Page 51 of Slay Ride

I storm out before he can say anything else, and I wasn’t lying. I’m starting to get a real nasty tension headache. My intentions weren’t nefarious for once, and yet I’m still labeled the villain. They won’t make me feel guilty for doing what I could to save Cat from embarrassment.

Now I just have to hope Cat understands.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she would have made the kill. That glint in her eyes could have been anticipation instead of panic.

When I reach the foot of the stairs to the second floor, Kindra materializes from the nearby shadows and yells for me to wait. She’s out of breath, so she must have run the whole way here.

“Ezra already bitched at me,” I say. “Whatever you need to say, I’ve already heard it.”

She shakes her head and grips the polished banister as she gulps air. “No, that’s not it.” Her hand goes to her chest, and she looks around before she leans closer and says, “Cat told me everything.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Cat

The door to my room bursts open, and in waltzes Bennett without so much as a knock. I file this away as a lesson learned: lock the door.

“I didn’t go to your room for a reason.” I try to step into his path and push him out of the room, but he sidesteps me. “That’s called a fucking hint, Bennett.”

With the casual grace of an invited guest, he makes himself right at home and flops onto my bed with a contented sigh. He doesn’t even bother to take off his filthy boots as he drags his legs onto the bed and crosses them at the ankles.

“You almost fucked up big time,” he says.

“I didn’t know what to do. I choked.” I pull the earrings from my ears and toss them onto the small silver trinket tray atop the dresser. “The candy cane was sharp enough, I know that, but I just couldn’t force my hand to do what it needed to do.”

Bennett laughs and shakes his head. “No, I’m not talking about the way you froze like a nun at an orgy. I’m talking aboutthe fact that Kindra caught up with me and said you told her everything. Naturally, I thought she meant the fucking around.”

“You told Kindra wefucked around?” My mouth goes dry, and my legs nearly crumple beneath me.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Bennett shouts, and I turn in time to see Shorty scurry under the bed. “I forgot you had a cat in here. I wasn’t expecting him to sneak up and start kneading my fucking scalp with his claws.”

“I’m surprised he came out at all. He hates strangers.”

He rubs his head where Shorty must have clawed him. “Yeah, well, keep the filthy shit away from me. I hate the things. They stink and they don’t do anything useful.”

I kneel by the bed and attempt to coax Shorty from the shadows so that I can make sure he’s okay, but his yellow eyes just stare at me with unbridled contempt and complete distrust.

“You’ve traumatized him,” I tell Bennett as I pull myself to my feet. “He doesn’t usually greet strangers, and now he probably never will.”

“That’s why cats make shitty pets. They’re too temperamental.”

“You told Kindra we screwed around,andyou’re shitting on cats?” I shout at him. “Do you have a death wish?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Maybe I lack motivation.” I pluck a decorative snow globe from the dresser and test its weight in my hand. “With the right motivation, I could make the kill. I know that because I’m feelingveryhomicidal right now.”

Bennett hardly has time to move out of the way as I launch the hefty glass globe at his head. It clunks against the headboard, and we’re both shocked when it doesn’t break. It just rolls off the mattress and thuds to a stop on the carpet.

He smirks and rolls back to his spot—which is actuallymyspot, because I prefer the side of the bed closest to the door.“Cats fucking suck, and I won’t back down on that, but I didn’t tell her we fucked. That’s only because she plowed ahead with her concerns about you before I could, though.”

“Concerns? She didn’t seem too concerned to me. Scoot over.”

To my surprise, he does.

I pull off my boots because I’m not a complete caveman, and then I stretch out on the bed. “What was she worried about?”

“Mainly, she’s worried you’ll take off like you did at the summer retreat. She doesn’t want you to feel pressured to kill if you aren’t ready, but she wants you here because she cares or some shit.”

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