Page 7 of Swallow Your Fear
“I fucked the guy. I’d say I know him a hell of a lot better than you.”
His hand darted up, grabbing my chin between his fingers. “You let some questionable men inside that pussy of yours. Not a good look.”
My eyes narrowed as he kept my face firmly in place. He acted like he knew what men I’d slept with in the past. “I’m sure they’re all a hell of a lot better than you. Bigger, too.” The last remark was childish, but he was pissing me off.
He didn’t let it get to him as he said, “He’s a cheat.” I tried not to let any emotion show on my face at the words as they stabbed me in the gut. “He plays dirty, but we play dirtier, Darlin’.”
Who the fuck waswe? Whatever his, or their, problem was, it wasn’t mine. “How did you get into my room?”
He dropped my chin but didn’t give me any space. “Real easy to pretend to be your boyfriend and get a key. Does that make you feel safe?”
It didn’t. Not at all. He’d been able to get the key so effortlessly, and it only instilled how vulnerable I was here. Chase was mad, probably irate, about his broken wrist, and I had no doubt he’d figure out where I was staying and find a way in just as easily.
I could go to McKenna’s, but Chase knew where she lived. Her house would be first on his list.
He stepped back, but no amount of distance could make the mask he wore any less frightening. That was the point, I supposed.
“You have twenty-four hours,” he said, tossing the key on the comforter. “Otherwise, Chase won’t be your only problem.”
The door creaked on his way out, shutting with an ear-piercing scraping sound from the foundation having moved. The place was falling apart, and I seemed to be quickly following suit.
The fact that I was seriously considering taking a stranger up on his offer to live at his house baffled me. Not even a day ago, I would never have imagined myself in this situation, but now, I didn’t seem to have a choice. I could stay in this piece-of-shit motel where anyone could pretend they knew me and get a key to my room, or I could live with a complete stranger. I had no other options. No family in town, no close friends other than McKenna. I was backed into a corner and desperate, which was exactly how this man wanted me to be.
Truthfully, I didn’t have enough to stay in the motel longer than a week. Tips were shit at the diner, despite the revealing clothes my pig of a boss required for the dress code, and though the motel was trash, it wasn’t cheap. But I had to persevere.
I landed face-first on the mattress, not bothering to change into the clothes I’d brought, and when sleep claimed me, I only saw that mask in my nightmares.
And it didn’t end pretty.
Chapter 4
Brynne
“How’d your date go?” I asked McKenna as she refilled the napkin container at table four.
“Like absolute shit. Guy was a total sleazebag. You know, you really gotta go buy a new phone charger. I can’t keep waiting to tell you things,” McKenna replied.
“My phone has been dead for less than twelve hours,” I pointed out. I’d forgotten my charger at Chase’s house, and there was no way in hell I was going back for it.
She plopped the top back on the dispenser. “Twelve hours too long.”
“I’ll buy a new one after work.” With what little tip money I made today. I was paying the motel by the day, so after today’s expenses, I’d barely have enough for four more days. Magically overnight, my tire had replaced itself with a spare, and I had the slightest feeling I knew who’d fixed it. Whether I was right or not, I still wasn’t going to take him up on his offer. I’d find a way to get by until I could rent somewhere, without that asshole’s offer.
“Why don’t you just go now?” McKenna asked, walking around the end of the bar to sidle up next to me.
I gave her a confused look. “Because I’m working?”
She shrugged, her mouth working on a piece of gum. “I won’t tell on ya.”
It was only thirty minutes before my shift was supposed to end, but… “I need the money.”
“I’ll clock you out in half an hour,” she offered.
My eyes turned to slits as my skepticism set in. “Why?”
Her jaw moved as she likely debated telling me what she was thinking. I knew that look too well, being her best friend and all. “Because you look dead as a ghost and I know it’s been a rough couple of days for you.”
Rough was an understatement.
