creepy. I’m about to walk back to the car when a jingling by my feet distracts me.

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