Page 83 of Worth the Chase

“I’m heading out,” I shouted.

Addi’s voice filtered through the air from somewhere inside. “See you tomorrow. Call Ben.”

“I will. Bye!”

I took one last look around and locked the patio door behind me. Who knew how long Addi would stay here before finally leaving? As I walked to my car, I could hear loud music and singing coming from Sugar Saloon. That was how you knew the tourists were in town. It sounded like a festival.

Driving to my complex with the windows down, I let the evening air in. It wasn’t necessarily warm at this time, but it wasn’t cold anymore either. My hair blew all around, blocking my vision a little, and I knew I’d pay for that when I got home.

Nothing a little detangler and combing won’t fix, I muttered to myself.

Parking in my designated spot, I grabbed my purse and walked absentmindedly up the stairs toward my door. Music was playing from one of the apartments, and it only grew louder as I neared my place.

“Someone must be having a party,” I said out loud to myself.

Goatee Guy from the bar was suddenly in my line of sight, stopping me from moving any further.

Did he follow me here? No, he’d left way before my shift ended.

I glanced behind me nervously, afraid that I might be boxed in by the rest of his buddies, but no one else was around.

“Oh, wow. It’s my lucky night.” Goatee Guy slurred his words and took another step toward me.

My front door was right next to where he was standing, and I did not want him to know where I lived. My mind raced as I flipped through ways to handle the situation. I wanted to be nice to the guy, but not too nice. I knew that there was a fine line between not leading a man on and also not pissing him off. It was the potential for making him mad that worried me the most.

An angry man could be a dangerous one.

It was just a fact of life.

“You’re so tiny.”

He took another step, and instead of turning around and bolting, I froze.

I usually had a can of mace in my purse, but it was expired, and I’d thrown it out before replacing it. But I would have been too shocked to search for it anyway. My brain couldn’t process what was happening.

There must have been a third option when it came to the whole fight-or-flight response because I wasn’t inclined to do either of those two things. I was terrified that if I tried to run,he’d chase me. There was no way I could outrun him. What would happen once he caught me? Things could get really bad, really fast.

I swallowed hard when he spoke again, his words coming out slowly. “I bet you suck good cock. Look at that perfect little mouth.”

Chills raced down my spine as tears filled my eyes.

“Where are your friends?” I had no idea where that question had come from or why, but when I saw his eyes narrow, I wondered for a second if I’d made a mistake in choosing to talk at all.

“Back there.” He nodded behind him, but didn’t take his eyes off me. “You want to suck them off instead? No fucking way. I saw you first. I told them earlier that you were mine.”

“I told you that I have a boyfriend.” My voice shook, and I hoped he couldn’t hear it. My weakness would probably only turn him on more.

“I don’t see him anywhere.”

“He’s on his way,” I lied.

Goatee Guy just laughed. “Sure he is.”

He took another step and reached for my head. Before I knew what was happening, he had a chunk of my hair fisted tight in his hand. I couldn’t even move. Trying to turn my head or put distance between us sent out shock waves of pain through my neck.

He pulled me down by my hair. If I didn’t move with him, he was going to rip it out.

“Get on your knees.”

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