Page 36 of Sugar Coated Secrets

I hear another twig snap. There is a distant hoot of an owl followed by a breeze. Trees sway. The wind slips through the leaves.

After walking for a while, the sense of someone watching me is overwhelming. I take my shoes off. My feet are aching from the straps digging into the knuckles of my feet.

My breaths come in shallow, rapid gasps.The smell of dirt and moss heavy in the air. My hands sweat. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. I try to think how long we were in the car from my house until they left me here, but I come up empty. I ignore the sting from tiny rocks under the pads of my feet. The unfamiliar sounds of thrashing branches, casting shadows across the road.

Then I hear breathing sounds followed by padding of feet coming behind me. Like an animal. A coyote or bear. Whatever it is, it’s coming. I glance behind me, but I don’t see anything. The sound grows louder. Whatever is behind me is picking up speed.

I start to run, not sure where to go, but I push my legs. My bare feet pound on the pavement. The wind is whipping my hair. The skirt of my dress is flying behind me. The air bites my lungs, tears sting my eyes and blur my vision, and my legs are cramping, but I push harder. All I could think about was my grandmother. I have to get to her. I can’t leave her to die alone.

I stop abruptly at the fork in the road. My breaths are frantic, and I’m not sure where to run, but the movement of something between the brush causes a scream to erupt from my throat.

I drop my shoes and small clutch on the ground. I look ahead. The grass on both sides is tall. The moon disappears behind the clouds, and it’s pitch black. I can hardly see my hand in front of me, but I start running again.

I look over my shoulder, and my gut clenches in fear. My hands shake. A dark figure stands in the middle of the road. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I blink, and then, it’s gone.

I turn and run toward the brush of grass and slip down a ravine. Hard pricks from the rough ground scratch the skin on my thighs. My dress rips like a zipper opening. My arms flail when I can’t feel the ground and keep falling. I cry out when needles from the bark of a tree cut my hands and feet when I finally land with a thud. The sting makes my eyes water.

I can’t see anything.

Something scrapes my skin. “Please…” I whimper in the dark. “Why, Ford?”

Why did you do this to me?

My heart knocks against my ribs as I gulp air, struggling to steady my breathing. The jagged texture of something scrapes against my skin. Finally, I find even ground, pushing my way through the damp leaves.

The muscles in my legs tremble. My ears are on high alert.

Something stomps wildly behind me through the underbrush, followed by screams like a bird being mutilated. My blood turns cold, and suddenly, I feel something heavy on my head, and then pain, so much pain. Then darkness.

12

FORD

She freezes. I pull away, scolding myself for moving too fast. My heart beats in my throat. The only thing clouding that thought is my obsession. Her.

I briefly close my eyes and pull away. Her lips are swollen. The taste of her sweet breath on my lips. My hard cock dying to be inside her and making her mine is at war with the blank look in her eyes.

She was into it, and then something happened. She wants to push me away, but at first, a part of her wanted to pull me close for some more.

I hesitate to want to give in to the side we both want, but I don’t want her to think I’m using her. For her to think it was a mistake.

I want nothing more than to finally have her. To give in and let her see how she really makes me feel.

When I pull away, I rub the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. “Hey?”

She blinks a couple of times.

“You went off somewhere?”

“I’m sorry,” she says, looking away.

“You look beautiful, Dulce, and I’m not sorry for kissing you,” I tell her and shut the door.

As I pull up, my car roars under the moonlit sky, drawing attention from people coming out of the restaurant.

Mays, leaning on his truck, is absorbed in his phone.

He looks up, and I roll down my window, offering a smile. “Next time you ask a girl out, make sure you've ended things with the one you’re with first. You should know better. News travels fast in this town.”

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