Page 22 of Slayin Villain
“You mean your secret?”
His eyes were hard now.“I’m not playin’.If you tell Villain what you know about me.If you say one goddamn word, you’ll regret it.”
My stomach turned.“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.”
I pushed him off me.“You don’t get to fuck me and threaten me, Rome.”
His jaw clenched.“Then stop making me.”
I didn’t answer.Shame flooded me.This was exactly why I was trying to make Rome jealous.So, he’d act out.So, he’d find me and fuck me.Threaten me.I pulled my pants back up, tugged my shirt down, buttoned my jeans, and walked away, knees wobbling, heart pounding.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I tossed and turned in my tiny apartment, listening to the buzz of the ice machine outside, the occasional train whistle, the crackle of the record player I forgot to turn off.
Villain’s scent was still on my skin from two nights ago, leather, smoke, and something darker, savage.
I tried not to think of his hands on me.
Or Rome’s mouth.About how Rome would always find me after I fucked Villain and take what he wanted.
Or how long it had been since my last period.
The next morning, I stared at the calendar taped to the fridge.Circled dates.Little red Xs.
I was late.
Over a week late.
My hands started shaking before I even grabbed my keys.
At the corner drugstore, I stood in front of the pregnancy test aisle like a woman on trial.A kid from the neighborhood walked past, did a double take, and then looked away like he’d seen something private.
I grabbed two boxes and left without making eye contact.
Back home, I sat on the bathroom floor in my underwear, holding the test like it was a stick of dynamite.
I’d done this before.False alarms.Close calls.That night in Rome’s truck when the condom broke.
Now here I was again.Alone.Bare-legged.Bare-souled.
The dangerous games, I was playing with two outlaws, I hadn’t seen a condom in months.I was on the pill but late was late.
I peed.Waited.
Minutes passed.
Then two pink lines.
My head dropped to my knees, and I exhaled.
No sobbing.No dramatic scream.
Just… a quiet kind of thunder.
Because I didn’t know if it was Villain’s.
