Page 98 of Psycho

There was still a small space between us that almost felt insufferable.

I left it alone and looked at the screen, not really paying attention.

We had a quiet day.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I had spent the day like that.

My childhood had taught me to always be on guard. There wasn’t a fucking day that went by that I wasn’t preparing myself for another beating from my old man.

But this was different.

I wasn’t a little boy afraid of his own shadows anymore.

My old man was dead, and I had Lainey sitting beside me, her sweet natural scent teasing my nostrils and making it hard to think.

The sun was just setting as the movie finished.

We stayed where we were when the screen went dark once the credits rolled.

I counted her breathing.

Had been doing that since the start of the movie.

She startled a little when I stood up in front of her and held out my hand.

She eyed it warily before hesitantly placing her hand in mine and letting me pull her up from the couch.

Quietly, I led us into the kitchen, pushed her down on the kitchen stool, and went to the fridge, pulling out the ingredients for a simple meal of chicken Alfredo. I felt her eyes on me the entire time, though we were both silent.

The rest of the night moved on like that as well.

After dinner, we got ready for bed.

I could feel her eyes on me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

But I was paying attention.

Had been for the past three years now. There was nothing about this girl I didn’t know, save for her mind, but I looked forward to figuring that out—and soon.

She would learn quickly enough that there would be no such thing as secrets with me.

I let her have the bathroom, opting to get ready for bed in the kitchen, even if the bathroom had a double sink.

It didn’t matter that I had my fingers deep inside her sweet little cunt that afternoon. Something told me she was still very wary of me, trying to keep as much distance between us as possible.

I shook my head at the thought and walked back to the bedroom, stripping off my shirt and jeans and climbing into the bed.

Never had I gone to bed this fucking early.

I was usually out and about, either heading to the bar or, if there was a toy for me to play with, one of the King’s Men’s warehouses.

But here I was, climbing into bed to go to sleep at ten o’clock at night.

The bathroom door clicked open then, and I watched the door as Lainey finally came in.

I let my eyes roam up and down her body, from the way her hair flowed freely down her back to the huge black t-shirt she was wearing—the black shirt I was sure had been lost in the back of my closet for ages—and her small sleep shorts, her bare legs peeking from the fabric.

They were lean and shapely, and the image of her wrapping them around my waist came back to mind. I shifted slightly on the bed from the thought as I continued to watch her.

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