Page 32 of Mariposa
He exits the gym, and I jam my mouth shut.
Was I drooling?
I shake my head.
God, I need to get it together.
The familiar group of female soldiers who were eyeing him like ice cream on a hot day on the beach earlier rushes after him. They push the doors open, practically racing to get to him first, and disappear into the parking lot. I sneer, pinching my brows together—a sharp pain stings from clenching my jaw so hard.
I’ve never been jealous before in my life. Not with Adam, nor past boyfriends, but with my instructor? It’s a first for me. He’s not someone I should be gettingjealousover. I need to remind myself of my place before I do something crazy, like thinking about what he’s like when he’s with a woman.
14
VIOLET
BITTERSUITE by Billie Eilish
My calf muscles tremble after the twenty-five-mile ruck march, but my feet hurt the most. My shoulders are numb, and my chest aches with each breath I take. Rucking in freezing temperatures is not my favorite thing to do. My fingers and lips are a deep shade of purple.
Still, I was determined to be the first to finish our last hoorah before graduation, and I succeeded, but at the cost of pushing my body past its limits tonight. Just when I was going to slow down, Master Sergeant O’Connell was there motivating me to keep going.
When I think I have nothing else to give, he pushes me...
I walk into the empty showers in nothing but my towel. It’s a large, open area with multiple sections and no barriers. As soon as I near the silver knob, I hook the towel and set it on the showerhead next to mine.
With purple hands, I twist the knob until steam filters through. I step underneath it and groan when the water sprays me.
It feels so good against my sore body. My fingers snake into my hair, scratching and massaging my scalp that’s always abused by the constant tight gelled buns and ponytails.
“Well. Well. Well. Look at this, boys. She gets an entire fucking block to herself. Even the showers look cleaner in here.”
Cringing at the nails-on-a-chalkboard voice, my eyes pop open, and I halt my movements.
Willis.
I whip around to see that Preston and Daniels are by his side, with the same sinister intentions flickering through their darkened eyes.
It looks like my time spent alone is over.
I rush for my towel and wrap myself up in it. My breasts are tucked in, and the end of the towel barely covers my ass, and less than half of my thighs.
“Willis. What the hell are you doing here?”
“You know…graduation is less than twenty-four hours away, and our names aren’t on that list.” They all circle me like sharks, waiting to bite.
“That sucks,” I sarcastically remark.
“Yeah, it sucks for you,” Preston chirps from the right side of me.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Suddenly, two of them lunge forward. Preston grabs my wrist, but my training kicks in, and I twist his hand until he cries out in pain. I throw him over my shoulder as I let out a high-pitched grunt.
Daniels takes advantage and grabs me by the neck and slams the back of my head into the wall until I’m seeing stars. I lose my breath as my vision goes black for a split second.
“Let me say goodbye, Violet.” Willis’s hand sneaks up my thighs. “Let us all say goodbye…what do you think? At the same time, or do we each get our turns?”
“Fuck you!” I spit.
