Page 10 of Oliver

“Penny,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer. “Let the police do their job.”

With a shake of my head, I hiss, “If they are, then why the fuck do you care what I do?”

There’s a pregnant pause, where I search the darkness futilely, before he finally says, “Look, don’t make this about before, little one.”

Before…? What an arrogant asshole. I mean—really!

“I don’t care about before, dick,” I say. “And I won’t stop until the man who killed my sister is in prison.”

Every time this asshole baits me, I want to catch him out that much more. How dare he play with me? How dare he play with my sister. I will make him burn for what he did, if it's the last thing I do.

“And you think that person is me?” he rasps.

Yes. No. I don’t fucking know.You need to back off, playpen.

Closing my eyes, I say quietly, “Who’s Dr. Love, Oliver?”

The silence that follows my statement is deafening and I bite my lip to hide the sob aching in my throat.

Did he fuck her? Ruin her?

Why? Was it the challenge? Some sick sister thing? Am I wrong about Mr. G? Did Oliver kill her? I don’t know and it’s eating at my soul.

“Pen,” he breathes, grabbing my hair and wrenching my head back.

Of course, my veins light with fire because I remember all too clearly how good he made me feel but that was before. Before Dixie died. Before he sent me away like a chastened fucking dog.

His lips brush mine and I clamp my mouth closed because I refuse to be that stupid girl anymore. When I don’t respond, his breath puffs against my cheek before he sighs.

Into the silence I close my eyes and sway on my feet. I’m so goddamn tired. What would it feel like for him to hold me and tell me everything will be okay?

Even if it is a lie?

“If you don’t back off, you’re going to get hurt,” he finally says.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I already am. Instead, I break our connection and turn my head, saying, “You’re too late.”

When he steps back, I exhale, craving the contact that I shouldn’t want, especially after everything that’s transpired between us.

The bright light from the hall seers my retinas when he opens the door and numbly, I watch as he pauses and says, “This is your last warning.”

With that, he’s gone, and I contemplate his threat. I don’t doubt his intention, but I also know that what I said was true.

Bring it. I’m circling the bottom of the barrel as it is.

Oliver

After stalking down the hall, I pause at the exit and look back. Penny’s obsession with Dixie’s death is enough to be worrisome but knowing she’s hell bent on proving it was me? Incredible.

I don’t know whether to shake some sense into her or smack her ass. Since neither is an option, I move onto the next plan.

If she wants to blame me in some misguided quest for vengeance, fine but I can’t afford for her to dig into shit best left buried. She’s a stubborn little shit though, which I underestimated when I started this fucking fiasco.

A mistake, but I can’t take it back.

Penny looks terrible and despite my resolve, I’m fighting the urge to walk back there and demand she eat a fucking sandwich. She’s lost the weight she put back on after leaving this hellhole of a school and the curves looked mighty fine on her luscious body.

She’s always looked good but fuck me, I like a girl with meat on her bones. Beyond that, I can only describe the mop on her head, a rat’s nest. While the dark circles under her eyes accentuate the fatigue she can’t hide and still, I have a fucking hard on. Fuck me.

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