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“You think just one for me?” His rodent eyes scan my body, and I clamp my mouth closed so I don’t insult him. He’s offering me a gift. The least I can do is try not to cut him down before he does.

“For someone your size? Yeah, just one.” He opens the bottle and places a white pill in his hand. He extends his palm toward me, and I take the pill from him. “You won’t regret it,” he says after I’ve placed the pill in my mouth.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Yeah, no problem. You know you never did tell me your name.”

“Lexi.”

“Cool. Well, Lexi, if you need more while you’re visiting. Hit me up. Remember 3B. I’m always there.”

“Okay,” I reply as he stands from the chair and walks away.

Relief floods my body as he vanishes from sight. The little weirdo gave me the creeps.

I breathe in the hot summer sun waiting for my gentle buzz to kick in. Maybe today won’t be that bad after all.

A few minutes later, a sharp pain pierces my head. It feels like someone is stabbing my brain. “Ahh.” I hold my palms to my scalp. Sitting up, I feel as if the chair is moving beneath me. I become nauseous as I try to steady myself. “I need to get back,” I whine aloud.

I stumble away from the pool, only falling twice on the way to Boss’s patio. Closing the sliding glass door behind me, I peer down to see blood running down my legs. I work to make sense of it but can’t figure out where the blood is coming from.

Clutching my stomach, I double over in pain. I release a strangled cry as a crippling sensation courses through every nerve ending.

What is happening to me? Something is wrong.

I need Boss.

Phone in hand, I text Boss as quickly as I can.

I scream as my eyelids start to peel off. “Text Boss my eyelids are peeling off,” I say into my phone.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” I press my fingers to my eyes to stop them from coming out. I rip off my bikini top and tie it around my head to hold my eyes in place. I press the button on my phone. “Text Boss to help. Text Boss to come. Text Boss it hurts.”

I crawl toward the kitchen, unable to see with the fabric over my eyes. My skin burns, and I need water. I smell blood and vomit, and then I fade away.

CHAPTER8

LEXI

“Ugh,” I groan. My muscles ache and not the good kind of hurt. They feel as if they were beaten with a baseball bat. “Ouch.” My stomach hurts, my head pounds, and my mouth tastes of death.

Slowly, I open my eyes. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust. I find Boss sitting in the chair in his room peering at me with a look that can only be described as disgust.

“Hey,” I croak out, my voice raspy. “I’m thirsty,” I mumble.

“I bet you are.” He glares. Standing from the chair, he leaves the room. Moments later, he returns with a glass of water and hands it to me.

“Thanks.” I drink the water. “Why are you over there?”

“Get dressed and pack your shit,” he says before storming out of the room.

What the hell?

I climb out of bed and amble toward the bathroom, a hiss of pain escapes with each step. Peering down toward my knees, they’re covered in red and angry cuts. I must have fallen a lot. I’m wearing nothing but my bikini bottoms. Switching on the light, I take in my reflection. My hair is a lion’s mane of kinky curls and bedhead as if I went to sleep with wet hair. I think back to yesterday. It takes me a moment to remember.

“Fucking-A, Kyle.” I blow out a breath and cover my face. “You’re so fucking stupid, Lexi,” I chastise myself.

I don’t remember much after stumbling into Boss’s apartment following the pool, but I can guess from his demeanor that it was bad. I pulled a Lexi and messed everything up. How am I going to fix this?

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