Page 66 of Bad for You

I think it’s because that’s the only time she ever looks at peace.

Last night, she let me in. I know her past contains monsters that feed on her soul every single day, but she let go of her fears and surrendered. She trusted me, which, for us, is something we don’t dish out easily.

But now, I don’t know what any of this means.

Do we go back to not talking?

Hating one another?

I don’t want that, but I also don’t want to be weird about it.

If Gianna were to find out about this, I know she’d find a way to make us both pay, and that’s the reason I run my fingers down the middle of Valentina’s back.

She’s lying on her stomach, her face turned to the side. The sheet rests just above her perfect ass. Goose bumps kiss her flesh, reminding me of her sweetness, which lingers on my tongue.

She brushes the hair from her face as she turns to look at me. I instantly smell strawberries.

Something suddenly happens, something that hasn’t happened before—my heart begins to beat faster, and my mouth goes dry.

We look at one another, knowing that last night changed everything, but neither of us has been taught how to deal with whatever the fuck this feeling is.

I’ve been with girls before, but last night, both Valentina and I are virgins when it comes to matters of the heart.

All I know is that I’ll protect her and kill anyone who stands in my way.

“Are you all right?” I ask because I know giving herself to me the way she did wasn’t easy.

Her past will forever threaten to taint her future, but she trusted me, and for someone who has never trusted anyone her entire life, it only has me wanting to protect her all the more.

She nods, her cheeks blushing.

I wish I could woo her, but regardless of last night, I’m not going to turn into a simp and forget the pressing matters at hand—we need to get the fuck out of here.

“We need to go.”

“Go where?”

“I mean leave…like forever leave.”

All matters of the heart soon evaporate.

Valentina pulls the sheet over her naked form as she stands. “What are you talking about? This is our home.”

“This has never been our home. We need to leave before Gianna—”

“Before Gianna what?” she coaxes, arching a brow.

“Before Gianna reveals her grand plans for us.”

Valentina scoffs. “Please, can you be any more dramatic? If it wasn’t for her, God knows where we’d be. She took us in when no one else wanted us. She may not have been a loving role model, but she provided for us and made us who we are today.”

“Bullshit!” I argue, leaping out of bed. “You’re brainwashed. She dangled you like a piece of meat in a tank of starving sharks!”

“It was a test, one which I passed.”

“Don’t you see? We shouldn’t have to continue to pass her fucking tests! This isn’t normal. She’s training us for something. I don’t know for what yet. But I do know that she’ll use us in any way that benefits her.”

Valentina is angry. Her flushed skin is a dead giveaway.

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